Prioritizing safety and safeguarding against identity-based harassment and other toxic behaviors in field campaigns is critical to ensure safe and productive research environments. While harassment and discrimination in the fields are not new phenomena, widespread recognition of their prevalence and harm (Figure 1) has led to demands for culture change and increased training and preparation (Clancy et al., 2014; Fischer et al., 2021, Mervis, 2022; USAP, 2022). In response, funding agencies have worked to develop and support institutional change initiatives such as the Department of Energy (DOE, 2022) and NSF’s new Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) requirement for safe and welcoming work environments for off-campus and off-site research (PAPPG Section 2E9).
Figure 1. Factors that lead to increased challenges during fieldwork.
The goal of ADVANCEing FieldSafety is, therefore, to create and disseminate a field safety, anti-harassment, and bystander intervention certificate training program that is accompanied by the development of a toolkit to support field teams in planning safe and welcoming field campaigns. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is available and hosted on Coursera, allowing easy access and broad participation. The MOOC will have both participation (online, self-paced) and certification pathways (participation + facilitated debriefs/reflections) that will help field teams meet NSF’s new PAPPG field safety and anti-harassment mitigation requirements (NSF, 2023). The MOOC content will also be accompanied by a toolkit, which will contain additional resources and readings relevant to each course module.
Course Certification Pathways
There are several ways that you and your team can interact with the ADVANCEing FieldSafety Training Program. The AFS MOOC is free to all individuals of interest, regardless of your experience with conducting fieldwork, through Coursera. Individuals can view the course at their speed and focus on the topic of interest.
However, participants who complete the entire course through the official pathways listed below can receive a certificate at an additional cost.
- Coursera Certificate ($49 USD)
- Requirements:
- Completion of course and assessments.
- Requirements:
- ADVANCEing FieldSafety Certificate (Price to be determined)
- Alignment with new NSF PAPPG requirement for safe and inclusive work environments for off-campus and off-site research (Section 2E9).
- Requirements:
- Completion of course and assessments, and
- Participation in a series of two ADVANCEing FieldSafety Debrief Workshops.