Project Safer: A Holistic Approach to Identifying and Mitigating Traumatic Incidents During Field Research

该奖项支持一个多学科的研究团队，他们将与不同学科的科学家接触，以建立与科学实地工作相关的创伤事件数据库。该项目的首要目标是收集建立现场工作安全计划所需的数据，这些计划可以有效地支持不同的科学界，包括来自社会污名背景的研究人员，他们经历创伤的风险增加。为了能够对与科学实地工作相关的众多风险进行明智的规划--例如，车祸、盗窃和安全问题、精神健康事件、人际冲突、性骚扰和性侵、身体伤害和疾病--该小组将使用问卷调查和对进行实地工作和参与研究探险的科学家进行深入采访相结合的方式。这些信息将帮助现场科学家识别风险模式，并为安全管理提供最佳实践。该项目将1)建立一个大规模的跨学科数据库，记录科学家在进行现场工作时经历的事件，2)确定发生的不同类型的事件，对谁、因果和保护因素，以及3)澄清对科学家的福祉和职业轨迹的持久影响。目前，除了骚扰之外，严重缺乏关于创伤事件的数据；也缺乏跨学科研究。这项研究将跨地区、学科、学术分领域和机构进行调查，以便产生第一个关于该领域当前和历史事件的大规模数据集，与LEAD户外活动行业的风险报告标准相称。该小组将采用定量和定性相结合的方法，澄清谁在实地不同类型的事件中风险最大，确定这些风险的相关性和后果，并共同制定缓解这些风险的解决方案。使用系统思维来确定和处理实地工作中的事故，将在实地科学中启动对风险的广泛研究，改变在野外收集数据期间对安全问题的理解和处理方式。这些信息将提供一个框架，指导现场科学家识别风险模式，并为未来的安全管理提供最佳实践。该项目由生物科学局和地球科学局联合资助，由社会、行为和经济科学局的ER2计划管理。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 supports a multidisciplinary team of researchers who will engage with scientists in a wide variety of disciplines in order to build a database of traumatic incidents associated with scientific fieldwork. The overarching goal of the project is to collect data necessary for building fieldwork safety plans that can effectively support a diverse scientific community, including researchers from socially stigmatized backgrounds who are at elevated risk of experiencing traumas. In order to enable informed planning for the multitude of risks associated with scientific fieldwork– e.g., vehicular crashes, theft and security issues, mental health episodes, interpersonal conflicts, sexual harassment and assault, physical injuries, and illnesses– the team will use a combination of questionnaires and in-depth interviews with scientists who conduct fieldwork and participate in research expeditions. This information will help field scientists identify patterns of risk and inform best practices for safety management.The project will 1) build a large-scale, cross-disciplinary database of incidents experienced by scientists while conducting fieldwork, 2) identify the different types of incidents that occur and to whom, the causal and protective factors, and 3) clarify the lasting impacts on scientists’ well-being and career trajectories. At present, there is a critical absence of data on traumatic events beyond harassment; there is also a lack of cross-disciplinary studies. This study will inquire across localities, disciplines, academic subfields, and institutions in order to produce the first-ever large-scale dataset on present and historical incidents in the field commensurate with risk-reporting standards in the led outdoors activity industry. The team will use a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to clarify who is most at risk for different types of events in the field, identify the correlates and consequences of those risks, and co-produce solutions to mitigate them. The use of systems thinking to identify and address incidents within field work will launch the wide-scale study of risk within field science, transforming the way that safety concerns are understood and approached during the data collection in wilderness locations. This information will provide a framework to guide field scientists in identifying patterns of risk and inform best practices for safety management moving forward.This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate for Geosciences, and is managed by the ER2 Program of the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.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.