SAN FRANCISCO — One of the largest scientific societies in the world is trying to figure out how to help prevent sexual harassment and discrimination among their ranks.

Undergraduates, graduate students, professors and post-doctoral researchers gathered during a session here at at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) fall meeting to grapple with one of the major issues that institutions around the United States have been confronted with this year: How do you combat the problem of harassment in the sciences?

See also: Astronomy community rallies in support of victims in Berkeley sexual harassment case

The session comes on the heels of a scandal that shook the astronomy world earlier this year.

Prominent astronomer Geoff Marcy — a scientist credited with helping to invent the field of alien planet research — resigned from his position at the University of California Berkeley after Buzzfeed revealed details of an investigation that found him guilty of sexually harassing students from 2001 to 2010.

At least one instance of reported harassment took place during a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), an independent science organization with about 7,000 physicists, astronomers, planetary scientists and others as members.

So what role can professional societies like the AAS and AGU play in helping those who have experienced harassment or discrimination?

"Many times, scientific societies may have the ability to act when a university itself or the employer has either legal or procedural impediments," AGU president Margaret Leinen said during the session.

A "tipping point"

The AAS issued a statement supporting the targets of Marcy's advances not long after the investigation became public, and the society has also instituted additional safeguards — like a harassment hotline service — that people can use if they feel threatened and need help during the next AAS meeting in January.

Now, the AGU — an organization with about 60,000 registrants — is trying to develop its own policies to protect its members.

"We have a responsibility to be proactive on this, not just reactive," Leinen said. "We don't want to wait for a situation to erupt within the earth and space science community that is going to call upon us to act, but really to take some proactive measures."

Now is the time to get these policies in place, AAS president Megan Urry told Mashable. The sciences have reached a "tipping point," she added.

"We can either do this right, which is to give people due process and to make the complaints and have them adjudicated, or we can slip back into the bad practices of the past where we just kind of throw up our hands," Urry said.

Sexual harassment at the hands of a prominent person in a scientific field can have wide-reaching effects not only on a person's psyche, but their careers. The career track of students and postdoctoral researchers, for example, are often highly dependent on their academic advisers.

Any harassment by people in such positions of authority and influence can have major repercussions on a young researcher's career opportunities, depending on how they, their academic institution, and the science community at large responds to any complaints.

How to adjust

The AGU already has a policy specifically addressing harassment at its fall meetings, which are the largest gathering of Earth scientists in the world.

The code of conduct states that "harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form will not be tolerated," and there are consequences for those actions, including prohibiting the offending party from attending other meetings.

The AGU also hopes to work closely with organizations already established to help advocate for women in geophysics, like the Association for Women Geoscientists and the Earth Science Women's Network. Also, the AGU plans to educate members about issues involved in discrimination and harassment.

But even these changes aren't quick fixes to a major problem. Addressing harassment that may not have been spoken of publicly in the past isn't easy.

"Let me just say why I think this is so hard. [It's] partly because many people feel our scientific enterprise in the United States is as good as it could possibly be. We have a lot of Nobel prize winners. We have a lot of successful discoveries and so people... equate opening the doors to diversity with somehow dumbing down the profession," Urry said.

"We have to address that head-on, they don't believe that science could be better than it is now."