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Advice From the Field: Practical Skills, Challenges, and How to Support Early Career Ecologists
Introduction
Conducting fieldwork, or collecting data in an outdoor setting, is a common experience for many in ecology. While fieldwork inherently requires training in data collection methodology, field ecology often requires knowledge of social, cultural, organizational, and other practical skills that are not associated with the scientific method but are just as critical to an ecologist's success and well-being in a field setting. These skills are not readily recognized for their importance in fieldwork and are not developed with the same attention as those typically associated with research, such as proficiency with sampling equipment. However, this approach can negatively impact both the research itself and experience of ecologists, especially for those new to the field.
To address this gap, nine field ecologists from varied backgrounds gave presentations in a session focused on providing fieldwork advice during the 107th Ecological Society Annual Meeting in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The primary goal for this session was for speakers to share practical lessons and advice learned from their own experiences. The speakers shared skills they wished they had learned prior to conducting fieldwork and how they navigated assumptions around physical, mental, and social expectations in the field. In addition, they discussed how they overcame deficits in knowledge considered “commonplace” by those with experience in the outdoors, as well as other personal and professional barriers to conducting successful fieldwork in ecology. By doing so, the speakers aimed to address and minimize barriers to ecologists beginning their careers, especially those who have limited or no experience preparing for fieldwork, and for whom fieldwork may present unique challenges. The content of the presentations is summarized by the participating speakers in the following sections, with points addressed during the audience “Question and Answer” portion of the session reviewed in the discussion section.
When fieldwork “engenders” danger: Unique challenges faced by queer and transgender ecologists and how allies can help (Ezra Kottler)
In their talk, Dr. Ezra Kottler discusses some of the specific challenges faced by transgender and gender-nonconforming scientists in doing fieldwork safely. They note that, while there have been important strides made in gender parity in ecology thanks to the trailblazing work of many amazing women ecologists, our field is only beginning to acknowledge and address the experiences of queer ecologists who do not fit into the gender binary. Ezra's expertise on this issue comes from personal experience, as halfway through their PhD program they came out as transgender and nonbinary and began to use a new name and pronouns. Being the first transgender scientist in many of the research settings they worked in, they had to do a lot of self-advocacy to access resources and supports they needed to succeed in their graduate program. They are now working to lessen barriers for all transgender field scientists through the Trans and Gender-nonconforming Fieldwork Alliance.
Ezra described some of the major challenges for transgender ecologists in the following areas: travel, fieldwork locations, and home institutions.
Travel
Many cisgender people are unaware that when a person goes through a body scanner at airport security in the United States, a TSA agent presses one of two buttons: male, or female, based on their appearance (not what's on their ID, or what they self-report). The machine then scans differently based on which button was pressed, and if their body parts do not match what is expected on the scan, the person will be flagged and have to undergo a pat-down search. This means that for transgender ecologists, getting onto an airplane to attend a conference or do fieldwork can be terrifying, invasive, and potentially dangerous. Registering for TSA pre-check can help alleviate this issue (as those passengers can walk through a metal detector instead of a body scanner), but requires funds that transgender graduate students may not have.
Fieldwork locations
Once queer ecologists have arrived at their field site, they may face further dangers. The Pride Field Network has a resource on their website showing which countries criminalize LGBTQ+ identities at the federal level or in certain territories. Even in countries like the United States where LGBTQ+ identities are not criminalized, many states do not have legal protections from discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Ezra further notes that, while they did have legal protections in Maryland and Virginia where they did the majority of their graduate fieldwork, the conservative culture of the rural areas they worked in (displayed prominently through Trump yard signs and Confederate flags) made them worried for their safety and feel the need to hide their identity as much as possible.
Home institutions
Barriers to the productivity, well-being, and safety of transgender ecologists when working at their home institutions center around healthcare access, housing access, bathroom access, and basic respect in the workplace. The United States has a major shortage of doctors and therapists with sufficient training to treat transgender patients (Zatloff et al. 2021), and this shortage is more pronounced in states with anti-LGBTQ+ policies (Hollinsaid et al. 2022). With no federal protection from housing discrimination in the United States, LGBTQ+ people are at higher risk of being denied housing, evicted, or charged higher rent prices than their cis/straight counterparts. And even at liberal institutions, bias incidents against transgender students are common.
What can allies do to support trans and queer ecologists? Ezra emphasizes that allies should believe, include, and support their queer colleagues or mentees. The simple act of putting up explicit signage in your workplace to indicate that LGBTQ+ scientists are welcome can make a difference, as it is not something that queer scientists can safely assume if it is not explicit. Allies can volunteer with DEI committees at their institutions and advocate for better access to healthcare, travel support, safe bathrooms, and dorms for transgender scientists. Above all, mentors should value student safety above research products.
Poisonous plants to soil pits—unexpected hazards to expect as a scientist in the field (Michelle L. Talal)
Dr. Michelle Talal is a Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholar at Tel Aviv University. She is an urban ecologist who investigates biodiversity, visitor preferences, and sustainable management in cities. Prior to her postdoctoral research, she worked as an environmental consultant and health and safety coordinator for a range of environmental projects.
Can you think of a time when you encountered a hazard on the job? Perhaps you brushed up against some poison ivy or got overheated during a long day in the field. It is possible that you did not anticipate a soil pit ahead of you or got lost during an afternoon on a winding forest trail? In her talk, Michelle explained how we are often excited to begin our ecological field research right away and start collecting data, but some basic preparation can prevent us from exposing ourselves and our coworkers to a range of potentially dangerous situations.
Michelle discussed how there are many hazards that we may encounter in the field such as exposure to cold/heat stress and hazardous materials/chemicals at contaminated sites. We may also encounter infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and/or fungi that may be transferred to us by direct/indirect contact, food, or vectors such as mosquitos and ticks (Mayo Clinic 2022). In addition, there may be unexpected visitors present at our field sites, such as other people or non-human animals.
These unforeseen circumstances may result in fascinating and/or humorous stories to tell our family and friends, but unfortunately, many workers have experienced injury and even death on the job. According to the National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), the agricultural, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry category has a higher-than-average fatal injury rate (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022). Our work as ecologists is not exclusively related to this industry category, but it is important to consider our potentially overlapping risks since we may have similar tasks and working environments.
- Becoming covered in blackberry thorns while hiking to a field site in a dense forest.
- Slipping and falling on ice and snow while holding sophisticated, expensive equipment.
- Hiking eight miles to an elevation of 7,000 feet and realizing that there was no cell phone service.
- Performing a solo site visit and coming across an unexpected campsite.
- Accidently stepping into an unflagged soil pit during a wetland delineation.
- Being stung by a string ray in the ocean after forgetting to shuffle feet in the sand.
- Create a site-specific health and safety plan to review the potential site hazards, list important contact information, and prepare a plan of action in case of an emergency.
- Have team discussions before, during, and after fieldwork about safety.
- Have a buddy system in place to have support while in the field, especially in the case of an emergency.
- Prepare a first-aid medical kit and always take it with you to the field.
- Obtain all necessary training for fieldwork, including working in areas with hazardous chemicals/materials, remote locations, and difficult terrains.
In summary, Michelle emphasized that we, as scientists, need to remember to expect the unexpected, prepare for our fieldwork to reduce potential injury and/or death, and most importantly, to enjoy the adventure.
Supporting participants in remote field expeditions (Pacifica Sommers)
Dr. Pacifica Sommers grew up camping often with her family. Although there were many stepping stones that helped her build from a weekend camping trip in the local mountains to weeks of camping in Antarctica for her postdoctoral research, she had the advantage of building on a solid base of experience with many outdoors skills, such as how to effectively layer for warmth and how to relieve oneself without a toilet in sight. This is a skill set many students who could excel at fieldwork do not have the opportunity to build with their families.
- What feels like an “extended period” or a “remote location” to a fifth grader may be very different than what a seasoned researcher considers remote or extended, so it is important to consider how far away from home participants feel, even if the location is relatively accessible by university risk management and logistics standards. Establish regular communication before the expedition and use check-ins to understand how participants are feeling and what they need.
- Make sure participants have the gear they need to be safe, not just physically but emotionally. Beyond just having the required warm layers, for example, it is a huge morale boost for some people to have a handy thermos they can use for hot tea or some crossword puzzles to fill down time.
- Food and mealtimes are important not only for physical safety, but an opportunity for morale boosting and for inclusion of all participants. The food available on a field expedition or outdoor science program may be substantially different than the food participants are used to eating at home. Think about whether the expedition can incorporate different types of food, including some “comfort food” along with more “nutritious” offerings. If at all feasible, give participants some choices about what to eat, either in the moment or in the planning for the expedition.
- Ensure participants know what to expect in terms of bathroom facilities, or lack thereof. If the group will expect to be hiking without facilities for several hours, prepare students for how to relieve themselves. Urinating on the ground may not be something girls in particular have done before, and a quick tutorial may be needed. Using humor and having the group model squatting positions while fully clothed can be especially helpful.
- Establish an explicit code of conduct and norms that participants not only acknowledge, but ideally have some ownership of and contributions to. Beyond the minimum provisions banning physical, sexual, or emotional harassment, and providing a clear chain of reporting options accessible to participants should they experience harassment, a code of conduct is an opportunity to set a goal of positive norms for the group. It can provide the framework for communication to work through the conflicts that will almost inevitably arise.
- Nothing has generated so much disagreement in Pacifica's experience as “mornings.” Differences in personal schedule can unintentionally lead to inequitable division of labor in preparing group materials or plans for the day. The division of labor might work fine for some groups, but should at least be acknowledged, and if it becomes a problem, revisited.
- Be sure to hold space at the end of the day or the program for debriefing and reflection, and to acknowledge and record the learnings to improve for future expeditions.
To create a more diverse and inclusive field of ecology in the future, we need to provide opportunities for young scientists to experience the adventure of expeditions, exploration, and discovery in a positive and encouraging way. So get out there and take some young scientists with you!
Now with added chaos! Fieldwork with ADD (Cait Rottler)
Even under the best circumstances, fieldwork can be chaotic. Tools break, tires go flat, weather happens, or something else unexpected occurs. Planning for these contingencies takes ingenuity and focus, as does enacting those backup plans once your original plan fails. But what happens when you have a condition characterized by, among other things, trouble focusing and difficulty enacting plans even when you have spent hours making them? In her talk, Dr. Cait Rottler talked about the challenges she has faced navigating fieldwork with ADD, as well as some of her coping strategies for dealing with them. The challenges Cait noted can primarily be sorted into two groups: pre-fieldwork challenges, such as in planning, dealing with logistics, and gathering field equipment, and during-fieldwork challenges, such as keeping track of data and samples, dealing with the unexpected, and maintaining focus.
Pre-fieldwork
Planning
For many with ADD or another executive functioning disorder, linear thinking from the beginning to the end of a long, complex process can seem like an insurmountable challenge. The trouble is often in coming up with the middle; you know where you're starting, and where you need to end, but not how to get from start to finish. To counter this, Cait uses various strategies. First, she talks things through with someone more experienced. Second, she operates on the philosophy that “when all else fails, do something.” When she encounters a step she's having trouble proceeding past in planning, she will identify her various options and pick one, and see if that helps her work forward.
Remembering to bring necessary equipment
Finally, as far as pre-fieldwork was concerned, Cait noted the difficulty of ensuring that all of the field equipment actually makes it to the field. For this, she uses a packing list that she double checks with others going on the field trip. The packing list doubles as a checklist, and she loads everything into laundry hampers to take to the car. Where possible, she takes things to the car the night before and has someone double check she has not forgotten anything. Where this is not possible, she puts everything in a pile blocking (or nearly blocking) a door she has to go through to get to the car. For things that cannot be stacked next to the door, such as refrigerated items, she puts reminders in her phone alarms in the morning and attaches a note to the door where the rest of the equipment is waiting. She has also been known to stack small things on top of her keys.
During fieldwork
A consistent challenge for Cait is in the variable and distracting nature of fieldwork. The more there is to distract her, the higher the likelihood that she will forget something or make a mistake that could have been easily avoided. Because simply “paying better attention” is not something she has had very much success with, she has learned to plan ahead for not only the chaos and distractions, but also how she knows she will mentally react to them.
Keeping track of data and samples
One of the biggest challenges Cait faced during her PhD fieldwork was keeping track of all of the data and samples she was collecting. Her study included 19 distinct sites, each with a paired undisturbed area for comparison. Within each site, she collected multiple soil and plant community samples. While differentiating between soil samples within a site was initially challenging, she invented an easy, straightforward code that included the depth, location, and whether it was on the site or the undisturbed area. An unexpected challenge was in differentiating between the sites themselves once back at the lab, and doing so led to a rapid and painful learning curve when she lost multiple samples due to labeling errors. She offers the following advice to avoid her own mistakes: (1) Use numbers for site names sparingly, and use numbers that can't be confused with one another and are not too long. (2) Print or write out labels and affix them to sample containers ahead of time. (3) Rubber band or bag all sample containers by site (or, if site is too big, by some smaller division). (4) Have one or two other people check at each site that you are using the correctly labeled bags.
Dealing with the unexpected
Dealing with the unexpected is a challenge for almost everyone, but Cait finds it challenging because it causes her already unruly thoughts to scatter. This makes it incredibly difficult to identify the most effective way to cope with whatever has happened. In addition, there is a certain pressure, especially when leading fieldwork, to have an answer for everything and remain calm and rational. However, Cait recommends forgetting that you are supposed to have an answer. She has found that, often, the rest of the field crew have excellent insight when things go wrong, and that most problems can be solved, or at least minimized, simply by brainstorming with her field team. Talking through the problem with others also helps her focus and stay on-task.
Fieldwork presents challenges for everyone, but some are a particular problem for people with ADD or other executive function disorders. The above suggestions for how to cope with some of them are not exhaustive and will almost certainly not work for everyone. However, Cait hopes that they can serve as a starting point for those who are having similar problems as she has dealt with, or that they can help others to avoid mistakes she has made. And, finally, she encourages everyone to find the methods that work best for them and to discard or modify those that don't!
How to be as prepared as you can to go to the field, to not be prepared at all (Lina Aragón)
Scientists who do fieldwork are not just limited to papers and theories. They also have the opportunity to materialize their ideas and make discoveries by exploring some of the most breathtaking places on Earth. However, the journey to the field is not without its challenges, and the period before embarking on a trip, known as the “pre-field season,” can be a source of immense stress and anxiety. During the “pre-field season,” scientists write a thousand lists, pack their instruments, notebooks, food, batteries, and everything their backpack can fit. It is also when ideas flourish, anxiety arises, and we discover the world of multiple indescribable emotions. This chaos is understandable when we realize that fieldwork is the peak of a protracted process of reading, writing, brainstorming, discussing, and doing all these things repeatedly to find the right questions, informative hypotheses, and adequate methodologies through iteration.
For Lina, a PhD student at the University of Miami, there is one caveat; there is no amount of preparation that can fully ready you for the field! Every field season is a new opportunity to gain experience, learn, and grow. The field offers improvement in at least six skills transforming us over and over again into better researchers.
The first skill is resourcefulness. Before going to the field, we do the math and pack extra things in case we find something we did not consider, or the environment is more challenging. Despite our carefulness, we cannot plan for unforeseeable events and the possibility of things and plans breaking apart. Moreover, when something happens, we cannot stop for the day. We need to find a way to achieve our goal with what we have at hand. Remember, a Google search will not be possible, and the phone-a-friend option to call our advisor unfeasible. This is the moment in which our abilities to solve puzzles, build a Lego set, bake, or whatever you can think of become our best allies to fulfill our dream without the things we should have brought.
The second skill is teamwork. There is no better and riskier opportunity to improve our team skills than during fieldwork. The field requires long hikes if you are in the forest, the ability to breathe at high altitude if you are up in the Andes mountains, extensive hours under the sun if you want to study aquatic mammals, and a ton of different abilities depending on the organisms you study. Most of the time, you are never alone. We work in groups of at least two, and sometimes up to 10. We make decisions and solve problems at every step. To endure this, we should be able to navigate difficult conversations and to understand other people's boundaries and capabilities. We should be humble enough to recognize what we and our teammates can and cannot do. Fieldwork is the perfect time to improve our communication skills, be willing to deeply listen, and to care for others and ourselves without hesitation.
While in the field, we also need to be curious, flexible, and creative. Nature tells stories that we can only read when we stop to observe, hear, and touch without eagerness. This is our time to be a child again, asking why as often as we want. Our curiosity, the third skill, will allow us to ask significant and interesting questions to the organism we study and the environment in which they live. Flexibility, the fourth skill, is required because the weather tends to be unpredictable, internet access is uncommon, and risks can be fairly common. You should be capable of adapting, not transforming the environment to fit your needs, and accommodating yourself to the environment in which you are. You should be capable of unfolding even plan Z. You need to be creative, the fifth skill, because the story told by organisms and their ecosystems can be quite different from the one you wrote for the proposal. Sometimes the field requires an entirely different plot, and we should be able to ask other types of questions and look for their answers.
Finally, going to other human beings' homes requires epistemic humility. This is the sixth skill and one of the most important. We tend to go to places we describe as remote and difficult to access. However, those places are the homes and territories of other human beings, including Indigenous communities. We for sure know something about these places and can study them. Nevertheless, we should be aware that no one understands these places better than the communities that live there. We should be open to hearing them, to learn from them. We should be willing for them to guide and actively participate in the research process. We should recognize that this is a learning process in two ways in which every part has something to offer and something to learn. We will be truthful collaborators and not just information stealers by acknowledging that we do not know everything and that there is still a world to discover through others' eyes.
Lina's invitation is to see your fieldwork as a fruitful challenge. A challenge in which you become a better researcher. This challenge requires you to solve problems and achieve dreams with what you have at hand. It also requires thoughtful work in building psychologically safe teams willing to have difficult conversations, clear communication, and awareness of every team member's capability, including your own. You should be curious to keep discovering the world you live in, flexible to unforeseen changes, and creative to build from scratch. Finally, it is a unique and amazing time to be humble learners, capable of engaging in safe, fun, and honest collaboration with those that know better the places and organisms we aim to study. So, are you ready to take on the challenge and discover the world through a new lens?
Diapers and data collection: Babies and life as a field ecologist (Tara B. B. Bishop)
The journey of motherhood, a choice both deliberate and sometimes unforeseen, holds a significant place. Dr. Tara Bishop exemplifies the fusion of being a dedicated field ecologist and a mother, emphasizing the importance of defining one's motivations for career choices. With two children in under 3 years, Tara left her teaching job and started her PhD focusing on desert plant ecology. This shift prompted a critical introspection into her aspirations, underscoring the need to reconcile her love for her previous role with her desire to embark on new endeavors. She had to identify her “why.” Tara invites all who are thinking about graduate school and/or career changes to identify their “why” for doing so. This foundation stabilized her through much of the growing pains, which are uncomfortable and exhausting, that are required to shift traditional paradigms of parental roles within a family. Decisions, planning, implementation, and adjustments have taken years of collective work from Tara and her husband Michael Bishop. After 14 years of marriage, Michael shares that while it is important to normalize conversations and ask questions about co-parenting, men who traditionally do not “know” about managing a household have resources besides their partners to figure that out. Husbands can research how best to deal with the laundry or plan chores for the kids without adding to their wife's mental load, which is often unjustly heavier.
Tough conversations
It is incredibly difficult and nerve-wracking for many pregnant people to tell their advisor/supervisor that they are pregnant. Tara found it even harder to tell her advisor she had a miscarriage. She believes that one of the most important things people need to remember is to consider tone and language when having these conversations: You are not asking permission to be pregnant. You are not asking permission to have a miscarriage.
Tara highlights the importance of respectful communication when addressing such life-altering events. It is imperative to recognize that pregnancy and miscarriage necessitate time for physical and emotional healing, akin to recovering from field accidents. As Tara experienced both, a miscarriage and a life-threatening ATV accident in the field, and she attests they are both difficult burdens to bear. If an advisor/supervisor is not aware of the seriousness of a miscarriage, it is time to get educated.
Pregnancy
During pregnancies, Tara underscored the significance of acknowledging the physical and emotional demands and also seeking accommodations. Simple yet impactful adjustments, such as a personal umbrella or simple tripod stool (purchased with research monies), and maintaining self-care, substantially eased the process. Accepting one's limitations and embracing help when offered proved more fruitful than stubbornly pushing forward, improving overall productivity and well-being.
Breastfeeding
Hopefully, a student/employee has an advisor/supervisor who is a reasonable human being and will not have barriers to breastfeeding parents regardless of legal status, though there are many states with legal protections for breastfeeding mothers if needs be. Tara found products like a hand pump and hands-free pumping bra with a car adapter to pump while driving to be useful in the field. She immersed herself in online support groups and with resources to support her such as free breast pumps through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
Missing moments and milestones
Tara has missed many moments such as first steps and first days of school. She grounds herself in her “why” and remembers that her children are safe and cared for. She strives for the “make some, miss some” strategy and notices that it overall is more difficult for her than her children. This means non-traditional work schedules, or maxi-flex as some say. She also includes her children when possible in the field, which builds experience for her children in addition to strengthening her relationship with them.
People in power
Tara suggested authority figures normalize that their employees have lives that don't stop during the work day. When someone asked to reschedule a meeting, Tara fought the gut reaction to miss her kid's soccer game to accommodate the colleague and instead suggested another time to reschedule. She found that the meetings still happened AND she was able to make more of those family moments happen. Communicating compassionately and increasing flexibility will foster a culture of putting research above people. Data are important, and people are more important. Advisors need to set clear expectations. If expectations and deadlines are not communicated, it is unreasonable to expect them to be accomplished. When creating expectations, you may think you are being helpful by not scheduling the young mother for fieldwork because you are worried about her being away from her kids, but Tara stated this is not your decision to make. A mother is perfectly capable of making those decisions for themselves. And Tara reminds everyone that it is never alright to make any comments or jokes about anyone's body.
In the end, Tara has found that viewing her life from a holistic and big-picture view helped keep in focus the day-to-day life needed to be successful. Non-striving mindfulness and understanding the importance of her well-being have helped Tara embrace the mess and live the journey. Many have told her that her children are only young once as a reason to not pursue a career. There is no disputing the fact that children grow up. And there is also space to allow for Tara to develop her passions because while it is true her children are only young once, the same goes for herself. Through practicing mindfulness of non-striving, she has found that she can accept that her life looks different than others. She is the first to recognize that her car could use a vacuum, her laundry put away, dishes washed, and she feels the guilt for not always getting it done. But in the end, she also knows that it is perfectly acceptable to have a car that could use a vacuum, laundry that is not put away, and a few dirty dishes in the sink while she enjoys reading a book to her kids or hitting that submit button for a peer-reviewed manuscript.
Strategies for successfully managing and leading fieldwork as a graduate student (Katherine Hayes)
Fieldwork can be a critical component of a graduate program experience, but few programs provide explicit training in the leadership and planning skills required for leading fieldwork as a graduate student. In her talk, Dr. Katherine Hayes introduced a survey developed by her and her collaborators to collect general advice for graduate students on leading fieldwork safely and effectively and solicit specific suggestions on resources and actions to take before, during, and after the field season. Using the survey responses, Kate and her co-authors developed a series of recommendations for labs, departments, and universities to better prepare and support their students.
Responses to the survey fell into three general categories: (1) team communication, (2) honest risk assessment, and (3) logistics and procedures. Team communication included any actions field leaders take to communicate with their crew or to encourage communication. Risk assessment referred to the actions that field leaders take to assess, identify, manage, and mitigate risk, both before and during the field season. Logistics and procedures included all formal or structural planning and management that a field leader is responsible for during the season. In her talk, Kate provided examples of actions that survey responses perceived as critical to graduate success within each of the three categories at each timestep of fieldwork. Specifically, perceived successful graduate field leaders set expectations and communicated goals openly, developed a safety plan, and completed any necessary training prior to the season. During the field season, graduate field leaders provided daily safety and well-being check-ins, monitored expectations, and enforced protocols like the buddy system. After the field season, survey responses identified that successful field leaders lead debriefs, provided letters of recommendation or other support, and took notes for future seasons.
Kate also presented recommendations for labs, departments, and universities in her talk; while the survey was not initially developed to identify potential policy suggestions, survey responses emphasized the importance of formal support from institutions. Labs, departments, and professional societies can support graduate student field leaders by formalizing institutional resources, providing financial support, and incentivizing skill development. Labs and PIs can support graduate student leaders by formalizing resources; labs can not only develop their own specific safety plans, field policies, and equipment checklists but also share past job advertisements and interview questions when useful. Departments and graduate programs can contribute by requiring graduate leaders to submit a safety plan prior to the field season. Financial support can also aid graduate field leaders in crucial ways. The cost of fieldwork can include gear, attire, or even transportation to the field sites, which may be prohibitive to many individuals; PIs can support their graduate students in the field by ensuring adequate pay and resources for assistants; labs can purchase extra supplies and gear or make it more available through gear swaps or other lending systems. Addressing the cost barrier will aid graduate student leaders by attracting high-quality applicants and promoting access across financial backgrounds. At the department or professional society level, groups can provide financial support to graduate students leading fieldwork by creating funding opportunities for training. Wilderness first-aid training, while potentially critical for field leaders, can be cost prohibitive for many students.
Finally, developing skills as a graduate field leader can be incentivized by treating the process as an important part of professional development. Graduate leaders who make an explicit effort to disrupt oppression, foster an equitable environment, and/or recruit a diverse applicant pool should be considered for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Strong field leadership is something to be included on curriculum vitae and considered in evaluations or award decisions. PIs and mentors can include details on strong field leaders in letters of recommendations, and departments could offer field leadership awards in the same vein as teaching or research awards.
Unexpected lessons learned from a zookeeper turned field ecologist (Molly Reichenborn)
Though she ultimately landed in the field of ecology, New Mexico State University PhD candidate Molly Reichenborn started her undergraduate education while working as a part-time zookeeper and initially viewed her degree as a means to advance within the zoological field. Graduate school was not something she was particularly aware of at the time, much less research, and did not consider this as a possibility until taking courses on restoration and plant ecology as a senior undergraduate. After moving into a master's program, the gap between the skills expected of a field-based researcher and her previous work experience contributed to delays in her graduate work, though the gap was not immediately recognized by her or her advisor.
Assumed prior knowledge in fieldwork is important for advisees to recognize, but even more so for their advisors. Graduate students, or anyone new to the field of ecology, may not have the personal or professional background to develop skills that are assumed to be known by those with this previous experience. Molly explained during her talk that her family rarely spent time recreating outdoors growing up. This contributed to a mismatch in understanding between her and her advisor, who did have these experiences both growing up and as an established field ecologist, about what skills she had under her belt before starting her graduate degree. Experience with outdoor skills indirectly related to field research can be unspoken and unconsciously assumed between advisors and advisees, which at best can lead to data collection errors or delays in project timelines, or at worst endanger the safety of students and others working with them in field settings. With advisors taking the lead to uncover assumptions of prior knowledge, advisors and advisees should work together to proactively close gaps in understanding before issues arise.
Advisors
Make a list of necessary outdoor skills well in advance of planned fieldwork and discuss it with your advisees. As scientists, ecologists put a lot of time into developing methodologies to address research questions but spend much less time considering what indirect skills are required to collect data. Will your advisee need to drive on muddy roads to reach a field site? Develop soft skills to manage others in remote areas? Be able to navigate with a map and compass? Maintain a field vehicle without assistance? Many skills not explicitly laid out in research plans can make or break a project, and consciously considering these skills beforehand and discussing them openly and non-judgmentally with your advisees can help identify areas where they need support before starting fieldwork.
Make concrete plans to help advisees develop necessary skills. There are several ways to help those under your supervision develop skills needed for fieldwork, including spending dedicated time teaching them these skills in a field setting or enrollment in field skills courses (e.g., navigation, wilderness first aid; see Hayes et al. 2022). However you and your advisee decide to tackle any skill gaps before they begin fieldwork, make concrete plans with them on how this will be accomplished. Clearly define what goals need to be met, identify and set a timeline for intermediate steps toward those goals, and set expectations for both you and your advisee on how you will each contribute to making this skill development plan happen. The more specific, the better.
Advisees
Initiate the conversation with your advisor on necessary field skills, if needed. This recommendation is made with the recognition that navigating advisor–advisee relationships can be incredibly tricky given the inherent power balance between faculty and their students (Friedensen et al. 2023). Ideally, this conversation will be initiated by your advisor as described above, but if they don't, consider initiating this conversation with them if you expect they will be receptive. Academia tends to encourage packed schedules and heavy workloads (Houston et al. 2006), and your advisor may not bring up this topic in the busyness of keeping up with other obligations rather than intentional disregard. If you don't feel comfortable initiating this conversation with your advisor, consider reaching out to lab mates or other peers in your department. While they are not a replacement for a present advisor, they can be a great resource to help you identify and develop the skills that you need to succeed in field settings.
As you gain more experience, be cognizant of your role as an advisor to others. You will build your skill base and move into a position where you can offer your experience to the benefit of others as you progress in your career. Keep in mind that people under your supervision may be relatively inexperienced in field research (e.g., undergraduate students, technicians) and will need the same consideration from you to discuss assumed knowledge prior to conducting fieldwork. Speaking openly with those who are under your leadership prior to fieldwork can help identify gaps in both skills and understanding on what to expect in the field.
In summary, discussing necessary field skills early on in project planning can help identify and close gaps in assumed prior knowledge between advisors and advisees. The subject matter can feel uncomfortable to discuss, but approaching this in an unassuming manner can facilitate open conversation and planning to help students prepare for fieldwork. Understanding of expected behavioral conduct, emergency procedures, and other policies that apply to all field settings should be addressed though established community standards and safety protocols, but this does not replace a discussion on specific skills that these materials may not directly address. Tailored guidance and preparation by advisors can go a long way to shorten the gap between an advisee's background and the skills needed to conduct fieldwork efficiently and safely.
Discussion
Following presentations, speakers answered audience questions on advice shared during the session and additional topics related to supporting ecologists in their field research. The main points of discussion included dealing with conflicts and group dynamics in the field, as well as supporting LGBTQ+ ecologists in hostile field settings.
Conflicts in field settings, especially when research sites are remote and/or team members are co-habitating, may create uncomfortable and even unsafe group dynamics. When asked how best to address these situations, the session speakers recommended a few options to address conflicts as they arise, and even better, strategies to avoid them in the first place. When conflicts arise, it can be helpful to discuss what could be underlying the problematic behaviors (e.g., is the person uncomfortable or dealing with personal strife) to better understand and address tension between team members. Conflicts can be proactively reduced by holding intentional discussions about acceptable behavior and a behavior contract signed by all team members (i.e., Team Charter) before the beginning of the field season. Pre-season discussions should also include sharing important personal comfort needs with sufficient lead time to accommodate or at least compromise to meet them, which can go a long way to support team morale and cohesion in a field setting.
In addition to areas that can be socially hostile to LGBTQ+ people, several countries explicitly consider these identities illegal. Faculty who conduct research in these places and wish to hire a qualified student who does not fit within “acceptable” identities poses a significant ethical pinch point without a clear way forward. Session speakers recognized that no options are a complete solution, but faculty members faced with this situation should support students in making the decision for themselves (e.g., where and in what situations they are comfortable working) by providing all information available, with particular emphasis on safety information in a given location. Treading the line between supporting advisee agency and maintaining supervisor responsibility to safety in these decisions is admittedly a tricky one, but holding frank discussions early on is important to avoiding unilateral decisions on the student's research and their safety. Extensive safety planning needs to be in place for locations where these threats are anticipated, and faculty must have an alternative option in a LGBTQ+ − safe location for students to build necessary skills if they decide the safety risk is too high. Projects that allow students to work with a trusted lab mate or team member can help support their success in difficult field locations.
The advice provided in these presentations and discussion cannot address the breadth of obstacles inhibiting accessible field research, but stands as one contribution toward minimizing these barriers. The authors hope that by providing actionable information on skills and experiences not commonly discussed in field ecology, ecologists new to field research will be better prepared to succeed, and their advisors will be better equipped to recognize and reduce barriers for their advisees.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Trace Martyn for providing notes on the presentations and audience discussion to reference while developing this manuscript. MLT is supported in part by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program.
Open Research
Open research statement
No data were collected for this study.
