Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education
Recent environmental changes have demonstrated that the Earth has entered the Anthropocene. In this new age, complex interactions between human and natural systems exacerbate “wicked problems” that challenge researchers to engage both deep disciplinary expertise and broad integrative knowledge to ad...
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2021-01-01
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doaj-6e33e545f45849d6a7fcef850f1b22d72021-01-14T06:28:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452021-01-01710.3389/fmars.2020.592368592368Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary EducationMegan N. Wilson0Adrian E. Laufer1Adrian E. Laufer2Erin M. Howard3Jennifer A. T. K. Wong-Ala4Integrative Biology Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United StatesSchool of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United StatesOregon Coastal Management Program, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem, OR, United StatesStatistics Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United StatesCollege of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United StatesRecent environmental changes have demonstrated that the Earth has entered the Anthropocene. In this new age, complex interactions between human and natural systems exacerbate “wicked problems” that challenge researchers to engage both deep disciplinary expertise and broad integrative knowledge to address these societally relevant problems. Researchers and practitioners are making an increased effort to bridge the divide between human and natural systems research by facilitating multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary collaborations. Despite 21st century changes to the research environment, the structure of a typical graduate education remains largely unchanged over the past several decades. Wicked problems necessitate communication and collaboration expertise; innovative transdisciplinary training and research opportunities can equip graduate students with these necessary skills. Oregon State University has offered such an opportunity through an NSF-funded Research Traineeship Program (NRT) for students focusing on Risk and Uncertainty Quantification and Communication in Marine Science. Herein, we reflect on the experience of graduate students who successfully completed the NRT and assert that support for transdisciplinary training and research at the graduate stage is urgently needed. We present five lessons learned from our year-long transdisciplinary project focused on the development of an approach for integrating diverse data sets within a social-ecological systems framework to reach a broader understanding of the interconnections between a marine reserve system, people, and the environment. Finally, we present current challenges and paths forward to enhance the success of early career transdisciplinary research.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.592368/fullsocial-ecological systems (SES)graduate educationwicked problemstransdisciplinary trainingmarine reservesqualitative network analysis |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Megan N. Wilson Adrian E. Laufer Adrian E. Laufer Erin M. Howard Jennifer A. T. K. Wong-Ala |
spellingShingle |
Megan N. Wilson Adrian E. Laufer Adrian E. Laufer Erin M. Howard Jennifer A. T. K. Wong-Ala Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education Frontiers in Marine Science social-ecological systems (SES) graduate education wicked problems transdisciplinary training marine reserves qualitative network analysis |
author_facet |
Megan N. Wilson Adrian E. Laufer Adrian E. Laufer Erin M. Howard Jennifer A. T. K. Wong-Ala |
author_sort |
Megan N. Wilson |
title |
Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education |
title_short |
Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education |
title_full |
Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education |
title_fullStr |
Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lessons From the Trenches: Students’ Perspectives of Their Own Marine Transdisciplinary Education |
title_sort |
lessons from the trenches: students’ perspectives of their own marine transdisciplinary education |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
issn |
2296-7745 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
Recent environmental changes have demonstrated that the Earth has entered the Anthropocene. In this new age, complex interactions between human and natural systems exacerbate “wicked problems” that challenge researchers to engage both deep disciplinary expertise and broad integrative knowledge to address these societally relevant problems. Researchers and practitioners are making an increased effort to bridge the divide between human and natural systems research by facilitating multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary collaborations. Despite 21st century changes to the research environment, the structure of a typical graduate education remains largely unchanged over the past several decades. Wicked problems necessitate communication and collaboration expertise; innovative transdisciplinary training and research opportunities can equip graduate students with these necessary skills. Oregon State University has offered such an opportunity through an NSF-funded Research Traineeship Program (NRT) for students focusing on Risk and Uncertainty Quantification and Communication in Marine Science. Herein, we reflect on the experience of graduate students who successfully completed the NRT and assert that support for transdisciplinary training and research at the graduate stage is urgently needed. We present five lessons learned from our year-long transdisciplinary project focused on the development of an approach for integrating diverse data sets within a social-ecological systems framework to reach a broader understanding of the interconnections between a marine reserve system, people, and the environment. Finally, we present current challenges and paths forward to enhance the success of early career transdisciplinary research. |
topic |
social-ecological systems (SES) graduate education wicked problems transdisciplinary training marine reserves qualitative network analysis |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.592368/full |
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