Thank you for your interest and willingness to test our survey focused on diversity, belonging, and affinity groups in ornithological societies! Your participation and insights will greatly help us improve our research. As a note, while your responses and comments will be used to improve this survey, data collected in this test survey will not be used for any publications, workshops, or other public facing communications. The purpose of this survey is to improve upon our survey that will be used to collect data for a wider NSF funded project focused on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion outcomes in ornithological professional societies.

Hello, and thank you for your interest in our research study focused on the experiences of members of ornithological societies. This study, funded by the National Science Foundation, is being conducted by researchers at Virginia Tech and The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in partnership with three ornithological societies (the Association of Field Ornithologists, American Ornithological Society, and Wilson Ornithological Society). Your participation in this research study is voluntary and anonymous. Your name will never be associated with your response. In addition to questions regarding your experiences in ornithological societies we will also ask you questions regarding your identity, mental wellbeing, and physical health. You may choose to skip any questions you do not want to answer or exit the survey at any time. Data collected in this survey will inform the development of a process for supporting the creation of affinity groups within ornithological societies. There are no known risks associated with this research. The results of the survey will be published in the form of reports, scholarly publications, and will inform the development of affinity groups in ornithological societies. Survey responses will be stored in Qualtrics in a password-protected account that only the research team has access to. Downloaded, de-identified online survey data will be kept on a password-protected server only accessible by the research team. If you have any questions please contact Nathan Thayer at nethayer@vt.edu or Ashley Dayer at dayer@vt.edu. If you have any questions or concerns about this study’s conduct or your rights as a research subject, you may contact the Virginia Tech IRB at 540-231-3732 or at irb@vt.edu. Thank you for your help with this important research!