Walker Lab Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

As the Walker lab, we are proud of the inclusive and equitable environment that we’ve created, a place where all members are welcomed – and one that we strive every day to improve. We recognize that systemic injustice permeates every part of society. In the ivory tower of academia, opportunities to conduct research have been limited by procedures designed to exclude underprivileged people. We know that people of underprivileged identities have been systematically denied access to institutions like our own. We know that structural racism has deprived generations of people of the opportunity to practice science, causing direct harm to countless individuals. We believe that structural racism has also been to the detriment of the scientific community, which has failed to benefit from the intellectual and creative contributions of those who have been excluded.

We are committed to establishing an anti-racist practice in teaching and learning.

We are committed to fostering an environment in which all members feel valued and appreciated regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, immigration status, nationality, disability status, and/or other backgrounds and identities not listed here.

We will strive to enhance and maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion to benefit our science, but more importantly, to ensure the well-being of our lab members.

We promote our values within the laboratory through the following guiding principles: 

• Dr. Suzanne Walker, the principal investigator, mentors each lab member according to his/her/their own needs.

• Across all training levels, all individuals are accorded equal time to speak.

• All lab members listen carefully to other lab members and provide advice respectfully.

• All lab members, including Dr. Walker, expect to be held accountable for their own actions by the other members of the lab.

We promote our values outside the laboratory by participating in activities directed toward the full adoption of practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Like scientific experimentation and peer mentorship, these activities are a valuable component of our training as scientists. Our lab members actively participate in programs at Harvard and in the local community including HPREP, the Harvard College Women in STEM mentorship program, and SHURP. As Co-Director of Harvard’s Chemical Biology Ph.D. program, Dr. Walker actively works to ensure that talented students are not excluded during the selection process due to implicit racism, sexism, xenophobia, queerphobia, or religious intolerance. Dr. Walker also encourages the efforts of current students in the Chemical Biology program to create an inclusive, welcoming environment for all students across the broader Harvard community.

The Walker lab believes that the goal of science is to improve the world for everyone. Therefore, the practice of science must be just.