NSF REU Student Update: Week 2
Written by River Johnson, 2021 NSF REU Student Scholar
This is the first in a series of several blog posts from our NSF REU/RET crew this summer.
Hey there! The end of our second week is coming up fast, and it is really hard to look back and fathom what our team has been accomplishing. I would like to first recognize our great work in fostering a group dynamic that is not afraid of being vulnerable and is centered around collaboration. Through this program, I am a part of a team that is constantly asking questions- and I love asking questions- so this is a dream come true. We are continually focused on asking questions regarding how our ideas support the vision for the project: that we will enact local environmental change by providing equitable access to a collaborative research process that encourages citizen science engagement.
This is the first time I have been a team member in a group that has made a point of such intentionality. In our zoom meetings, the Debris Team is asking questions like, “if we want to implement this program during our time in Belize, how are we going to ensure the sustainability of the project once we leave?” As well as, “what mediums should we use to make sure that lower-income youth have access to the same information we will be sharing with those that have Wi-Fi access in the community?”
Something that has been heavily repeated is that we are not working in Hopkins Village, but that we are working with Hopkins Village.
Even though we are not currently in Belize, due to COVID-19, prioritizing this approach to our research has cemented our group’s standards for ideas. This foundation was built upon during our week participating in the International Science of Team Science (SciTS) Conference. Personally, I was able to sit in on panels advocating for the implementation of collaboration plans within teams. I listened to the essential steps of creating a living document that reflects the needs, diversity, goals, intentionality, and unique qualities of our group and project. While having a discussion in this workshop, I was able to reference specific examples where this REU program had already done exactly that. It was then that I realized how fortunate I was for having the opportunity to be engaged with a program that spent the time to outline this for us and included every single person’s voice in the process. With this momentum, I cannot wait to see what our team creates.
