Join us for a webinar series highlighting opportunities and challenges of transdisciplinary approaches within agricultural research. Presented by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the National Agricultural Library, the seminar series will examine strategies for implementing transdisciplinary approaches, team-building and overcoming challenges to encourage the adoption of and training in transdisciplinary systems.
As more research funding agencies begin to support the use of transdisciplinary and engaged research practices in their programs, to help generate tangible, positive societal impacts, we can take advantage of opportunities to learn from programs that have been early adopters of these modes of research. The increased emphasis on engagement throughout the research process is helping to shine a light on the importance of partnerships, relationships, and trust in moving research into practice and policy. Yet identifying these intangible characteristics in proposals and project reports is not always a straightforward process.
In this webinar, we will hear from program leaders who have been soliciting, reviewing, funding, and evaluating transdisciplinary and engaged research for several years. They will share what they have learned about crafting requests for proposals to encourage the inclusion of transdisciplinary research practices, how their programs review and rate proposals, and the criteria and tools they use to evaluate the outcomes of individual projects and the impacts of their programs.
Speakers | |
Aparna Bamzai-DodsonAssistant Regional Administrator | |
| Aparna Bamzai-Dodson is the Assistant Regional Administrator for the US Geological Survey North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC). In this role, she undertakes stakeholder and partner engagement to identify strategic science goals, outputs, and objectives. Dr. Bamzai-Dodson has a B.S. in Statistics and Mathematics from Virginia Tech, a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, and a Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Sustainability from the University of Oklahoma, with a focus on the theory and practice of engaging stakeholders in the creation of actionable science for climate adaptation. Dr. Bamzai-Dodson’s research provides the NC CASC with opportunities to learn how to improve its practice of producing usable knowledge to support decision making. |
Charlotte HudsonDirector, Lenfest Ocean Program | |
| Charlotte Hudson directs the Lenfest Ocean Program within Pew Charitable Trusts, a grant-making program that identifies, supports, and communicates marine science concerning threats facing the world’s oceans. She is responsible for identifying thematic areas of research and overseeing the design and implementation of research projects that meet the program’s criteria. She also oversees the communication and dissemination of research results in ways that inform policy decisions and promote the sustainable management of the oceans. Before joining Pew, Hudson was the senior marine scientist at Oceana, an international marine conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the world’s oceans. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Davidson College and a master’s in environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. |
Molly HunterScience Advisor | |
| Molly Hunter serves as the Science Advisor to the Joint Fire Science Program, a national, interagency program dedicated to funding research related to wildland fire. Molly also supports incident management teams responding to wildfire events as a Public Information Officer and has extensive experience responding to media requests during wildfire seasons. Prior to joining the federal workforce, Molly held faculty positions at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, where she developed and taught numerous undergraduate, graduate, and continuing courses, and maintained an active research program in fire ecology and management. Molly has conducted research and written on many topics related to wildland fire, including fuel treatment effectiveness, fuel treatment economics, invasive species, prescribed fire, and fire science application. She has a PhD in Forest Science from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Science in Plant Biology from the University of California at Davis. |
Moderator | |
Alison M. MeadowAssociate Research Professor | |
| Alison M. Meadow is an Associate Research Professor in the University of Arizona’s Office of Societal Impact. She is also a co-investigator with the NOAA-funded Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS). Dr. Meadow’s research focuses on the process of linking research with decision making to improve the usability of science with an emphasis on evaluating the societal impacts of research. She works with research programs to help them move research into use by communities, practitioners, and policymakers. Dr. Meadow received her PhD in Anthropology from the Resilience and Adaptation Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. |
Organizers
Alison Meadow, University of Arizona
Jessica Shade, USDA NIFA