Julia Parrish
University of Washington, WA·Earth & Environmental Science
Environmental problems such as climate change are felt most directly in local communities. Yet geoscience research is often carried out without input from those communities, which can weaken public trust and keep many people out of the field.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Education Research
Social Science
- Topics
community-based research
co-produced research
community science
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2029
What they work on
- Run a phased program in which early-career geoscientists (Pathmakers) take part in virtual discussions, in-person community institutes on ethical best practices, and funded, mentored research produced jointly with community members.
- Identify the core leadership skills that support boundary spanners, people bridging mainstream geoscience and local communities, by applying leadership theory to boundary-spanning work.
- Test whether a two-cohort model pairing Pathmakers with administrative Changemakers in an innovation incubator can lead mainstream science institutions to support community-based research.
More about the research
This collaborative project, Active Societal Participation In Research and Education (ASPIRE), aims to broaden who takes part in geoscience and where it happens. It supports research that scientists and community members manage together. The idea is that place-based, community-based work can attract and keep early-career geoscientists while building public trust in geoscience to address environmental issues.
Why it matters
Community-based geoscience could help communities address local-to-global environmental problems with research they help shape. It could also make geoscience more visible and useful to the public. Training early-career scientists and administrators to support this kind of work may increase participation in STEM and strengthen public trust in geoscience.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Heather Vance-Chalcraft
East Carolina University, NC·Education Research
Build a community of practice among undergraduate instructors using citizen science, the inclusion of the public in scientific research, across face-to-face and online courses and including minority-serving institutions.
Stephen Taylor
Western Oregon University, OR·Education Research
Increase enrollment, diversity and retention of undergraduates in the geosciences through mentored education built around community water resource partnerships.
Richard Bixler
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Social Science
Identify at-risk Texas communities using social vulnerability data and mapping tools, then form reciprocal partnerships with 2-3 place-based communities to co-produce a resilience research agenda.
The school
University of Washington: 81 labs on PI Pages, $1.7B a year on research, 694 research doctorates a year.
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