Our fifth annual 2024 FRI Transformative Research Symposium on May 10, 2024 was a success! Thank you to all of our presenters, FRI staff, and attendees. 

We held sessions ranging from transforming climate justice to community-university relationships, with speakers drawing from their expertise in political science, international agricultural development, cultural studies, anthropology, environmental science, and community development. Our keynote presented by Sarah E. Vaughn, Associate Professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, titled "Erosion by Design: Innovation and Credibility in the Engineering Areas of Climate Adaptation," highlighted groynes in Guyana as sites where local engineers navigate desicion-making regarding whether to innovate sea defenses in light of ongoing erosion. 

Our symposium closed with a discussion of FRI's strategic plan. For example, participants brainstormed how to forge cross-departmental and community relations to get "Asking Different Questions" pedagogy, which helps researchers incorporate the values of social justice into STEM research practices, into more undergraduate courses and faculty and staff workshops. In addition, we discussed that while gender is a key component of feminist research, our symposium and conversations demonstrate how feminist research is expansive and encompasses research in environmental science, data science, cultural studies, and more, with the ultimate goal of liberation for all.