Dear MARMAM Community, We, the MARMAM Editors, want to thank everyone for participating in the discussion on the role of unpaid internships and barriers to diversity in the field of marine mammalogy. This is a timely discussion and we want to thank those of you who posted for providing an open, honest, and courteous dialogue. To use Dr. Eric Archer’s words, “I think everybody in this debate is well-intentioned and truly wants to help improve the situation. In order to do that, we have to keep talking openly and respectfully listening to each other.” There were a few postings that we did not release from the queue because they were signed “Anonymous” or “A student” from obviously newly made email accounts for the purpose of sending the post, or the posting repeated viewpoints that were already made. It is part of the MARMAM Editorial Policy that each posting we release from the queue be attributed to a person, group, or organization. But we also recognize that providing a viewpoint steeped in personal experiences within a discussion about removing barriers to equality and fostering equity, inclusion, and diversity can be challenging if you are early in your career. We acknowledge that repercussions are real. The two anonymous postings will be collated and sent from the MARMAM email account. We are not trying to stifle any voices, but a Listserv is not a good tool to have a free-flowing conversation, especially one as important and nuanced as breaking down barriers to inequalities in our field. No posts have been deleted, and all postings that were not released from the queue will be forwarded to both the President of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) and the SMM Diversity and Inclusion Committee by Monday, August 3rd. We ask that all future postings on the topic of unpaid internships within the SMM be sent to Dr. Charles Littnan as the President of the SMM ( president@marinemammalscience.org*)* or the SMM Diversity and Inclusion Committee (diversity@marinemammalscience.org). If you are a member of the SMM, you can log into the SMM website and leave your thoughts on the subject: https://marinemammalscience.org/presidents-blog/update-regarding-petition-re... . You can read Dr. Littnan’s update on the unpaid internship discussion in the MARMAM archive here: https://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/marmam/2020-July/012031.html And a note of clarification: MARMAM is not affiliated with any organization. We are not associated with the SMM or any other marine mammal society or organization. We are a small group of marine mammal researchers, managers, and conservationists who volunteer our time to make sure your inboxes do not get overloaded with spam, and we strive to provide you with consistently formatted postings so you can easily find information that matters to you. The views expressed in any posting are the express views of that person, group, or organization. They are not necessarily the views of the Editors. All Editors are all based in the US and we are all members of the SMM, but MARMAM is not a communication tool solely for the SMM. As of today, MARMAM has over 15,000 subscribers worldwide. MARMAM is, and will continue to be, a tool for the communication of marine mammal research and conservation around the globe. We hope you are all well and safe. Sincerely, Your MARMAM Editors Erin LaBrecque Robin Baird Annie Gorgone Courtney Smith -- *The MARMAM listserv is for the communication of marine mammal research and conservation.* https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam