By Sharon Morsink (LCRIC chair)
(Cassiopeia – Winter 2022)
The Long Range Plan Community Recommendations Implementation Committee (LCRIC), formed in 2021, has the mandate to implement the recommendations from the 2020 Long Range Plan (LRP) related to the community of astronomers in Canada. The community recommendations include land and consent, Indigenous relations, trainees, equity and inclusion, sustainability, education, and public outreach. Many of these topics have official CASCA committees devoted to them. LCRIC’s role is to liaise with these committees to make progress on recommendations. In addition, our goal is to address issues that do not specifically fall under the purview of an existing CASCA committee.
In Fall 2022, and continuing into 2023, LCRIC’s focus is on topics related to trainees and Indigenous relations. The CASCA Postdoc Committee has been working on several initiatives related to postdoc recruitment and professional development. LCRIC has met with the Postdoc Committee and provided feedback on some of these projects. In particular, we have agreed upon a document (authored by the Postdoc Committee) that provides a set of best practices when recruiting postdocs. This document is under review by the CASCA Board and will be shared in the future when approved. The Postdoc Committee is also working on a demographics and working conditions survey, and both LCRIC and the Equity & Inclusivity Committee have provided feedback. We have also discussed the merits and possible forms of a mentoring program. However, the creation of a mentorship program is a non-trivial project and will be a priority in future years. Several other ideas that the Postdoc Committee has discussed with LCRIC will also benefit graduate students. For instance, the Postdoc Committee is interested in creating a “CASCA Cohort” that will take online courses on topics of mutual interest, such as machine learning.
LCRIC is collaborating with the SKA to organize two webinars on the partnerships between the SKA and Indigenous peoples and local populations in Australia and South Africa. The webinars are meant to help CASCA members understand the process of engagement with local populations in both countries. For more details read the SKA Update in this issue of Cassiopeia. You will see an announcement on the CASCA email list in early 2023 with information about how you can participate in the webinars.
Another recommendation that LCRIC is addressing this year is the recommendation to create an Indigenous Engagement Committee. LCRIC started working on this about a year ago under the leadership of Laurie Rousseau-Nepton. We will continue working on the details of the terms for this committee in winter 2023.
CASCA members who would like to provide feedback to the LCRIC can contact the LCRIC Chair, Sharon Morsink.