[LTER-education] Fw: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Thu Mar 26 05:49:15 PDT 2020

I saw this shared video field trips idea on the field stations thread and thought that it might be of interest to this group.
Please let me know if you think a multi site set of virtual explorations is of interest.
I'd be particularly interested in thinking of ways to intersperse a few short video clips with active inquiry or activities.

Be well,
Cora

Cora A. Johnston, PhD
Site Director

She/her

E coraj at virginia.edu
P 757.620.7016

University of Virginia
Virginia Coast Reserve LTER
Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center
6364 Cliffs Road
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ABCRC: https://www.abcrc.virginia.edu/siteman2/<https://www.abcrc.virginia.edu/siteman2/><https://www.abcrc.virginia.edu/siteman2/>

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"Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that's precise, predictive and reliable - a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional.  We must embark on a cultural shift that places science in its rightful place...as an indispensable part of what makes life worth living."   -B. Greene

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________________________________
From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> on behalf of Claudia Luke <lukec at sonoma.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 9:02 PM
To: obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu <obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>
Cc: Kerry Wininger <winingek at sonoma.edu>
Subject: Re: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Hello OBFS,

I'd like to pitch an idea to anyone who may be interested. I'd like to see if we can create multi-site virtual field trips. The idea is to virtually visit 3-4 field sites with experts who can speak for 5-10 minutes in the field about a topic, such as climate change, water, invasive species, etc. These could be pre-recorded (for sites without streaming capability) or in real-time. At the end, presenters would be available for a discussion with students and each other. The experience could be offered to faculty (who are scrambling now to convert their classes to on-line teaching) as a replacement experience for previously scheduled class field trips.

A few things I like about the idea: (1) virtual learning is needed for the experience; it's not just a poor replacement for a site visit, (2) because we are in extraordinary times, our first attempts can be informal, and (3) by exploring this now, we might be creating a model for further field station collaborations.

Let me know if you are interested in test driving the idea with us. Lisa Micheli at Pepperwood Preserve is on board to try something out. Any other takers?

I've also included below a few thoughts about virtual learning opportunities we are now exploring that we haven't been considering before.

Stay safe everyone and hope I hear from a couple of interested colleagues about the idea,

Claudia

Other Virtual Learning Things We Are Thinking About at the Center for Environmental Inquiry

  1.  We can use on-line learning to enhance field experiences. Visitors could learn to see processes before coming to the field (e.g., erosion, photosynthesis, invasion, etc.). This would create a deeper experiences since they could apply what they learned while on the preserve.
  2.  We can use virtual tours to reach more people. Field sites are ultimately limited in the number of people who can visit. We can reach out to people who may never visit, but who could develop appreciation for field science and arts.
  3.  Virtual learning allows people to immediately apply new skills at home as part of a class or workshop. We are working on offering a series of workshops training people to use citizen science apps, such as iNaturalist, eBird and others. A fire hardening workshop is perfect since people can survey their own homes during the class.
  4.  Existing ppts are a great way to easily create information to share with others. These could be pre-recorded, and followed with a live question-answer session.

On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:03 AM Musselman, Lytton John <lmusselm at odu.edu<mailto:lmusselm at odu.edu>> wrote:
The flurry of emails the past few days has been enlightening and helpful. I was especially struck by the missive from Jesse in Ely raising the question of field courses.

Our Blackwater Preserve is a member of OBFS but we are literally nothing but acreage  comprising the northernmost expression of the longleaf pine ecosystem so emails regarding facilities, residences, and staff do not apply to us.  What is poignant is the query about how to handle field courses during the contagion.  I am likely not the only field biologist who thinks field classes just cannot be taught online.  All ours are canceled through the summer. Is there any alternative to offer field courses without taking students into the field?

Lytton

Lytton John Musselman
Manager, Blackwater Ecologic Preserve
Mary Payne Hogan Distinguished Professor of Botany
Department of Biological Sciences
5115 Hampton Boulevard
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0266
Fax: 757 683 5283 Cell 757 771 6156
Email: lmusselm at odu.edu<mailto:lmusselm at odu.edu>
http://www.odu.edu/~lmusselm/<http://www.odu.edu/~lmusselm>

He [Solomon] described plant life. . . I Kings 4:33a
[cid:1711243f57ae8eea4c71][cid:1711243f57b978dfa602]

________________________________
From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu>> on behalf of Jesse Ellis <jellis at coe.edu<mailto:jellis at coe.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 10:47 AM
Cc: obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>>
Subject: Re: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

To those of you who are moving field courses online, how do you expect this to work? For us at the WIlderness Field Station, it literally would not work, not in a reasonable or safe way, because we  do not have internet, meaning we'd be recording and editing, and then driving into town to find barely existent web access in Ely. It would be slow and troublesome, and expose staff and potentially locals to infection. I'm not even sure if most places with internet in Ely are open at this point.

My biggest concern is that doing our courses in any kind of online fashion would not really meet our mission in an effective way. Ours (as it is understood by me - we're still working on it) is pretty stringent about bringing students into the wilderness. But even for institutions without such a stringent demand, how to do you expect to meet the educational goals of a field course? I'm having trouble seeing how that would give students the experience they are signed up for. Thoughts?

Jesse

On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 4:03 PM John Dighton <dighton at njaes.rutgers.edu<mailto:dighton at njaes.rutgers.edu>> wrote:
Good wishes to you all and keep safe.
We at the Pinelands Field Station are still open to the very very few people that we have doing projects, despite the rest of the university with on-line teaching only. We wait to hear if a couple of foreign student are likely to get here for the summer, but with my retirement at the end of August we will have a very sleepy summer.

Best

John

John Dighton

Rutgers Pinelands Field Station

DEENR, SEBS and Biology, Camden

PO Box 206, 501 Four Mile Road

New Lisbon, NJ 08064

609-894-8849

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From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu>> on behalf of Marcie Demmy Bidwell <marcie at mountainstudies.org<mailto:marcie at mountainstudies.org>>
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 11:20 AM
To: Sargent, R C. <csargent at email.uky.edu<mailto:csargent at email.uky.edu>>; Brett Biebuyck <babiebuyck at alaska.edu<mailto:babiebuyck at alaska.edu>>; Ian Billick <ibillick at rmbl.org<mailto:ibillick at rmbl.org>>; obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>>
Subject: RE: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Ian,

Sending our support and thoughts your way in Crested Butte- this is a big challenge for our remote communities, and you are one of the first to show up on the radar as having COVID.

For all of us in remote places, best wishes and care!

All,

Here in Silverton, CO our little community of 600 is being very cautious, as the Bird Flu rocked our town in 1918. Therefore outside visitors to the area are highly discouraged by the local government, and we are respecting their wishes. We are currently anticipating that it will be June before those opinions change, but definitely “wait and see” as they just have begun testing in our area.

With our local staff, we are continuing to conduct field work with appropriate caution/social distancing;  but at this time of year, monitoring is fairly limited in winter. Our local Emergency Response team has asked that all backcountry travel be limited to essential business only. They consider us to be essential due to the nature of our water quality monitoring work, but it was really good for us to check in with the Response Team, so they were good with our activities.

All the best!

From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu>> On Behalf Of Sargent, R C.
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 9:03 AM
To: Brett Biebuyck <babiebuyck at alaska.edu<mailto:babiebuyck at alaska.edu>>; Ian Billick <ibillick at rmbl.org<mailto:ibillick at rmbl.org>>; obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Re: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Hi All,

Here at UK's EREC field station in Lexington, we're under UK policy, which is to be closed to all nonessential personnel for the rest of the semester. Those who have to take care of research animals or plants may continue to do so, but we're not allowed to do experiments on campus or at off-campus sites owned by UK. So we are basically closed for the foreseeable future.

Cheers,

Craig

Craig Sargent
Professor, Biology Department<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbio.as.uky.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Clmusselm%40odu.edu%7C226ac381799645de154208d7d0cb9359%7C48bf86e811a24b8a8cb368d8be2227f3%7C0%7C0%7C637207445106731389&sdata=%2FDqCJ1aEgTOY20kTHzdINZxHgzUjbk%2FCLvFT238Apcs%3D&reserved=0>
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telephone: 859-257-8742
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fax: 859-257-1717

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From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu>> on behalf of Brett Biebuyck <babiebuyck at alaska.edu<mailto:babiebuyck at alaska.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 10:57 AM
To: Ian Billick <ibillick at rmbl.org<mailto:ibillick at rmbl.org>>; obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>>
Subject: Re: [obfs-mail-list] RE: what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Toolik Field Station (fairly remote station) has closed its doors to all outside visitors until July.  We worked on various scenarios to isolate (for 14 days) and test visitors in Fairbanks before taking the trip to Toolik, but in the end none of them were feasible.  Plus encouraging all of that travel at this time seemed like a poor route to go, and we surely do not want to be a vector for the virus into rural Alaska.  What we are attempting to do now is as quickly as possible get a core staff team in place at the station to protect and maintain the infrastructure and assets, but also provide as much "remote access" to projects as possible.  Remote access could include taking samples, measurements, maintaining project instruments and the like.  It obviously won't replace a project's field season, but it will be something.  Once we have this staff in place at the station they will be isolated there until July, with only supply runs under very strict and sterile controls.  It's a pretty aggressive move, but I think the reality for us was that if we didn't have something pretty fail-proof in place soon a total closure would be much more likely.

On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 8:32 AM Nagy, Eric S (esn8n) <esn8n at virginia.edu<mailto:esn8n at virginia.edu>> wrote:

Mountain Lake Biological Station is closed at least until May 1. But we are permitting access to field sites for in-progress research programs, but buildings are locked. Staff still have access (to a deserted facility). We are waiting on UVA guidance with respect to summer programs (classes, REU, workshops, ArtLab, lab operations, other formal and informal programs). I am not hopeful. Our posted statement:   mlbs.org/mlbs-statement-covid-19<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmlbs.virginia.edu%2Fmlbs-statement-covid-19&data=02%7C01%7Clmusselm%40odu.edu%7C226ac381799645de154208d7d0cb9359%7C48bf86e811a24b8a8cb368d8be2227f3%7C0%7C0%7C637207445106751373&sdata=wK3IebZtxNGeC%2Fclg7z2pHbbRX4RKgu6mQqrLXYwsRQ%3D&reserved=0>

_____________________________________

Eric S. Nagy, Ph.D., Associate Director

Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia

434-243-4989 o  |  434-906-3122 c

enagy at virginia.edu<mailto:enagy at virginia.edu>

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From: obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu> <obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list-request at ucdavis.edu>> On Behalf Of Ian Billick
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 10:18 AM
To: obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu<mailto:obfs-mail-list at ucdavis.edu>
Subject: [obfs-mail-list] what does field research in the summer of coronavirus look like?

Hello everybody!  I hope everybody is staying healthy and sane!

I’m curious to know how different field stations are thinking about this summer.  Are you in wait and see mode?  Shutting down? Business as normal?  Innovative ideas on supporting remote research that you are willing to share?  Have you surveyed scientists about the summer?  If so, are you willing to share the survey or results?

The community that RMBL is embedded in is under very strict restrictions.  We’ve had about 50 positive tests (county of 15,000) with about 500 positive self-reports (so far, about half of people with results have tested positive).  We have closed non-essential businesses (though liquor stores and recreational MJ dispensaries are considered essential) and they are asking everybody to stay away.  It is unclear how long this will/can go on, but I’m curious to hear about what others are seeing at their field stations!

Best wishes----

Ian Billick, PhD

Executive Director/RMBL

PO 519, Crested Butte, CO  81224

970 349 6669

--

--
Brett Biebuyck

Associate Director of Operations and Finance
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Toolik Field Station

1-907-474-2466
fax: 1-907-474-5513
babiebuyck at alaska.edu<mailto:babiebuyck at alaska.edu>
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--
Jesse Ellis, Ph. D. he/him/his
Director of the Wilderness Field Station
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Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Coe College
1220 1st Ave NE,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52402

--
___________________
Dr. Claudia Luke, PhD
Sustainability Programs Director
Director, Center For Environmental Inquiry
Sonoma State University
office: 707-664-3416 mobile: 707-536-8915
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Video (3 min): Creating an Environmentally Ready Society<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0yGBC83JlQ&list=UUCcm22lYJCq72zVKJbk3PcA>

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