Health, Safety & Inclusion Policies

The conveners are committed to making the entirety of our proposed conference accessible and enjoyable to all interested participants. All accommodation at Camp Delany (rooms and primary meeting venue) is ground floor accessible. We will also work with any attendees that have specific accessibility concerns to develop an appropriate solution, and we have set aside a portion of our budget for potential accessibility-related expenses (e.g., closed captioning services). To ensure equal access to our proposed field trips, we will work directly with any potential attendees with accessibility concerns to develop complementary activities that suit their circumstance.

We are also committed to creating an inclusive environment for the conference, and to ensuring equitable access to conference participation. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors (GSA and NSF), we have funds available to support the registration costs, as well as portions of travel expenses and child/family care costs, of some participants. These funds will be prioritized toward supporting individuals from groups underrepresented in the geosciences, as well as early career and student participants.

Attendees will be expected to observe the GSA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct throughout the meeting. The conveners are strongly committed to strictly enforcing this code and are trained as RISE (Respectful, Inclusive Scientific Event) Liaisons.

GSA and Washington State do not currently have COVID-19 restrictions in place. However, the meeting conveners are also closely monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will make any necessary changes in accordance with both GSA policy and public health guidelines. Additionally, to ensure the safety of attendees, we will take the following steps to reduce risks from COVID-19:

• KN-95 masks will be provided to all attendees and indoor masking will be encouraged. Note also that there is plenty of outdoor space at Camp Delany, including outdoor eating options.
• We will provide each participant with two COVID-19 rapid tests, encouraging them to take one upon arrival and one ~2-3 days into the conference. Attendees are encouraged to bring additional rapid tests if they would like to have more on hand.
• We will have contingency plans in place in case anyone gets sick during the course of the meeting.
• We strongly encourage all attendees to be fully vaccinated and boosted per CDC recommendations.