18 February 2021 to 3 March 2021
US/Central timezone

Jeremy Wolcott - Tufts University

Hello Young DUNE!
I'm Jeremy Wolcott, Tufts Univ. postdoc.  I'm honored to have been nominated for the Spokesperson Liaison (SL) role of Young DUNE.  I see this as a really valuable role within the collaboration: it's essential that our collaboration management view the early-career members of the collaboration not just as ``resources'' (read: labor pool), but instead as fully-rounded human beings as well as important intellectual and scientific contributors to the experiment.  Having occupied convener roles in the NOvA experiment for a few years now, I'm familiar with these tensions from both ends of the telescope, and as SL I would continue the tradition of firm advocacy on behalf of YD members established by the previous SL officers.  The Spokesperson Liaison is also meant to serve as a professional development coordinator for YD, and as the events of the past year have shown us, we all have a lot of opportunities for growth---and that this should extend beyond "career advancement" into arenas like better understanding and confronting the structural and identity-based violence baked into our academic culture or protecting our mental health, just to name a couple.  I'd like for us to continue exploring those ideas as a group.  I don't particularly enjoy the limelight myself, but I'm especially interested in empowering the members of YD so that everyone feels comfortable expressing their concerns (as well as their victories!) in a way that they are confident they'll be heard, understood, and meaningfully engaged by the collaboration.
Thanks for your consideration!