Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

TW SH: She is his postdoc. Prof Speed has a duty of care but instead demands a "romantic and intimate relationship" from her. She became depressed & withdrew from study & campus life. Every waking moment, she thought about the harassment, long after she got away.

After her postdoc ends, Barbara needs a job & asks for a profesisonal recommendation, a specialist career requirement in science. The investigation cites written response by Prof Speed who tells a potential employer he won't provide rec b/c "things btw Barbara & me are not good"

Prof Speed then FORWARDS this response to Barbara. She (rightly) sees this as coercion, to force her to bend to his will. In science more so than in other fields, if a supervisor won't give you a recommendation it is a "kiss of death," especially from someone so influential.

Me: "I told @Science_Academy to take very direct action publicly about what they would do with their sexual harassment policies &also pointed them to other materials and practical steps that they could take to be more transparent about where they stand on sexual harassment."

Me: "As leaders in the Australian science community, this type of institution (@Science_Academy) can set the tone for the rest of the science community and they should be using their influence to minimise the harm of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination."

Me: "It's important that they don't stay silent because silence tells the rest of the science community that any woman who speaks out is going to be met with a wall of nonresponse, non-action, that she's alone and it discourages survivors from coming forward & reporting..."