Advancing translational research in environmental science: The role and impact of social sciences

Eisenhauer, Emily; Williams, Kathleen C.; Margeson, Keahna; Paczuski, Sebastian; Hano, Mary Clare; Mulvaney, Kate K.

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2021.03.010

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Stakeholders and researchers alike pointed to how this integrated research project has allowed for more innovative ideas and approaches than they could have developed individually. This aligns with past findings that in solutions-driven research public involvement helps ensure science-backed decisions meet community needs (Eisenhauer et al 2021). While they had differing views on how to implement SDR, researchers were not resentful of a managerial priority of involving stakeholders and more public perspectives into research design, implementation, and product development.…”

Section: Constructive Collaborationsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…This points to a potential benefit of the institutional charge of taking a solutions-driven approach, as it has prompted researchers to continually consider the impacts of their research on the communities and stakeholders with whom they are working. It also shows progress in integrating multiple disciplines and stakeholder engagement in environmental research projects at EPA (Maxwell et al 2019;Eisenhauer et al 2021).…”

Section: Transferable Takeawaysmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…As this is high intercoder reliability, this confirmed the current dataset was complete enough to conclude the mid-project interviews. Analyzing responses and codes that were relevant only within the researcher group provided clarity on how researchers' experiences were similar to one another, while comparison between the researcher and stakeholder groups allowed for analysis of how these groups' experiences with the project differed (Eisenhauer et al 2021). Quotes used in this paper have been edited to remove filler words like uh and um.…”

Section: Collecting Participant Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers expressed feeling a lack of clarity at times in how they are expected to contribute to stakeholder engagement, and how they would receive professional credit/ acknowledgment for these efforts. This need for delineation of roles for stakeholder engagement efforts is common to interdisciplinary research projects (Eisenhauer et al 2021). While at times specific responsibilities may have been unclear, all interviewees did understand the broad expertise the collaboration brought together.…”

Section: Clarifying Expectationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SDR has the potential to help bridge the research-practice gap by using public involvement to inform scientific research decisions to ensure they meet community and societal needs (Eisenhauer et al 2021). As an interdisciplinary approach to research, SDR brings together the expertise of social and biophysical scientists, along with the experiential knowledge of practitioners to tackle complex problems.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Using researcher and stakeholder perspectives to develop promising practices to improve stakeholder engagement in the solutions-driven research process

Canfield

Mulvaney

Chatelain³

2022

Socio Ecol Pract Res

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Translational approaches to science have the potential to produce research that better meets the needs of community stakeholders and advances scientific understanding. Researchers involved in translational research make committed efforts to increased engagement and communication with stakeholders throughout the research process, from planning through implementation and evaluation. Referred to as solutions-driven research within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research Development, this approach is being piloted on Cape Cod (Barnstable County), Massachusetts. EPA researchers are working in close coordination with community partners on the Cape to better understand and address challenges with managing nonpoint source nitrogen. The pilot also aims to assess the usefulness of solutions-driven research approaches for application in future EPA research efforts. Using semi-structured interviews with researchers and other stakeholders, we examined researchers' and stakeholders' perspectives on the impacts of intentional and intensive stakeholder engagement on research efforts to improve coastal water quality. This study provides a reflexive assessment of the perceived benefits and drawbacks for researchers and other stakeholders when there is an institutional expectation of an increased focus on engagement. We found that engagement has been truly intertwined with research in the pilot, participants perceived an improvement in research usefulness through developing valuable collaborative relationships, and that these relationships required significant time commitments to maintain. We also identified a need for an efficient infrastructure for developing and distributing communication materials for continued engagement with diverse stakeholders throughout the research process. The paper provides transferable practices for researchers seeking to use a solutions-driven research approach based on lessons learned thus far in how to support researchers and research planning in simultaneously prioritizing effective engagement and sound collaborative environmental science research to address a localized environmental challenge. This is an innovative approach in that interviews occurred as the implementation phase of the project began, with the goal of implementing the lessons learned outlined here in the ongoing project.

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Section: Constructive Collaborationsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Transferable Takeawaysmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Collecting Participant Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Clarifying Expectationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using researcher and stakeholder perspectives to develop promising practices to improve stakeholder engagement in the solutions-driven research process

Canfield

Mulvaney

Chatelain³

2022

Socio Ecol Pract Res

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Embedding communication concepts in forecasting training increases students' understanding of ecological uncertainty

Woelmer,

Moore,

Lofton

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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Communicating and interpreting uncertainty in ecological model predictions is notoriously challenging, motivating the need for new educational tools, which introduce ecology students to core concepts in uncertainty communication. Ecological forecasting, an emerging approach to estimate future states of ecological systems with uncertainty, provides a relevant and engaging framework for introducing uncertainty communication to undergraduate students, as forecasts can be used as decision support tools for addressing real‐world ecological problems and are inherently uncertain. To provide critical training on uncertainty communication and introduce undergraduate students to the use of ecological forecasts for guiding decision‐making, we developed a hands‐on teaching module within the Macrosystems Environmental Data‐Driven Inquiry and Exploration (EDDIE; MacrosystemsEDDIE.org) educational program. Our module used an active learning approach by embedding forecasting activities in an R Shiny application to engage ecology students in introductory data science, ecological modeling, and forecasting concepts without needing advanced computational or programming skills. Pre‐ and post‐module assessment data from more than 250 undergraduate students enrolled in ecology, freshwater ecology, and zoology courses indicate that the module significantly increased students' ability to interpret forecast visualizations with uncertainty, identify different ways to communicate forecast uncertainty for diverse users, and correctly define ecological forecasting terms. Specifically, students were more likely to describe visual, numeric, and probabilistic methods of uncertainty communication following module completion. Students were also able to identify more benefits of ecological forecasting following module completion, with the key benefits of using forecasts for prediction and decision‐making most commonly described. These results show promise for introducing ecological model uncertainty, data visualizations, and forecasting into undergraduate ecology curricula via software‐based learning, which can increase students' ability to engage and understand complex ecological concepts.

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Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: An umbrella review of 36 systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Nyadanu

Dunne

Tessema

et al. 2022

Environmental Pollution

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Advancing translational research in environmental science: The role and impact of social sciences

Cited by 13 publications

References 35 publications

Using researcher and stakeholder perspectives to develop promising practices to improve stakeholder engagement in the solutions-driven research process

Using researcher and stakeholder perspectives to develop promising practices to improve stakeholder engagement in the solutions-driven research process

Embedding communication concepts in forecasting training increases students' understanding of ecological uncertainty

Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: An umbrella review of 36 systematic reviews and meta-analyses

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