ADVANCEING FIELDSAFETY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF AN ACCESSIBLE ONLINE TRAINING COURSE

Field-based research is integral to many geoscientific studies, yet exclusionary behaviors in these settings are pervasive and persistent. Widespread recognition of their prevalence and the harm they cause has led to demands for cultural change and increased training and preparation for researchers heading into the field. In response to this ADVANCEing FieldSafety, a collaboration between the University of Colorado, Boulder’s FieldSafe project and ADVANCEGeo Partnership leveraged field safety training developed by the UC team and workplace climate training developed by ADVANCEGeo to create and launch a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) hosted on coursera.org. This is a training program and resource hub for researchers participating in or leading field campaigns. The main elements of the training are informed by an intersectional framework and include strategies for creating and implementing codes of conduct, group dynamics and communication tools, allyship training, bystander intervention techniques, traditional and identity-focused risk assessment strategies, and evidence-based practices for inclusive mentorship in the field setting. Participants who complete the online training only can receive a Coursera certification. Participants who complete the online training and participate in facilitated debriefs and reflections offered by the project team will receive an ADVANCEing FieldSafety certification. The ADVANCEing FieldSafety certification pathway is designed to help field teams meet the new field safety and harassment-mitigation requirements recently implemented by various funding agencies, for instance for field campaigns funded by the United States National Science Foundation. Either pathway also includes access to an easily adaptable toolkit with resources and references that can be modified and taken into field campaigns. We present the major elements of the new online course, as well as present preliminary results of the pre- and post-evaluation data from course participants.