Celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride with SWMS and Erin Jones
Join us as we celebrate LGBTQ+ pride!
We love how many perspectives our members can offer. We think that's one of our strengths as a community that we offer t o marine science! Acknowledging and celebrating your individual experiences and identities is a really important way we can support you.
This is work we do year round, but in honor of Pride History Month we 'sat down,' from various corners of the planet, with Erin Jones (she/her). Erin is a PhD student of biological oceanography at GSO with Tatiana Rynearson. Below you will learn about her intersecting identities and the valuable science she is conducting!
Introduce Yourself!
I am a queer marine scientist in the 3rd year of my PhD at GSO in the Rynearson Lab studying the role of microzooplankton community structure and diversity in carbon export pathways.
Erin is smiling at the camera and wears a dark blue sweatshirt as she poses for her headshot.
Erin Jones, GSO URI (2019)
In particular, I am interested in how shifts in diversity of heterotrophic and mixotrophic protists influence grazing patterns through the water column. My research is part of the NASA EXPORTS project, for which I recently returned from a month-long cruise to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the North Atlantic Ocean aboard the RRS James Cook.
a person kneels in the foreground working with a hose. plastic boxes on wooden pallets are arranged behind on a ship's deck. The person is working on the set up.
Erin hooking up the plumbing for microzooplankton grazing experiment incubations. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
EXPORTS, which stands for Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing, is a NASA-funded project that aims to develop a predictive understanding of the ocean’s carbon cycle.
How has your identity shaped your experience as a woman marine scientist?
Being a queer woman in marine science, I have thought a lot about how much representation matters to aspiring scientists. I wasn’t aware of any LGBTQ+ people growing up, let alone any in STEM.
Four individuals stand on the back deck of a research vessel facing the camera. They are wearing bright red lifejackets and face masks. The sun is setting over the sea behind.
(From left to right) Erin Jones, Mikayla Cote, Dr. Pierre Marrec, Victoria Fulfer; aboard the R/V Endeavor for the NES-LTER Project, Fall 2020.
Without seeing your identity reflected in others, you are left to forge your own path; sink or swim.
A selfie of Erin as she stand next to a railing on the research vessel. She is wearing a white hard hat, red lifejacket, glasses, and a grey face mask
Erin aboard the R/V Endeavor for the NES-LTER Project, Fall 2020
Being queer has shaped how I approach and participate in the marine science community, such as who I talk to, how I act at conferences, and whether I am “out” on research cruises. Broadly speaking, like many others I’ve had to learn to navigate the cisgender heteronormative patriarchy that exists at the core of the scientific community.
Despite the challenges I have faced along the way, I wouldn’t change who I am or the job I have; I’m queer and I’m a marine scientist.
How have you overcome the challenges posed by being a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Challenges posed by being queer have been variable, but over time I’ve built up a network of allies, LGBTQ+ friends and colleagues, discovered more resources for being a queer woman in STEM (500 Queer Scientists), and continued to educate myself so that I can be a better mentor to other aspiring queer scientists and make it easier for them to find their way into the scientific community (Safe Zone Trainings).
Three people play cards in a lounge area. a small circular wooden table separates them. They are smiling.
(From left to right) Rynearson lab-mates Dr. Laura Holland, Diana Fontaine, and Erin Jones playing a game of Euchre during the EXPORTS cruise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
Though the world continues to become more accepting of LGBTQ+ people, there is work to be done to make STEM more welcoming and supportive of queer identities. LGBTQ+ representation in schools, labs and at conferences has been vital for my development as a marine scientist.
I hope my queer visibility in the marine science shows other budding LGTBQ+ scientists that they are not alone, and they can be as much a part of the scientific community as anyone else.
Two individuals look away from the camera. One is seated on the left on the deck of a research vessel. The other stands leaning on the railing. The background is filled with a port.
Erin Jones (left) and Diana Fontaine (right) on the bow of the RRS James Cook as the ship returns to port in Southampton, UK. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
How have your support community and professional community overlapped?
Since joining GSO, my support community and professional community have overlapped substantially. My queer identity was not as visible in the past when I attempted to keep my queerness out of the lab.
Having an openly lesbian advisor has changed how I participate in the scientific community. By breaking out of the workplace “closet” I have become a better scientist, more engaged with my community and built stronger connections and supportive relationships with my lab and fellow students.
Four individuals stand turning their heads to look at the camera over their shoulders. They are in a busy lab working on the counter. Scientific equipment surrounds them.
Rynearson/Menden-Deuer Grazing Team (From left to right) Dr. Laura Holland, Dr. Heather McNair, Erin Jones, and Diana Fontaine collecting samples from microzooplankton grazing experiments. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
What else would you like people to know about you?!
I hail from Bainbridge Island, Washington, where I grew up surrounded by the marine environment of the Puget Sound. Unsurprisingly, this is where my curiosity for marine life kindled.
I attended Mount Holyoke College, a historically women’s college in western Massachusetts where I studied biology and marine science. At Mount Holyoke, I flourished as a queer woman in STEM, surrounded by a fiercely supportive community of students and professors.
Aside from marine science, I love spending my time cooking, biking, throwing pottery, and gardening.
Top Left: The crew and science party of the RRS James Cook celebrate Erin’s birthday during the EXPORTS cruise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
Top Right: Erin Jones and Diana Fontaine on the RRS James Cook watching the sunrise over the North Atlantic ocean during EXPORTS. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
Bottom Left: Erin Jones on deck of RRS James Cook waiting for sunrise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
Bottom Middle: Erin Jones pictured with her girlfriend Lindsey after cooking Thanksgiving dinner 2020.
Bottom Right: Erin Jones admiring the Kinney Azalea Gardens, Kingston, RI in Spring 2020.
If you are a woman in marine science and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, we'd love to hear from you! Please join us on social media June 24th 2021 as we celebrate LGBTQ+ pride and share your voice! Or pitch us a blog like Erin's - you can find details here.