Open AccessBetter Safe than Sorry: Planning for Safe and Successful Fieldwork
Author(s) -
Daniels Lori D.,
Lavallee Suzie
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the bulletin of the ecological society of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2327-6096
pISSN - 0012-9623
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9623-95.3.264
Subject(s) - plan (archaeology) , variety (cybernetics) , graduate students , medical education , field (mathematics) , test (biology) , psychology , engineering ethics , public relations , computer science , pedagogy , engineering , political science , medicine , geography , ecology , mathematics , archaeology , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics , biology
Although enjoyable and rewarding, fieldwork has inherent hazards and risks. In this article, we describe five steps to help students plan for safe and successful fieldwork in a variety of study sites. In addition to identifying potential hazards and mitigating them, successful graduate research should include a communications plan, strong leadership and awareness of power relationships among faculty, graduate students and undergraduate student assistants. We provide example scenarios, based on actual student experiences, to “test” if your team is well‐prepared for a range of possible situations that may arise in the field. Lastly, we outline a workshop that integrates these steps to facilitate safety planning for graduate students in Forestry at the University of British Columbia.