The UC San Diego Optical InfraRed laboratory is committed to the work of creating an inclusive and diverse research environment in which individuals can excel regardless of their intersectional cultural, racial, gender, or otherwise named or currently unnamed identities. We strive to foster a community welcoming of all sociocultural backgrounds and ideologies. We are dedicated to practicing anti-racism and promoting the success of historically oppressed and marginalized peoples. We recognize the historical inequity pervading science and engineering, and believe that cultivating a diverse and inclusive community will improve the quality of our research; more importantly, this will contribute to advancing toward a more just and equitable scientific community and society. This work is an active process and not a landmark to be achieved, but a perpetual effort to create understanding and opportunity across the differences between our researchers through fostering an equitable, open, and positive group culture.

The Optical InfraRed laboratory is located in San Diego County and we recognize the colonial history of the land on which we work, and acknowledge that our facilities were built on the unceded land of the Kumeyaay Nation. We honor the indigenous peoples of the land, and hold deep respect for their cultural traditions and history.

The Optical InfraRed laboratory participates in scientific collaborations across the world, which due to the nature of astronomical research often take place on mountaintops held sacred by indigenous peoples of the land. We recognize the great privilege of utilizing these places for scientific research and acknowledge that we are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from these locations. Specifically, we wish to acknowledge the cultural importance and reverence that the mountain of Mauna Kea holds for the native people of Hawai`i. We are deeply grateful for their land stewardship and for the ongoing ability to conduct research upon this mountain.