Addressing Ethics, Racism, and Colonialism in the Geosciences through a Workshop for Interns

Undergraduate research internship programs teaching research ethics and misconduct often cover plagiarism, data falsification, and issues of authorship and intellectual property, all important topics. This approach, however, ignores the underlying questions of how Western science was developed, why it is dominated by a few, and how colonialism exists in scientific research today. One of the professional development workshops we offer geoscience interns is called “Ethics, Racism, and Legacy of Colonialism in the Geosciences.” We have held this workshop in each of the past four summers with the involvement of graduate students and a community college student, some of whom related the history of their communities, for example Guam.

This workshop shines a light on the dark history of colonialism and racism that underpin Western science and the origins of Western science in the context of Christian, European, and Scientific Imperialism. One pivotal moment was in 1493, when the Pope issued an edict that land inhabited by non-Christians could be “discovered” and claimed. This concept was written into U.S. law in 1823 and only revoked in the 1990s. Christopher Columbus, Captain James Cook, and John Wesley Powell are celebrated as pioneering explorers, cartographers, and scientists. And yet their actions and writings make clear their disparaging views of Indigenous people, and an arrogance in framing brutal conquests as “discoveries.” This deceptive narrative erases the complex histories, cultures, and values of the societies they assaulted. In the U.S., stories of scientific exploration are paralleled by the genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America and the horrific trade of enslaved African citizens. The workshop looks at the imperial roots of Western science, examples of modern day ‘parachute’ or 'helicopter' science, and how racism, sexism, and other-isms persist in science. We aim to raise awareness and foster further discussions with this approach of broadening the scope of ethics conversations.