WWEST is delighted to have Dr. Ben Britton present his talk "No sexuality please, we're scientists". 

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Date: February 14, 2020
Time: 10:00am-11:00am
Cost: FREE
Location: SFU Big Data Hub Presentation Studio
Applied Sciences Building
Burnaby, BC V5A 4S2
Register: here

Talk Description:
It is tempting to suggest that science can be conducted in a social vacuum, disconnected from the reality of everyday society and the human actors who call themselves scientists. However, there is significant evidence to suggest that enabling humans to be human enables them to think freely and supports the long-term prosperity of the scientific discourse. Enabling individuals to bring their whole selves to work promotes the ability for us to form diverse teams who can draw from a range of perspectives to provide robust decision making and find exciting new avenues of inquiry. In the diversity space, a significant amount of attention is placed upon understanding challenges in attracting and retaining women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Many of these challenges are shared by LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, plus more) colleagues, people of different races, people with disabilities (both visible and invisible), and different social class. In this talk, we will explore the motivations and recent research around the issues of LGBTQ+ in STEM, as well as initiatives to queer up science spaces and science up queer spaces to promote and embrace a more accessible, equal, diverse and inclusive STEM culture.

In the lead up to this talk, if you want to find out why coming out in STEM matters, you can read https://medium.com/@BMatB/so-its-lgbtstemday-so-what-c068094f58b6

About the Speaker:

Dr Ben Britton is a materials scientist and engineer, based at Imperial College London. He leads the Experimental Micromechanics Group (www.expmicromech.com) and the groups’ research focusses on understanding the behaviour of materials at the micro- to nano-scale using advanced electron microscopy and micro-scale mechanical testing for aerospace, oil & gas, and nuclear power. Dr Britton is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Scientist and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (IOM3). In 2016 he was awarded the RAEng/Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year Award as one of the UK’s “future engineering leaders”. Together with 200+ other STEMM professionals he successfully triggered an #MyScienceInquiry by the House of Commons Select Committee to look into diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility in STEMM funding (https://www.tigerinstemm.org/news).

Pride in STEM (http://www.prideinstem.org/ and @PrideinSTEM) is a LGBTQ+ charitable trust established to promote visibility, intersectionality, and improvement in STEM. It is led by an independent group of volunteers and runs frequent events including OutThinkers to provide role models and showcase STEM talent in the LGBTQ+ community. Pride in STEM were one of the organisations that spearheaded the #LGBTSTEM day (celebrated internationally) and we were nominated for the Gay Times Honours in 2017.