OCEAN EDUCATION Whirlpool in Western Passage at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, with Deer Island in the background. Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative Trains Students to See Through Turbulent Systems By Kristina Cammen, Gabriella Marafino, ABSTRACT. Despite the availability of interdisciplinary academic training pro- Sarah Burton, Jillian Dow, Emma Dullaert, grams, the practice of environmental science is often hampered by a lack of conver- Madalyn Jorge, Kate Macolini, gence across diverse disciplines. This gap is particularly salient in settings character- Louise McGarry, Christopher Tremblay, ized by complex environmental issues, such as multiple-use coastal ecosystems. In Jessica Jansujwicz, Tora Johnson, response, we developed and implemented a training, research, and communication framework to provide undergraduates with an authentic operative experience work- Lauren Ross, and Gayle Zydlewski ing at the interface of interdisciplinary science and public decision- making within a case study of marine renewable energy. In our program, students gained hands-on experience with the scientific process and learned how to make information rele- vant, useful, and accessible to diverse stakeholder groups. Application of this frame- work demonstrates that the process of integrating data from biological (visual and acoustic monitoring of fish and marine mammals), physical (hydrodynamics), and social (local ecological knowledge) sciences can provide a more complete under- standing of complex and turbulent ecosystems for better informed decision- making. We offer several recommendations to facilitate the adaptation and imple- mentation of our interdisciplinary framework to diverse research contexts, with a focus on interdisciplinary training for the next generation of marine scientists. 254 Oceanography | Vol.34, No.1 INTRODUCTION energy in coastal areas and the associated room setting hampers efforts to translate Environmental science is inherently an need for environmental impact monitor- knowledge into action. interdisciplinary field, with academic ing. Traditional environmental monitor- In this paper, we first outline our train- training programs that include course- ing programs often fall short in settings ing, research, and communication frame- work in the physical, biological, and where environmental impacts are likely work and describe the case study that moti- social sciences. Yet, the practice of envi- to be highly complex and distributed vated the development of the WPSRC. ronmental science is often hampered by a across diverse components of an ecosys- We then share how undergraduates were lack of convergence among these diverse tem (Thomas, 1993; Maurer et al., 1999). engaged in an integrated approach to data disciplines. This gap exists despite sig- Effects of renewable energy develop- collection, analysis, and communication, nificant efforts to design training pro- ment in coastal systems can include, for and discuss the challenges we faced along grams in environmental and sustainabil- example, changes to the physical struc- the way. We conclude by offering several ity sciences that aim to prepare students ture of an environment, altered biology, recommendations to facilitate the adap- to “craft usable knowledge” through inter- and cascading effects on associated nat- tation and implementation of our inter- disciplinary collaborations and stake- ural resource-dependent human com- disciplinary, student- focused framework holder partnerships (S.G. Roy et al., munities (Dadswell et al., 1986; Cullen- to diverse research contexts. 2019). Improvements to curriculum- Unsworth et al., 2013; McDowell and based training programs alone may not Ford, 2014). Policy development and AN INTERDISCIPLINARY be sufficient to produce environmental decision- making in these systems are fur- TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND practitioners that are fluent in inter- ther complicated by multiple, compet- COMMUNICATION FRAMEWORK disciplinary research and communica- ing marine resource uses and uncertainty The University of Maine is one of many tion. These limitations are particularly surrounding cumulative impacts (Lester institutions nationwide that promote salient in settings that are characterized et al., 2010; Fox et al., 2017). interdisciplinary research to train under- by complex and dynamic environmental Although several frameworks for graduates in innovative and integra- and societal issues, such as coastal oceans. holistic monitoring and management tive ways of thinking (Davis et al., 2015; Here, we describe the development and of coastal ecosystems have been pro- S.G. Roy et al., 2019). Multidisciplinary implementation of a training, research, posed (Levin et al., 2009; Christie, 2011; and team-based approaches to under- and communication framework to provide Alexander et al., 2019), their implemen- graduate research have been shown to undergraduates with an authentic expe- tation is stymied by barriers to integra- promote students’ academic engage- rience working at the interface of inter- tion across different disciplines and dif- ment (Koch et al., 2017) and their acqui- disciplinary science and public decision- ferent types of knowledge (Cash, 2006). sition of skills important for employ- making within the context of marine In particular, synthesizing knowledge ability following graduation (Juhl et al., renewable energy. Students are increas- into a form that is practical for manag- 1997; Doerschuk et al., 2016). We ingly interested in professional paths ers to use in making day-to-day deci- approached these goals through a train- that offer active engagement in solving sions continues to be a significant chal- ing, research, and communication frame- sustainability problems. Recognition of lenge (Clark et al., 2016). Efforts to work that engaged students, alongside the benefits of using a sustainability sci- strengthen research collaborations that research mentors and diverse stakehold- ence problem, such as marine renew- transcend disciplinary approaches and ers (e.g., industry and community mem- able energy, as a focal point for student include input from various communities bers, policy- and decision- makers), with training is emerging (Hart et al., 2016). of knowledge, including all relevant disci- the integration of physical, biological, By bringing together faculty and students plines and stakeholder groups, has gained and social science data relevant to a cur- from different disciplines to actively considerable momentum (e.g., Lang rent environmental and societal issue engage in solving a complex sustainability et al., 2012). However, while these previ- (Figure 1). The key tenets of our frame- science problem, we aim to “re-envision ous experiences offer guidance on what work include (1) a training program that the role of students” and build future should be considered when designing emphasizes experiential, bidirectional capacity (Hart et al., 2016). and conducting integrative collaborative learning across diverse epistemologies, We established the Western Passage research (e.g., Jansujwicz and Johnson, (2) an interdisciplinary research program Student Research Collaborative (WPSRC) 2015), student training opportunities that is intentionally open to iteratively in the spring of 2019 to engage under- are not explicitly considered. A lack of reconsidering objectives and method- graduates in a one-year training pro- such opportunities to provide upcoming ologies to ensure their continued rele- gram focused on research relevant to an marine scientists with practice in inter- vance, and (3) a communication plan area of growing interest and contention: disciplinary thinking outside of the more that emphasizes reflexive communication the development of marine renewable traditionally disciplinary-distinct class- among researchers and stakeholders. Oceanography | March 2021 255 TRAINING. The research collaborative room into practice. Students engaged COMMUNICATION. Our stakeholder- intentionally included people from dif- with the scientific process from start to engaged approach to data collection and ferent disciplines (e.g., physical, bio- finish, including planning and executing sharing emphasizes the need for pro- logical, and social sciences), differ- fieldwork and data analyses as well as pre- active and transparent communica- ent career stages (e.g., undergraduate to senting research findings in written and tion throughout the interdisciplinary early career and tenured faculty), and dif- oral formats. Through turning data into research process. We committed to fre- ferent career tracks (e.g., academic and stories and stories into data, students quent meetings in person or via remote non-academic), who each brought their gained insight into how to make informa- conferencing to provide space and time own way of knowing or seeing the world tion relevant, useful, and accessible. for formal and informal discussions (i.e., unique epistemologies). The WPSRC and learning. Interdisciplinary discus- included five undergraduates who were RESEARCH. Drawing upon discrete dis- sions at full research collaborative meet- co-mentored by individuals from differ- ciplinary areas of expertise, our initial ings were fodder for “aha” moments ent disciplines, including one graduate approaches to the research were based that are harder to come by in isola- student, five faculty, two research asso- within the methods and practices of sin- tion. Communication with stakeholders ciates, and one marine extension asso- gular disciplines. However,
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