Creating a Safer Culture for Field Scientists in Shark Research
The conservation of sharks critically relies on effective data collection, which often requires fieldwork. Field-based research is frequently conducted throughout the career of a shark scientist and opportunities to gain field experience are offered from an early career stage. While positive fieldwork experiences increase productivity, working for prolonged periods in isolated locations within a small team can create hostile working environments. Despite anecdotal reports of significant issues surrounding fieldwork in shark research, there are no data on participant experience or current operating procedures, nor universal standards for field-based research. By applying existing survey methods and adapting infrastructure from occupational research, this project aims to report the experience of field scientists in shark research and set standards for professional and supportive workplace behaviour. Ultimately, Clemency and her team hope to make shark field research a positive example of conduct, increasing the retention of talented researchers.
This innovative project aims to report on the research culture at field stations that conduct shark-focused research and produce guidelines for field stations to improve and standardise research culture and operating procedures.
OBJECTIVES
1. Conduct an online survey to gather information on the factors that create positive and negative field experiences for participants who have been involved in shark- focused research;
2. Host workshops and focus groups with individuals involved in fieldwork (i.e., field station managers, researchers, staff) to understand the culture within fieldwork environments, current operating procedures and attitudes towards new suggestions;
3. Develop and publish guidelines for field stations to help improve and standardise field station culture. Specifically, this will include a code of conduct, code of ethics and statements of expectation (what you can expect from us, what we expect from you). Documents will be applicable across field station hierarchies.
METHODS
1. Online survey:
A global online survey will target adults who have participated in field-based shark research with the intention of pursuing a career in science at the time of participation. Designed with a team of social scientists and occupational psychologists, the survey explores each participant’s positive and negative field experiences as well as their overall perception of fieldwork culture. The outputs will describe which factors most influence their fieldwork experiences, focusing on psychological safety and personal value. Participants are invited to suggest and inform improvements for wellbeing and experience within shark science field culture. Information on participant demographics will be used to quantitatively assess which experiences may be particularly pertinent to various demographic groups, informing existing and evolving inclusion strategies.
2. Workshops and focus groups:
A series of workshops will be hosted with individuals who partake in fieldwork at universities and conferences. Workshops will include facilitated discussions on the current operations and guidelines, and future directions of fieldwork culture.
Participants will be invited to collaboratively identify areas of improvement (whilst verifying their feasibility) and design standardised guidelines for moving forward. The final workshop will be held at Sharks International in 2026, where we will showcase the finalised version of our field station guidelines.
3. Field station guidelines:
The results of the survey and the workshops, along with a review of current field station guidelines, will be used to develop standardised best-practice guidelines. We aim to produce three documents, applicable to all field station participants:
• Codes of ethics (A description of field site values to guide culture)
• Codes of conduct (Specific information on conduct)
• Statements of expectation (A clear description of the roles, responsibilities and requirements of all individuals at a field site).
These will be examples for field stations to adapt. They will be developed alongside project team experts in occupational psychology and human resources to incorporate established leadership and management techniques. The resulting publication will share the standardised guidelines within the field of shark research. Further, it will open dialogue about the challenges people face when conducting fieldwork and create space for previously unheard voices within shark research.
PI: Dr Clemency White
Team: Dr Catherine Macdonald, Dr Julia Wester, Professor Steve Simpson, Professor Andy Radford, Dr Matthew Witt, Heather David, Roy White
Contact details: clemency.white@bristol.ac.uk