Lab Values

• We value a research group and broader scientific community that is inclusive, safe, and welcoming, diverse in thought and experience, and provides equitable opportunities to all individuals.
• We will maintain a working and learning environment that is kind, caring, respectful, and open. Establishing this environment will create a space where people belong, feel safe, and can thrive and grow.
• We understand that science is a collaborative enterprise. We will work together and support each other to form a dynamic and resilient group that can achieve more as a team than individually.
• We value “geeking out” and getting excited about the work we are doing. For the perpetually curious, the scientific process provides endless opportunities for discovery, making the invisible visible, and working to piece together infinite scientific puzzle.
• We value the complexity of the systems we study and the similarly complex network of individuals making sense of that complexity. We may not understand everything as an individual but our contributions are critical to the broader effort to break new ground.

Code of Conduct

• KSU Code of Student Conduct - applicable to all enrolled KSU students
• KSU Expectations for Graduate Education - applicable to graduate students, graduate program faculty, academic departments and programs, and Graduate Studies across all the university’s campuses.
• KSU Policy Regarding Faculty Code of Professional Ethics - which describes faculty members’ responsibilities to students, the university, and their profession.
• KSU University Policy Regarding Employment - which articulates the Employee Code of Conduct that any university employee must adhere to.

Scope and Applicability

• all members of the Moore laboratory, including:
  • The principal investigator (PI), Aleisha Moore
  • Staff and post-doctoral researchers supervised by the PI
  • Graduate students whose primary advisor is  the PI
  • Undergraduate students who are 
    • enrolled in Individual Investigation credits with either of the PIs as the primary instructor
    • Working for pay from a grant account managed by either of the PIs or any graduate students or staff advised by the PIs.
      • Volunteering under the supervision of any lab member 
• Any  individual who is not a research group member 
  • using or occupying one or more the Moore lab spaces routinely
• who signs up and participates in outreach and engagement activities organized and led by a lab member

Code of Conduct

Encouraged Behaviors

• Avoid and be aware of microagressions. Your actions can be hurtful to others or contribute to a negative environment even if you had no intent of harm. In interpersonal interactions, the impact is what matters, not the intention. Listen. Offer a genuine apology. Commit to learning and doing better. Educate yourself about what microagressions are, how to recognize common microaggressions, and how best to respond, learn and grow in response to instances of microagressions.
• All communication - online and in person - should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. 
• Be kind. Criticism is essential in science, but it must be constructive if we're going to make progress in a supportive, inclusive way. Constructive criticism focuses on ideas and objects, not individuals or personal experiences.
• To ensure inclusive, productive, and respectful interactions follow our lab’s Norms for Conversation (see below), particularly when discussing personal experiences and potentially harmful or controversial topics.
• Proactive self-education about issues related to inclusivity, equity, and diversity in STEM and beyond, including justice and systematic discrimination against marginalized communities. The PIs will proactively share opportunities for education through readings, workshops offered by the university and academic societies, and other resources, and expect lab members to maintain a culture of self-education.
• Listen to and uplift voices, especially those of persons excluded because of their ethnicity or race (PEERs), even when they challenge our assumptions or make us uncomfortable. 
• Speak out and push for change when we see microaggressions or institutional policies that disadvantage marginalized communities – both within our lab and within the larger campus community.
• Make space and time for our community members to heal, take care of their peers, or fight for justice, and continue to provide financial, career, and other support while they do so. 

Discouraged Behaviors That Violate the Code of Conduct

• Any instance of harassment or discrimination.
  • Discrimination is when a person is treated differently than others based on their age, color, dis/ability status, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, citizenship status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, and/or body size.
  • Harassment is defined as discrimination that occurs when verbal, physical, electronic, or other behavior based on a person’s identity or identities interferes with that individual’s participation in lab activities and/or creates an environment that is hostile, intimidating, abusive, or unsafe.

• Include jokes, innuendos, racial slurs, offensive or derogatory remarks based on a person’s color or perceived race that creates a hostile, intimidating, or abusive environment. 
• Include physical conduct (e.g., excessive monitoring) based on a person’s color or perceived race that creates a hostile, intimidating, or abusive environment. 
• Include electronic conduct (e.g., the creation, display, or distribution of racially offensive text, symbols or images) based on a person’s color or perceived race that creates a hostile, intimidating, or abusive environment. 
• Include harassment for displaying what is perceived as a stereotypical characteristic for one’s race or for failing to conform to stereotypical notions of race, regardless of the actual or perceived race of the person(s) involved. 

• Include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal, physical, or electronic conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile, intimidating, or abusive environment 
• Involve verbal, physical, or electronic conduct based on a person’s sex, gender, sexual orientation, or sex-stereotyping that creates a hostile, intimidating, or abusive environment (even if acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature)
• Include harassment for displaying what is perceived as a stereotypical characteristic for one’s sex or for failing to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity, regardless of the actual or perceived sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression of the person(s) involved. 
• Intentionally and repeatedly ignoring someone’s preferred pronouns.