During November, several important dates are recognised, including the International LGBTQIA+ in STEM Day on November 18. This month is also designated as Transgender Awareness Month, culminating in the recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance yesterday, November 20. In celebration of our LGBTQIA+ community, this blog highlights some of the activities we undertook throughout the last year. Below, you can find answers to such questions as:
- What are the current challenges encountered by LGBTQIA+ geoscientists?
- How does EGU support its queer members?
- How can you be an ally to your LGBTQIA+ colleagues?
Before we go deeper, later this month EGU is hosting the webinar “LGBT+ equality: tools and techniques for influencing change” on Wednesday, 26 November at 17:00 CET. Organised by the EGU Pride network, the webinar will teach you how to make a positive change through strategic communication and creating common-ground.
For more information on EGU Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, please check out our EDI webpage, follow the EDI mailing list, or contact our EDI Committee directly.
EGU Pride network
Meet with other LGBTQIA+ members of Union and join the EGU Pride network! Get to know one-another at any time of the year on their Discord channel, or take the step further and help organise online events, such as webinars, or in-person and hybrid events at the EGU General Assembly. You can join the network by contacting pride@egu.eu. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for activities undertaken by the network and keep abreast of EGU’s LGBTQIA+ news by joining the network’s low-traffic mailing list.
Blog highlights
Queer Quarterly
This year witnessed the launch of our periodical series, Queer Quarterly. Developed by members of the EGU Pride network, the series highlights the experiences of LGBTQIA+ geoscientists and how allies can support their queer colleagues:
Queer Quarterly: LGBTQIA+ Inclusion during fieldwork
Pauline Gayrin and Asmae Ourkiya unearth the challenges that frustrate field research as an LGBTQIA+ person: different and changing protections between field sites and countries, structural obstacles in research institutions, and social exclusion all make for hazardous terrain. The blog ends with recommendations for improving field research across institutions, supervision and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Queer Quarterly: Allyship in the LGBTQIA+ community – what it is, how you can help
“Allyship is action” – but what actions can geoscientists take to support their queer colleagues? Pauline Gayrin provides timely advice on educating yourself and speaking up for others.
Queer Quarterly: What does queer visibility mean in academia?
Conversations about queer visibility are often uneven across academia, if explored at all. From pride flags to coffee-break chats about relationships, Marek Muchow breaks down how LGBTQIA+ geoscientists approach being visible and authentic, with the uncertainty that accompanies being open and out.
Independent articles
Throughout the year, stand-alone blogs were also published, tackling subjects such as the current status of queer equality in the geosciences, navigating coming out to colleagues in research careers, and how intersecting minoritised identities exacerbate how people are impacted by climate change:
Pride Month: support your LGBTQ+ colleagues in science
In response, for Pride Month 2025, Simon Clark calls for allies to take action in the face of regressive socio-political forces threatening science and LGBTQIA+ researchers. Simon asks us to learn from the past and avoid the mistake of treating science as apolitical or above social problems, and provides a summary of actions to take.
Trans masculinities, embodied geographies and the River Neath
Take a riverside walk with poet CJ Wagstaff, as they reflect on how the fluid and changing qualities of the environment mirror our own identities, and question the mode of binary-thinking employed when people consider themselves a part of nature and when it comes to comprehending gender.
Letting in instead of coming out? Reflections on shifting from disclosure to self-compassion
For World Coming Out day – held this year on October 11 – Asmae Ourkiya and Simon Clark reassess the life-long and sometimes fatiguing and risk-laden process of coming out as queer. Reflecting on their research careers, the authors provide insights into self-development and overcoming obstacles.
GeoTalk: Meet Lorne Farovitch, researcher of climate impacts on deaf communities!
In August’s edition of GeoTalk, queer and deaf researcher Loren Farovitch highlighted how the challenges deaf communities face due to climate change are compounded when they overlap with other minoritised identities also excluded from society and by disaster management systems. Lorne says:
“Intersectionality means many deaf people also experience marginalisation based on ethnicity, sexuality, gender or other identities [ …] . Multiple layers of exclusion lead to disproportionate risks and poorer outcomes.”
Why Earth and Space Sciences need to dismantle the cis-het-white boys’ club
One of the first articles to be unleashed in 2025, Asmae Ourkiya expounds on how scientists from minoritised backgrounds are pushed out of academia despite the prevailing myth of meritocracy, and asks us to consider what inclusive spaces look like and how they can energise research.
Webinars and other online events
EGU’s online programme was filled to the brim this year, with little signs of it slowing down for 2026. Amongst the many free webinars and workshops, a number of events championed LGBTQIA+ inclusion:
Pride in Space: How Scientists & Artists Landed Art On The Moon
On March 2 2025, art promoting LGBTQ+ visibility within the space sector landed on the Moon. Representatives from the Interstellar Foundation, Space Pride, and EGU discuss how the ambitious project came to be and how you can get involved in similar initiatives.
Uneven Ground 2: Improving Fieldwork Accessibility for LGBTQIA+ people
Part of EGU’s Uneven Ground webinar series exploring the challenges its members encounter during field research, this edition provided space for community discussion between allies and queer researchers, whilst showcasing what steps are needed to improve fieldwork accessibility.
LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in science: an easy guide to pronouns
This free training – provided by the EGU Pride network – gave a simple overview of a sometimes misunderstood topic. Step-by-step, the presenters walk you through the importance of considering LGBTQIA+ colleagues when fostering a respectful and collaborative environment, to what to do if you misgender someone.
EGU25 General Assembly
This EGU General Assembly is a platform for geoscientists to build networks and discuss key topics affecting the community; EGU25 provided a number of highlights for its LGBTQIA members:
EGU25 Union Symposia: “Gender in Geoscience”
Panellists opened up our personal bubbles and asked us to consider other perspectives, speaking from their research expertise and their own personal stories to discuss the experience of women and gender minorities in the geosciences. Researcher and author Lucia Perez-Diaz provides an excellent summary of the event in her blog: Unethical science: On gender, discomfort, and the stories we tell.
Pride & Allies Reception
A regular feature at EGU’s General Assemblies, this informal event allows LGBTQIA+ attendees and allies to gather, connect and celebrate. You can look forward to the reception returning for the EGU26 General Assembly.
The LGBTQIA+ Pride Group at EGU – Progress, Challenges, and Visibility in the Geosciences
Attendees of this short course learned how geoscience careers challenge LGBTQIA+ people and how they can be supported, from the lab to the field. Those interested in the content of the course, or those who want to help support such training, can contact the EGU Pride group.
Those were just some of the activities of our LGBTQIA+ community! We can’t mention them all, but we want to thank our members who come together at the General Assembly and year-round to strengthen our bonds and improve inclusion at EGU.
Keep an eye out for future activities:
- Join the EGU Pride network,
- Follow the EGU Pride mailing list,
- Read and subscribe to EGU’s blogs,
- Watch our previous webinars on our on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Youtube playlist
- Register for upcoming webinars, workshops and other online events,
- Look out for the EGU26 General Assembly programme, to be launched in March 2025.
Our blogs and webinars – alongside other updates and opportunities for our members – are shared on the Union’s monthly newsletter, the Loupe.
