This page was created by Curtis Fletcher.  The last update was by Sarah Tribelhorn.

Sarah Tribelhorn Portfolio

Diversity Statement

I had the privilege of attending a private high school in the 80s in South Africa during the height of apartheid.  My high school was the first in the country to admit learners of color, and as such I was exposed to the importance of diversity and inclusivity, as well as understanding my privilege. I learned through this experience that not everyone has the same privilege and how to advocate for the rights of underrepresented communities. As a result of the important lessons I learned during high school, during my undergraduate program in college, I was a volunteer biology tutor for high school students from underrepresented communities. I felt that this equipped these students with more equal educational opportunities as they did not always have access to, or understanding of the sufficient resources needed to succeed.

The specific research I chose in my graduate studies was focused on the freshwater fisheries of an underrepresented community in South Africa to promote the sustainable production and utilization of fishes as a resource for this community. Through this research I was able to advocate for both environmental sustainability and community rights, especially the rights of underrepresented women, who were the head of these households because of the socioeconomic impact of migrant labor. Throughout this process I learned how to earn the respect and trust of the community, and empower them with knowledge to enhance their lives in a sustainable way.

When working as a Metadata Information Scientist I learned valuable skills of developing training manuals to enable standardization of techniques, how to develop metadata standards, authority records, and controlled vocabulary. Furthermore, because this was transferable across many different disciplines it allowed for enhanced diversity within the company. I was also involved in seeking databases to publish from smaller companies and individuals that did not have the resources to publish their data individually. This allowed for their work to be found and accessed. 
Building on this, I have been working as a freelance scientific editor for clients whose first language is not English to help them publish in mainstream English journals. I feel these scientists should not be at a disadvantage because their first language is not English. Once again, this makes their work more discoverable and accessible to a wider audience.

As a librarian, I plan to continue to look for ways to make resources and research accessible to diverse communities. I will use my experiences and skills for problem solving in a creative way to enhance the user experience of the community. In addition, using my leadership skills, I will look for ways to enhance teamwork in the workplace by drawing on the diversity and unique characteristics of each member of the team. In this context, I believe that diversity is a broad construct that goes beyond the historic race or socioeconomic status, and includes diversity of age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural identity, and neurodiversity, and this diversity contributes to the depth of a team.