Supporting Indigenous scholars as data stewards and leaders in STEM

该奖项是作为NSF社会、行为和经济学博士后研究奖学金(SPRF)计划的一部分提供的。该奖项还由NSF的研究生教育联盟和教授计划(AGEP)资助，该计划旨在增加STEM和STEM教育研究学科中历史上代表性不足的少数族裔教师的数量。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学职业生涯培养有前途的、早期职业博士水平的科学家。SPRF奖项包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行两年的培训，并鼓励博士后研究员进行独立研究。国家科学基金会致力于促进科学界所有阶层的科学家参与其研究方案和活动，包括那些来自代表性不足的群体的科学家；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的专业发展的一个重要水平。每个博士后研究员都必须解决推动各自学科领域向前发展的重要科学问题。在亚利桑那大学土著民族研究所斯蒂芬妮·罗索·卡罗尔博士(Rainie)的主要赞助和科罗拉多州立大学森林和牧场管理部的附属赞助下，这项博士后奖学金奖支持一名早期职业科学家有机会领导与土著社区和知识系统相关的研究行为的道德标准的全国评估。我们目前缺乏关于科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)研究的负责任做法的全面机构标准，这些研究涉及土著知识系统和社区。通过研究指导美国部落和联邦机构科学研究的现有伦理协议和做法，并确定土著社区在伦理研究实践方面的优先事项，这项研究旨在为制定正式政策和研究指导方针提供基础，以填补这一空白。该项目题为“支持土著学者担任STEM的数据管理员和领导者”，旨在通过确定支持或阻碍与土著社区和科学研究中的各种知识系统进行有效的伦理研究的因素，促进科学知识的发展。通过以下目标和研究问题，该项目支持从土著社区成员很少或几乎没有参与或受益的历史提取研究模式，转向加强土著数据治理和能力的研究标准：(1)哪些因素和指标证明土著社区的研究实践是有效的和对道德负责的？通过与土著科学领袖、政策专家和研究中的土著伦理问题专家组成的专家-从业人员咨询小组合作，确定共同设计和验证方法、议定书和调查工具，以确定推动或阻碍土著社区进行合乎道德和有效的研究和数据管理的因素。(2)这些因素和指标在多大程度上体现在美国部落、机构和学术研究人员目前可用的道德准则和负责任的研究指南中？通过对现有研究方案和道德守则进行全面、系统和比较分析，包括确定道德守则的优先事项和差距，以便为政策提供信息。(3)实施负责任的研究实践面临哪些障碍，对于包括土著知识系统和社区在内的科学研究，有哪些克服这些障碍的支持机制？根据对科学研究中关于伦理的当前态度和做法的调查评估，另外确定从业人员和学者需要为数据管理做法增加能力和资源的领域。为了实现这些目标，这项研究有助于增进我们对导致土著人民及其知识系统在STEM中代表性不足的历史障碍的理解，以及土著学者作为其社区内的数据管理员解决社会、环境和经济问题的当前和未来机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. This award is also funded by the NSF's Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program (AGEP), which targets increasing the number of historically underrepresented minority faculty in STEM and STEM education research disciplines. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the primary sponsorship of Dr. Stephanie Russo Carroll (Rainie) at the University of Arizona Native Nations Institute, and affiliate sponsorship from Colorado State University's Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist with the opportunity to lead a national assessment of ethical standards for research conduct in relation to Indigenous communities and knowledge systems. We currently lack comprehensive institutional standards for responsible practices regarding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research that engages Indigenous knowledge systems and communities. Through studying existing ethics protocols and practices guiding U.S. tribal and federal agency science research and identifying Indigenous community-defined priorities regarding ethical research practice, this research aims to provide the groundwork for developing formal policies and research guidelines to fill this gap. The project entitled, Supporting Indigenous Scholars As Data Stewards and Leaders in STEM, serves to advance knowledge in the sciences by identifying factors that support or inhibit effective ethical research engagement with Indigenous communities and diverse knowledge systems in scientific research. Through the following objectives and research questions this project supports a shift from historic, extractive research models with little to no participation of or benefit to Indigenous community members, to research standards that strengthen Indigenous data governance and capacity: (1) What factors and indicators demonstrate effective and ethically responsible research practice in Indigenous communities? Identified through collaboration with an expert-practitioner advisory panel of Indigenous scientific leaders, policy experts, and experts on Indigenous ethics in research, to co-design and validate a methods protocol and survey instrument for determining factors that drive or inhibit ethical and effective research and data management in Indigenous communities. (2) To what extent are these factors and indicators represented in codes of ethics and responsible research guidelines currently available to U.S. tribal, agency, and academic researchers? Determined through a comprehensive, systematic, comparative analysis of existing research protocols and codes of ethics, including identifying priorities and gaps in codes of ethics to inform policy. (3) What barriers to implementing responsible research practice, and what support mechanisms for overcoming these barriers exist for scientific research that includes Indigenous knowledge systems and communities? Based on survey assessment of current attitudes and practices regarding ethics in science research, additionally identifying areas where practitioners and scholars require additional capacity and resources for data stewardship practices. In fulfilling these objectives, this research serves to advance our understanding of historic barriers resulting in underrepresentation of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems in STEM, along with current and future opportunities for Indigenous scholars to address social, environmental, and economic issues as data stewards within their communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.