Code of Conduct for Evolution Meetings
The Joint Congress on Evolution is intended to foster the exchange of scientific ideas, providing participants with an opportunity to network with an international community of evolutionary biologists. The European Society of Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) are committed to creating an environment where everyone can participate without harassment, discrimination, or violence of any kind. All meeting participants must be treated with respect and consideration. Registration for the meeting is considered an agreement to abide by this code of conduct.
Harassment of any participant will not be tolerated. Unacceptable behavior includes (but is not limited to) unwanted verbal attention, unwanted touching, intimidation, stalking, shaming, or bullying. Blatant discrimination on the basis of gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, physical appearance, race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity will not be tolerated. Harassment presented in a joking manner constitutes unacceptable behavior. Retaliation for reporting harassment is also unacceptable, as is reporting an incident in bad faith.
People wishing to report a violation of this code of conduct should immediately contact a conference organizer or any member of the executive councils of ESEB, SSE, ASN, or SSB. Incidents of harassment and discrimination are taken extremely seriously. Confidentiality will be maintained unless disclosure is legally required.
The meeting organizers and society executive officers reserve the right to enforce this code of conduct in any manner deemed appropriate. Anyone violating the code of conduct may be: (a) asked to stop, (b) expelled from the meeting, and/or (c) prohibited from attending future meetings.
Establishing this code of conduct is intended to maintain the high quality of scientific discourse that members have come to expect from our meetings.