Oceanography | June 2022
FROM THE TOS JEDI COMMITTEE
Science in Service of Our Communities
By Mona Behl
IN THE GOLDEN ISLES of Georgia, the
Gullah art of braiding sweetgrass into bas-
kets can be traced back over 400 years to
its West African roots. This skill is passed
on from generation to generation, pre-
serving the oral history, sovereignty, and
culture of the Gullah people. Local and
indigenous coastal communities, like the
Gullah-Geechee, have a deep connection
with their natural environment as they
depend on forests, fisheries, and wildlife
resources for their livelihood and culture.
These frontline communities are also
facing a complex web of challenges that
include rising sea levels, coastal erosion,
saltwater intrusion, encroaching develop-
ment and increasing property taxes, and
loss of fisheries and other coastal liveli-
hoods. As communities develop strate-
gies to address these complex challenges,
they need access to place-based research
and education that is unique to their peo-
ple, culture, and ecology.
Scientists have a responsibility (Hooke,
2015) to support their local and indige-
nous communities by providing data and
scientific information that make sense
to them, and to do so with humility and
respect. While climate change is a global
phenomenon, it is at the local scale that
the impacts are most felt. Because the
impacts are local, people who are most
invested in finding solutions are also
from local communities. This includes
students, community leaders, tribal and
local governments, educational insti-
tutions,
nonprofits,
businesses,
and
faith- based institutions, among others.
Scientists must invest time in building
trust and relationships with our commu-
nity members. By listening to insights
that local knowledge holders share about
their local ecology and their relationship
with the environment, we can understand
what matters to the community and how
we might help. We can approach our
research as an opportunity for knowledge
exchange and capacity building within
local communities. By collaborating with
communities, we can co-produce solu-
tions. Co-production not only builds
trust in data, processes, and partners but
also diversifies and democratizes science.
Relationship building with communi-
ties does not always have to begin from
scratch. Our university- based agricul-
tural extension and Sea Grant programs
already have long-standing and trusted
relationships with local and indigenous
communities. We can collaborate closely
with these programs to identify import-
ant issues and needs within communi-
ties and formulate research questions in
appropriate social contexts. We can refine
our research questions and hypotheses
by incorporating traditional and ecolog-
ical knowledge to provide novel insights.
Programs like the American Geophysical
Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange match
scientists with community leaders and
funders to solve local environmen-
tal problems. Scientists can also collab-
orate with programs like the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion’s Regional Integrated Sciences and
Assessments program to help build com-
munity resilience to weather and climate
events. We can work closely with K–12
schools, aquariums, zoos, and museums
to immerse people in informal learning
environments. We should seek collabo-
rations with scientists and practitioners
outside of our own disciplines and learn
to do so effectively (Bennett and Gadlin,
2012). And our collaborations should not
be limited to colleagues at R1 universi-
ties but must be extended to researchers
at minority-serving institutions as well
(NASEM, 2019b). Lastly, we must serve
as a resource to our political leaders and
learn how to responsibly engage in the
policy process.
In addition to doing socially relevant
research, we must assist our students in
forming habits of heart and mind that pre-
pare them to contribute to the betterment
of the world. This can be done by provid-
ing culturally relevant education (Ladson-
Billings, 1995) and mentorship (NASEM,
2019a), and engaging them in intriguing
local problems. When we create learning
and working environments where people
from diverse backgrounds get seats at the
table, and are heard, seen, and are recog-
nized for their contributions, we instill a
sense of belonging. This sense of belong-
ing is directly linked to improved educa-
tional outcomes, performance, and reten-
tion (e.g., Johnson, 2012). By creating
more supportive and inclusive environ-
ments, we can both increase the diversity
of our scientific workforce and prepare
students for a variety of career pathways
in STEM professions (Batchelor et al.,
2021). We must also increase our own
awareness and understanding of sys-
temic racism and injustices in science and
beyond, and take immediate measures to
address these issues.
In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Pota-
watomi botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer
writes, “Being naturalized to place means
to live as if this is the land that feeds you,
as if these are the streams from which you
drink, that build your body and fill your
spirit. To become naturalized is to know