When: 19 September 2017, 5.30 pm- 7pm. Light refreshments from 5pm.

Where: Royal Society Te Aparangi, Turnbull St, Wellington.

The New Zealand Association of Scientists is pleased to welcome Dr Zuleyka Zevallos to New Zealand, for a special discussion of how to improve equity and increase diversity in research communities. We invite you to join us.

Dr Zuleyka Zevallos is an applied sociologist and an Adjunct Research Fellow with Swinburne University. Dr Zevallos began her career as an academic, before moving on to manage various policy and research programs. She also developed and managed Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), an initiative of the Australian Academy of Science. This is the first national gender equity and diversity program in Australia for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). The framework is based on the Athena SWAN Charter, an evaluation and accreditation program that has been running successfully for over a decade in the UK. Dr Zevallos currently works in social policy, leading a project to enhance justice outcomes for vulnerable populations.

In this Suffrage Day event, Dr Zevallos will reflect on national approaches to improving the hiring, promotion, retention, recognition and participation of all women, specifically including Indigenous and transgender women, as well as other under-represented minorities in science. She will then be joined by the following panelists (full panel TBC) for a discussion of the specific needs of the NZ research community. Audience questions will also be taken.

Chair: Craig Stevens, President of the NZ Association of Scientists

• Anita Brady, Associate Dean (Teaching and Equity), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington; Queer and Gender Area Chair, Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand
• Di Tracey, Fisheries Scientist, the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA); Women’s Network Coordinator for NIWA
• Izzy O'Neill, National Coordinator – Thursdays in Black, NZUSA ­The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations; Researcher of the tertiary student (especially LGBTQIA) experience of sexual violence.
• Joanna Kidman, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa; Associate Professor, Kaihautū, Te Kura Māori, Victoria University of Wellington, and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Researcher.
• Richard Blaikie, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise, The University of Otago, and Vice-President (Physical Sciences) the Royal Society Te Apārangi

The presentation will begin at 5:30 pm; you are invited to join us for a light refreshment from 5 pm.