Evaluating the impact of interdisciplinary networking in environmental geochemistry and health: reviewing SEGH conferences and workshops

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While scientific understanding of environmental issues develops through careful observation, experiment and modelling, the application of such advances in the day to day world is much less clean and tidy. Merseyside in northwest England has an industrial heritage from the earliest days of the industrial revolution. Indeed, the chemical industry was borne here. Land contamination issues are rife, as are problems with air quality. Through the examination of one case study for each topic, the practicalities of applied science are explored. An integrated, multidisciplinary response to pollution needs more than a scientific risk assessment. The needs of the various groups (from public to government) involved in the situations must be considered, as well as wider, relevant contexts (from history to European legislation), before a truly integrated response can be generated. However, no such situation exists in isolation and the introduction of environmental investigations and the exploration of suitable, integrated responses will alter the situation in unexpected ways, which must be considered carefully and incorporated in a rolling fashion to enable solutions to continue to be applicable and relevant to the problem being faced. This integrated approach has been tested over many years in Merseyside and found to be a robust approach to ever-changing problems that are well described by the management term, "wicked problems".

“…In multidisciplinary work, all parties are laity to each other and prone to misunderstandings. Multidisciplinary working thrives in small groups and meetings (Stewart et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving attainable outcomes from good science in an untidy world: case studies in land and air pollution

Mahoney¹,

Stewart

Kennedy

et al. 2015

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“…This guide was effective in classifying an article only when author(s) affiliation(s) were clearly described and easily interpreted. For articles that had ambiguous affiliations and could not be easily interpreted by the guide, other means like web searches (used by Stewart et al 2012 ) were sought to establish the author(s) discipline. Later, due to our inability to maintain a reproducible order of classifying the articles and to ensure maximum objectivity, it was necessary to develop an algorithm for the classification process (Fig.…”

Section: Methods and Data Sourcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specific feedback from this activity, as follow-up to one of these meetings, recorded, for example, the reflections of a hydrogeologist on his fresh realization of connections between physical and health sciences fields. Importantly, the need for collaboration between earth/environmental and health sciences professionals was appreciated and encouraged (Stewart et al 2012 ). It also provided evidence of concern from the research community that such activity was problematic and not well received by peers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seeking evidence of multidisciplinarity in environmental geochemistry and health: an analysis of arsenic in drinking water research

Aderibigbe

Stewart

Hursthouse

2017

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A multidisciplinary approach to research affords the opportunity of objectivity, creation of new knowledge and potentially a more generally acceptable solution to problems that informed the research in the first place. It increasingly features in national programmes supporting basic and applied research, but for over 40 years, has been the arena for many research teams in environmental geochemistry and health. This study explores the nature of multidisciplinary research in the earth and health sciences using a sample selected from co-authored articles reporting research on arsenic (As) in drinking water from 1979 to 2013. A total of 889 relevant articles were sourced using the online version of the science citation index—expanded (SCI-expanded). The articles were classified according to author affiliation and later by author discipline/research interests using the Revised Field of Science and Technology Frascati manual DSTI/EAS/STP/NESTI (2006) 19/FINAL and a decision algorithm. Few articles were published on the topic until 2000. More articles were published across all affiliations in the last 10 years of the review period (2004–2013) than in the first 10 years (1979–1988). Only 84 (~9%) articles fell within the “earth and health” only and “earth, health and other” categories when classification was undertaken by author affiliation alone. This suggests that level of collaboration between earth and health scientists in arsenic in drinking water research may be very low. By refining the classification further using author discipline/research interests, only 28 of the 84 articles appear to be co-authored by earth and health scientists alongside professionals in other fields. More than half of these 28 articles involved descriptive non-experimental, observational study designs, limited in direct causal hypotheses and mechanistic investigation. If collaborative research is to lead to the increased multidisciplinary research, early interaction should be encouraged between students from different disciplines. In order to achieve multidisciplinarity in practise, it is imperative that scientific communities and research agencies do more to encourage interaction and integration between researchers from different disciplines. This must develop from educational institutions seeing opportunities to improve graduate skills in an increasingly diverse research landscape.

“…SEGH remains an effective platform for members to exchange ideas within their own field of interest. This has been emphasised in the past by SEGH membership that as a forum provides a strong and supportive environment (Stewart et al 2012), which the board has tried to successfully sustain and grow. Following consultations with members, SEGH is strengthening efforts to better connect the diverse community that is SEGH, to encourage new and practical solutions to Environmental Geochemistry and Health challenges via collaborations.…”

Section: Future Meetings and Conferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH): building for the future

Watts

Argyraki

et al. 2019

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The challenges of sustainable development are ever more pressing, and the skills, interests and capabilities of the SEGH member are well-placed to continue to make more meaningful contributions to the environment, society and well-being. We reflect on the historical development of the society, its response to the dynamic international research landscape and the great opportunities ahead. In 2018, SEGH implemented a new board structure after 2-3 years of consultation, with approval of a new constitution and a new strategy across the large number of international board members. While regions were represented by M. J. Watts (&) Á O.