Graduate students navigating social-ecological research: insights from the Long-Term Ecological Research Network

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Interdisciplinary, collaborative research capable of capturing the feedbacks between biophysical and social systems can improve the capacity for sustainable environmental decision making. Networks of researchers provide unique opportunities to foster social-ecological inquiry. Although insights into interdisciplinary research have been discussed elsewhere, they rarely address the role of networks and often come from the perspectives of more senior scientists. We have provided graduate student perspectives on interdisciplinary degree paths from within the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. Focusing on data from a survey of graduate students in the LTER Network and four self-identified successful graduate student research experiences, we examined the importance of funding, pedagogy, research design and development, communication, networking, and culture and attitude to students pursuing social-ecological research. Through sharing insights from successful graduate student approaches to social-ecological research within the LTER Network, we hope to facilitate dialogue between students, faculty, and networks to improve training for interdisciplinary scientists.

An early career perspective on encouraging collaborative and interdisciplinary research in ecology

“…, Record et al. ). From an individual perspective, researchers may risk burnout trying to juggle the demands of large, globalized peer networks (Caretta et al.…”

“…Developing such ventures may be a risky investment as, despite the widespread acknowledgment of the importance of interdisciplinary research, funding is often less likely to be granted (Bromham et al 2016). This has been dubbed the paradox of interdisciplinarity (Woelert and Millar 2013) and is often explained by the difficulties in selecting review panels that are adequately qualified to review all parts of an interdisciplinary proposal (Boix Mansilla et al 2006, Record et al 2016. From an individual perspective, researchers may risk burnout trying to juggle the demands of large, globalized peer networks (Caretta et al 2018), as well as isolating themselves from their core field, jeopardizing their career prospects (Jones 2010).…”

Integrating team science into interdisciplinary graduate education: an exploration of the SESYNC Graduate Pursuit

“…Graduate students face similar challenges with established researchers and practitioners who engage in IDR and TS. These include the following: (a) team selection and diversity (Morse et al 2007;Newswander and Borrego 2009), (b) problem formulation and knowledge integration (Tress et al 2009), (c) communication and interpersonal skills development (Read et al 2016;Record et al 2016;Tress et al 2007), and (d) cost-benefit balance (Read and Garcia 2015).…”

“…These relate to their status as students and the structure of graduate programs, which prioritize disciplinary-focused research activities (Tress et al 2009). Other scholars identify challenges related to (a) a lack of exposure to and engagement with students of other disciplines or (b) an appropriate supervision, mentoring, and pedagogical approach (Bosque-Pérez et al 2016;Record et al 2016). Consequently, graduate students who engage in S-E research are often challenged to balance the disciplinary depth required by their graduate program while simultaneously broadening their interdisciplinary breadth to address complex S-E issues.…”

KNLTER Network: Facilitating Global Data-Sharing

“…LTER began with a program created by the United in 1980 and international LTER (ILTER) was organized in 1993, in order to facilitate cooperation among scientists engaged in long-term ecological research [1][2][3]. Long-term data archiving and reuse and reliable data curation and publication for data sharing are becoming very important in data-based international collaborative research, Global data exchange is composed of diverse fields and networks of complex structures; therefore, further nationwide interests, such as those from data centers, are needed.…”