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CAREER: Investigating how discourse tools conceptualize rules of microbial life

职业：研究话语工具如何概念化微生物生命的规则

基本信息

批准号：
2042475
负责人：
Erika Szymanski
金额：
$ 45.95万
依托单位：
Colorado State University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2021-08-01 至 2026-07-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2042475&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
CAREER Investigating how discourse tools

项目摘要

While microorganisms have long been studied as isolated species, microbiome research has become an important new way to understand microbial life and manipulate the environments these microbes inhabit, from the human gut to wastewater. This project investigates words as scientific tools in microbiome research, focusing on how metaphors shape microbiome science and its applications. While the central role of language in shaping scientific knowledge is well-established, few studies have explored how different language choices may enable different scientific practices. This project links descriptive, experimental, and pedagogical approaches to investigate how metaphors shape scientific knowledge of microbial social relationships, how these relationships are investigated, and how scientists and others work with the capacities of microorganisms. It advances science and technology studies by linking theory and practice around how scientific language choices participate shape what microorganisms become, in science and in wider social spaces, as human relationships with microorganisms are changing. Ultimately, this project aims to identify how language and metaphor matter for how scientists conceptualize and research microorganisms, and to help promote productive, sustainable relations among humans and the microorganisms on which human wellbeing depends. Broader impacts will come from increased capacity for critical reflection in microbiome studies, new interdisciplinary methods, evidence-based recommendations about microbiome communication, and graduate science writing training that deliberately foregrounds relationships among science and diverse communities. This project draws on multispecies and materialist STS theory, relational and processual theories of biology, and the move from deficit to dialogue in science communication to consider microbiome research in terms of the ongoing development of multispecies relationships. Its aims to: 1) investigate peer-reviewed publications to assess how microbial relationships are described, 2) experiment with the capacity of alternative metaphors in scientific practice, and 3) use a science and technology studies-informed approach to science writing to enable early-career scientists to communicate in ways that invite dialogue with diverse audiences. These objectives are linked by seeing words as not just tools for delivering content, but as tools for building relationships among humans and between humans and other species. Juxtaposing computational, qualitative, and interview-based textual analyses enables a rich and systematic understanding of existing microbiome discourses. These descriptive studies yield a foundation for experimental studies of metaphors that may suggest different scientific approaches while prompting scientists to reflect on unseen values and assumptions embedded in their language choices. Together, descriptive and experimental findings will result in shareable materials for graduate science writing training that connects practical writing strategies, science and technology studies theory, and science communication goals for connecting scientists and other audiences. Because students from diverse language backgrounds and marginalized populations are systematically disadvantaged by a lack of formal science writing training, these activities particularly benefit students in these groups, while supporting the widespread science communication move from deficit to dialogue with specific practical tools.This award is co-funded by the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences(MCB)cluster Cellular Dynamics and Function.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.

虽然微生物长期以来一直被作为孤立的物种进行研究，但微生物组研究已成为了解微生物生命和操纵这些微生物栖息环境的重要新途径，从人类肠道到废水。该项目调查了微生物组研究中作为科学工具的词汇，重点是隐喻如何塑造微生物组科学及其应用。虽然语言在塑造科学知识方面的核心作用已经得到了很好的确立，但很少有研究探讨不同的语言选择如何实现不同的科学实践。该项目将描述性，实验性和教学方法联系起来，以调查隐喻如何塑造微生物社会关系的科学知识，如何调查这些关系，以及科学家和其他人如何与微生物的能力合作。它通过将科学语言选择如何参与塑造微生物在科学和更广泛的社会空间中成为什么样的理论和实践联系起来，推动科学和技术研究，因为人类与微生物的关系正在发生变化。最终，该项目旨在确定语言和隐喻对科学家如何概念化和研究微生物的重要性，并帮助促进人类与人类福祉所依赖的微生物之间的生产性，可持续性关系。更广泛的影响将来自微生物组研究中批判性反思能力的提高，新的跨学科方法，关于微生物组交流的循证建议，以及有意突出科学与不同社区之间关系的研究生科学写作培训。该项目借鉴了多物种和唯物主义的STS理论，生物学的关系和过程理论，以及从科学交流中的赤字到对话的转变，以考虑多物种关系的持续发展方面的微生物组研究。其目的是：1）调查同行评议的出版物，以评估如何描述微生物的关系，2）实验在科学实践中的替代隐喻的能力，3）使用科学和技术研究知情的方法来科学写作，使早期职业科学家能够以邀请与不同受众对话的方式进行沟通。这些目标是通过将文字视为不仅仅是传递内容的工具，而是建立人类之间以及人类与其他物种之间关系的工具而联系起来的。并列计算，定性和基于访谈的文本分析，使现有的微生物组话语的丰富和系统的理解。这些描述性研究为隐喻的实验研究奠定了基础，这些隐喻可能会提出不同的科学方法，同时促使科学家反思他们语言选择中嵌入的看不见的价值和假设。总之，描述性和实验性的研究结果将导致研究生科学写作培训，连接实用的写作策略，科学和技术研究理论，科学沟通的目标，连接科学家和其他观众的共享材料。由于来自不同语言背景和边缘化群体的学生由于缺乏正式的科学写作培训而处于系统性的不利地位，这些活动特别有利于这些群体的学生，同时支持广泛的科学传播从赤字转向与具体实用工具的对话。该奖项由分子和细胞生物科学部（MCB）共同资助该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。