Focusing the lens on field safety: a workshop for field trip leaders

该奖项为25名野外营地领导人提供旅行支持，使他们能够参加将于2019年11月7日至8日在爱荷华大学举行的“聚焦野外安全：野外旅行领导人研讨会”。实地经验是培养地球和环境科学家的重要工具，大多数本科课程都需要在实地学习几周才能获得学位。但实地培训并非没有风险，这些风险在本质上是不同的，并且有可能比课堂培训更加严峻。这次讲习班将有助于指导实地考察的领导人建立一种改进实地安全规程的文化，办法是促进制定一种最终应成为第二天性的过程，并成为实地考察正常筹备工作的一部分。拟议的讲习班的一部分内容将是为这种国家储存库开发材料。此外，研究生将被邀请参加研讨会，学生参与者将有机会成为实地安全大使，参与向当地、全州和全国其他实体传播信息。这些机会还将使研究生能够在学术社区内外建立自己的专业网络。人们普遍认识到，实地培训对综合地球和环境科学知识在教学上是必不可少的，对碳氢化合物和环境工业的就业也是至关重要的。美国国家地球科学教师协会（NAGT）和埃克森美孚公司一直在改进油田安全协议方面处于领先地位。然而，在目前的标准中，有一个不完善的部分是针对类似野外营地的场景的协议，在这种场景中，学生们日复一日地分散在一个广阔的区域。本次研讨会的成果将是一套标准操作程序（SOP），可适用于任何分散的小组实地活动，无论是教育实地考察、研究实地考察还是实地考察。这些程序将帮助教官通过活动前的准备和培训来减少事故，从而减少事故的发生和现场的时间损失。最终，这将加强和改善科学教育，因为教师将对他们的安全协议充满信心，能够专注于学生的学习，学生将确信协议已经到位，以确保他们的安全，事故数量的减少将导致在有限且昂贵的现场时间内减少干扰。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 provides travel support for 25 field-camp leaders to be able to participate in Focusing the Lens on Field Safety: A Workshop for Field Trip Leaders that will take place at the University of Iowa from November 7-8, 2019. Field experiences are an important tool for training earth and environmental scientists, and most undergraduate programs require up to several weeks spent in the field to earn a degree. But field training is not without its risks, which are inherently different and have the potential to be more severe than classroom-based training. This workshop will help to guide field trip leaders towards a culture of improving field safety protocols by contributing to the development of a process that should ultimately become second nature and part of the normal preparations for field excursions. Part of the proposed workshop would be to develop materials for such a national repository. In addition, graduate students will be invited to join in the workshop and student participants will be given the opportunity to become ambassadors for field safety by being involved in the dissemination of information to other entities locally, statewide, and nationally. These opportunities will also allow graduate students to build their professional networks within and outside the academic community. It is widely recognized that field-based training is pedagogically essential for integrating knowledge in the earth and environmental sciences, and it is crucial for employment in the hydrocarbon and environmental industries. The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) and ExxonMobil have been leading the way in improving field safety protocol. However, one of the components that is underdeveloped in the current standards are protocols for field-camp-like scenarios where students are spread out over a wide area day after day. The outcome from this workshop will be a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) that can be adapted to any dispersed group field activity, whether an educational field trip, research field trip, or field camp. These procedures will help instructors mitigate accidents through pre-activity preparation and training that will result in fewer accidents and time lost in the field. Ultimately, this will enhance and improve scientific education because instructors will be confident in their safety protocols and able to focus on student learning, students will be assured that protocols are in place to ensure their safety, and a decrease in the number of incidents will lead to less disruption during limited and expensive field time.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.