CREATING ETHICAL CLIMATE SCIENCE RESEARCHERS: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEWS FROM TRIBAL AND SCIENTIST PERSPECTIVES

As geoscience research becomes more global, graduate students must be trained to work with diverse groups and to navigate complex systems of rules and norms that may be outside an individual student’s prior experiences. For example, researchers within climate science organizations (CSOs) are often called upon to work with Native American Tribes, but seldom understand the nuances of working with Tribes given Tribes’ histories, cultures, and knowledge systems. The cultural understanding that scientists can develop in order to effectively work with Tribes can be referred to as “ethical STEM”. Our research is seeking to determine: 1) the quantity and range of activities of ethical STEM training amongst students and scientists at CSOs that work with Tribes and 2) how to create evaluation of this training that reflects both CSO and Tribal values and perspectives. We conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with individuals housing different perspectives (9 with scientists at CSOs and 7 with Tribal citizens or employees). Interviewees were selected because of their work at the Tribes-CSO nexus and were asked about the ethical STEM training process. Through thematic content analysis, various benefits and challenges of working at this nexus emerged. Interviewees also identified the need for scientists to undergo training focused on cultural differences, and stressed the importance of relationship building as a prerequisite to working effectively with Tribes. These themes and suggestions can help to inform university training programs aimed at improving diversity outcomes for graduate students.