Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Members of the Flagel Lab are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive environment.
We value the collaborative and respectful environment that characterizes our lab and work together to maintain it. We learn from each other how to best support individuals from populations historically underrepresented in our field and how to engage in anti-racism practices. We aim to normalize and embrace the uncomfortable conversations that are necessary to make progress. We recognize that diversity and inclusion are essential to scientific progress. We embrace the many different backgrounds and cultures represented in our laboratory.
The Flagel Lab promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the following ways:
Bi-monthly lab meetings centered around aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion
Attendance at institutional workshops to further our education surrounding topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion
Participation in summer mentorship programs aimed at enhancing diverse representation in neuroscience
Community outreach events, often focused on youth who would not otherwise be exposed to science or scientific careers
Outreach
Brain Awareness Week
Each spring, in celebration of Brain Awareness Week, Flagel Lab members venture out into the community to teach K-12 students about the brain and how to keep it healthy. We are especially interested in visiting underserved and underprivileged communities. If you would like us to visit your school or program, feel free to reach out (sflagel@med.umich.edu).
BrainsRule!
BrainsRule! is an event organized each spring by students in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. This event brings a few hundred middle school students to the University of Michigan campus for a day to learn and get excited about neuroscience. The Flagel Lab has organized an “addiction booth” at this event, consisting of an “operant box” where students learn how powerful cues can be in controlling behavior, a “synaptic foosball table” where students learn how cocaine acts on the dopamine system, and a “walk the line” activity where students are challenged with “prism goggles.”
