Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Our priorities are to increase diversity in physical science and engineering and to foster an inclusive, equitable environment.

Increasing diversity in nEXO

We plan to:

• Showcase the work of early career researchers
• Develop a strong social media presence that attracts a wide variety of students
• Create an information hub for DEI hiring resources
• Initiate a DEI lecture series
• Promote participation through DOE Undergraduate Research Traineeships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions
• Leverage education, outreach, and DEI resources from collaborating institutions (for examples, see LLNL’s diversity website and Science Education Program)

nEXO Code of Conduct

It is the policy of the nEXO Collaboration that all collaborators conduct themselves in a professional manner that is welcoming to all colleagues and free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Collaborators shall treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment. Creating a supportive environment that best fosters individual scientific initiative as well as scientific collaboration and thus enables scientific progress is the responsibility of all collaborators.

The nEXO experiment is a challenging and exciting opportunity that will require the best efforts of everyone involved. To this end, it is expected that all collaborators should carefully consider their behavior towards other collaborators and the effects it might have on them. Unacceptable behavior includes but is not limited to intimidation, harassing behavior, statements that denigrate others based on personal characteristics or beliefs, sexual or crude jokes and comments, and unwelcome physical contact. A collaborator asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply.

If you perceive yourself to have been the subject of unacceptable behavior during the course of nEXO collaboration activities, you should consider doing some or all of the following:

• If possible, and if you feel comfortable, inform the collaborator that their behavior is not acceptable. Explain what is bothering you, identify the behavior as unwelcome, and state that you want that behavior to stop. You are not required or expected to confront any person prior to reporting an incident.
• If you want to initiate a formal complaint, you can inform the nEXO ombudspersons or any member of the nEXO Institutional Board. The ombudspersons will generate anonymized incident reports forwarded to the nEXO collaboration spokesperson and the Institutional Board. For more information, see the nEXO Ombudsperson Guide.
• Inform the Human Resources Department, ombudsperson, or equivalent entity at your home institution.
• If appropriate, consider reporting the incident to the fair employment agency in your jurisdiction or to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

If a collaborator observes inappropriate comments or actions and personal intervention seems appropriate, they should consider intervening. All collaborators play a role in building a culture of respect and should not hesitate to bring any concerns related to this code of conduct to the attention of the nEXO spokesperson or the Institutional Board.

This code of conduct neither replaces nor supersedes any institutional policies governing professional conduct or harassment.

nEXO Mentorship Program 

nEXO's Mentorship Program was developed to help establish professional relationships between collaboration members at different career stages in order to promote camaraderie and inclusion within nEXO. This program pairs undergraduate and early graduate students with more senior members of the collaboration to discuss a variety of topics such as science and career advice. Through the implementation of the Mentorship Program, nEXO has fostered a more welcoming working environment for early members of the science community. We have asked past mentors and mentees to tell us about their experience in the Mentorship Program. Watch this video to see what they said.