Supporting Indigenous scholars as data stewards and leaders in STEM

该奖项是美国国家科学基金会社会、行为和经济科学博士后研究奖学金（SPRF）计划的一部分。该奖项还由美国国家科学基金会的研究生教育和教授计划联盟（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民族教师的数量。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事业准备有前途的早期职业博士级科学家。SPRF奖励包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行为期两年的培训，并鼓励博士后进行独立研究。美国国家科学基金会寻求促进科学界各阶层的科学家，包括那些未被充分代表的群体的科学家，参与其研究项目和活动；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的一个重要的专业发展阶段。每个博士后必须解决各自学科领域的重要科学问题。在亚利桑那大学土著民族研究所的Stephanie Russo Carroll博士（Rainie）的主要赞助下，以及科罗拉多州立大学森林和牧场管理部门的从属赞助下，该博士后奖学金奖支持早期职业科学家有机会领导有关土著社区和知识系统的研究行为的道德标准的国家评估。目前，在涉及土著知识系统和社区的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）研究方面，我们缺乏负责任实践的全面制度标准。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实践，并确定土著社区定义的伦理研究实践的优先事项，本研究旨在为制定正式政策和研究指南提供基础，以填补这一空白。该项目名为“支持土著学者作为STEM领域的数据管理者和领导者”，旨在通过确定支持或抑制科学研究中土著社区和不同知识系统有效的伦理研究参与的因素，促进科学知识的发展。通过以下目标和研究问题，本项目支持从很少或根本没有土著社区成员参与或受益的历史、提取性研究模式转变为加强土著数据治理和能力的研究标准：(1)哪些因素和指标表明土著社区的有效和道德上负责任的研究实践？通过与土著科学领袖、政策专家和土著研究伦理专家组成的专家实践者咨询小组合作，确定共同设计和验证方法协议和调查工具，以确定推动或抑制土著社区的伦理和有效研究和数据管理的因素。(2)这些因素和指标在美国部落、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有多大程度的体现？通过对现有研究规程和道德规范的全面、系统、比较分析确定，包括确定道德规范的优先事项和差距，以便为政策提供信息。(3)实施负责任的研究实践存在哪些障碍？对于包括土著知识系统和社区在内的科学研究，存在哪些克服这些障碍的支持机制？基于对当前科学研究中关于伦理的态度和实践的调查评估，另外确定从业者和学者需要额外能力和资源进行数据管理实践的领域。为了实现这些目标，本研究有助于促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。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.