Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility

The School of Environment Earth and Ecosystems Sciences is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility for all our staff and students.

Our staff and students work in conditions where they are treated with dignity and respect and appreciated for the diverse perspectives they bring, where inequalities are challenged, and where we anticipate and respond positively to different needs and circumstances, supporting everyone to achieve their potential.

The School Leadership Team takes its duty of care to its members very seriously; all members also have a duty of care to each other to ensure there is no discrimination or exclusion on the basis of protected characteristics and experiences, including, but not limited to: age, disability, caring and dependency responsibilities, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, political opinion, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, trade union membership or other distinctions.

These values are in accordance with the Open University’s mission of being “open to people, places, methods and ideas” and its values of inclusivity, innovation and responsiveness.

Athena SWAN Charter Bronze Award

In May 2021, the School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences secured its first Athena SWAN Charter Bronze Award.

Elaine McPherson and Helen Payne co-chaired the submission. In announcing the news they said:

“The EEES Athena SWAN self-assessment team (SAT) are delighted to have secured Athena SWAN Bronze status, recognising our achievements and objectives in support of gender equality. We look forward to continuing our work to develop our inclusive culture and improve outcomes and experiences of our staff and students.”

Our Self-Assessment Team continues to led by Elaine McPherson and Helen Payne, with contributions from: Clare Lawson; Fiona Aiken; Yoseph Araya; Marcus Badger; Sophie Alexander; Jennie Bellamy; Fran Jenner; Mark Brandon; and Richard Holliman.

Work Experience

If you are thinking about a career in science you may want to consider a work experience placement. Please note that we are not taking applications for this academic year.

We invite you to apply by submitting a student pro forma via your school's work experience co-ordinator (please send this to our administration team). All work experience placements will be for between one to two weeks.

For more details, please see Work Experience.

Landscape Stories

'Landscape Stories' is a NERC-funded Public Engagement Project.

Through this project, Earth and Environmental Science (EES) researchers will be trained to co-design and trial public engagement through storytelling.

Select 'Landscape Stories' to find out more about this project.

Walking the Walk

The ‘Walking the Walk’ Project was funded by the UK’s National Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of a programme to make environmental science more diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI).

Select 'Walking the Walk' to find out more about this project.