The Me Too bm has toppledHollywood executives , pundit , andbureaucratssince it burst onto the aspect last year . Prompting a government federal agency to rename a geological landform , however , may be a first .
Last week , the United States ’ Board on Geographic Names quietly decided that Antarctica ’s Marchant Glacier would now be called Matataua . A 7 mile - foresighted ice stream located in easterly Antarctica’sVictoria Land , the glacier was in the first place named after Boston University geologist David Marchant in 1994 . The variety come nearly a twelvemonth after a BU - go investigationconcludedthat Marchant sexually harassed former alumnus bookman Jane Willenbring in 1999 and 2000 while the two were doing fieldwork in Antarctica .
Willenbring , now a tenured professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography , file a ailment with BU against Marchant in 2016 , say her former consultant subjected her to both verbal and physical harassment , include calling her a tart and fox rock ‘n’ roll at her while she urinate . While the university concluded “ by a preponderance of evidence ” that Marchant did indeed verbally harass and demean Willenbring , it run out to affirm her allegement of strong-arm assault . Willenbring ’s experiences , along with those of two other char who line similar verbal abuse in the plain , were lay out in a worrying Science Magazineinvestigationlast year .
Marchant , who hasdeniedany and all misconduct , wasput on paid administrative leaveby the university in February . But while a BU spokesperson told Earther the university is still considering Marchant ’s appeal of a recommendation to terminate his appointment , the Board on Geographic Names seems to have made up its intellect that Marchant is no longer merit of a geographical namesake .
Louis Yost , Executive Secretary with the Board , tell Earther it incur a proposal to change the glacier ’s name on April 21 . One of the proposed alternatives was Matataua , after the nearby Matataua Peak . Yost say the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names discussed the proposal and eventually made a recommendation in party favour of the name variety . The Board on Geographic Names made it prescribed on September 10 .
The glacier’sofficial descriptionsays that the name change play it “ into alignment with ACAN policies . ” When inquire to expatiate , Yost explained that the Antarctic naming committeetightened its policieson commemorating names a few years back so that they would be bestowed toward the end of a individual ’s career .
“ I think the phrasing reflects the fact that under the old policy , the name was bestowed too early in the career , and we did n’t have it off what was to come in later or to be see out , ” Yost say . He added that the Antarctic consultative citizens committee was aware of the allegement against Marchant when it issued its passport .
The Board on Geographic Names , an interagency group tasked with designating official U.S. name for geographic features on federal maps and document , has choose to commute certain names in the past , for illustration because of changes in local use or climate change . Yost , however , was n’t mindful of a name change that had take place under context similar to Marchant glacier .
Willenbring , who had no direct involvement in or cognition of the proposal to interchange the glacier ’s name , secernate Earther it was “ kind of a surprise ” to learn about last week . But she saw the move as a stone’s throw in the right direction .
My former advisor , who sexually provoke me and other woman , no longer has a glacier named after him in Antarctica.#MeTooSTEMpic.twitter.com / KCoP4DV6o3
— Jane Willenbring 🌱 ( @jkwillenbring)September 15 , 2018
“ To me , this is a determination that is a good one and that people should be compliment for , ” Willenbring say . “ Maybe to some people it would be a little thing , but any kind of acknowledgement gives people power . ”
Indeed , as the scientific residential area reckons witha Me Too drive of its own — one thatstartedbeforeHarvey Weinstein hurl the topic of workplace intimate harassment into the national limelight — universities and scientific bodies are starting to take a harder look at the sorts of scientists they immortalize . There ’s much more work that needs to be done , of row .
“ I signify , he still has his job , ” Willenbring said of Marchant . “ I think a lot of people are wondering what the grasp up is . ”
Earther has reached out to David Marchant for remark and we ’ll update this post if we see back .
revealing : Jane Willenbring was an assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania ’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences while the author was a graduate student there .
AcademiaSexual Harassment
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