You can join a pod using our new Pods management platform - Orca! The new platform makes it easy to find and join a pod, has an administrator console for pod coordinators to manage pod members, and expanded functionality is rolling out through 2021-2022. Existing Pod members  can view and update their profiles in Orca. And Pod member profiles are now fully synced with Gage, our global database of women and gender minorities in STEMM. Gage members can access their Orca profiles and vice versa using the same login!

 

How to Join your Local Pod in the Orca platform

+ If you are already a member of a Pod without a Gage profile, use the same email address you signed up with as your user login

  • Click “I forgot my password” and provide the same email you used to sign up for Pods with
  • You will get an email to reset your password. Click on the provided link to reset your password. You will then be logged in to Orca!
  • If the email you used to sign up for Pods is no longer available (for example, if you have changed institutions or cannot access it), we can update your email address - submit the email change request here.

+ If you are already a member of a Pod with a Gage profile, use the same email address you signed up with for Gage as your user login

  • If the email address linked to your Gage profile account is the same as the email associated with your Pod membership, you will be able to access your Orca account with the same credentials.
  • You have a Gage profile under a different email than the email used for Pods, we can consolidate your accounts for a single sign-on to both Orca and Gage - please submit both emails here and we will consolidate them for you within 2-3 business days.

+ If you are not sure what email you used to sign up for Pods or you are not currently a member of a Pod, you will need to create a new account in Orca.

  • Click the “Sign-up” link and follow the instructions

+ If you are already a member of Gage, you can log in to Orca using your same login information.

  • After clicking the “Sign-up” button, you will receive a message “It appears that you have already signed up for Gage using this email. Would you like to link your Orca account?”
  • Click on the “Link Accounts” button and continue the sign up process for Orca
  • Your Orca and Gage accounts are now connected and you will use the same email and password to sign in to both applications. If you sign into one application (i.e. Orca) and then go to the other application (i.e. Gage), you will not be required to sign in!
  • Once logged in to Orca, click “Join or View Pods” to see the map with the locations of all existing pods and zoom to where you would like to join a pod or you can type in the location under “Find a Pod” in the upper left corner of the map.
    • Click the icon of the Pod you’d like to join
    • You will see an option to join that pod
    • Pod coordinators will approve pending members

+ If there is no pod in your specific location and you would like to start one, click the button to request a new pod at the top left corner of the map.

You may also choose to join the remote pod, which meets virtually

  • Click “Remote Pod” in the upper center of the map

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