The mission of the Department of Marine Sciences is to advance marine research, education & communication for the benefit of society and the environment. We believe this mission can only be achieved by including people from a range of backgrounds and life experiences. Recognizing that barriers like discrimination limit participation of minoritized groups in the Earth sciences, we formed a committee dedicated to justice, equity, diversity & inclusion (JEDI). The JEDI committee seeks to create a more inclusive & diverse department by identifying and dismantling barriers to recruitment and retention of under-represented minorities. We acknowledge this will require ongoing effort and concrete action to fulfill our departmental mission.