FROM GEOSCIENCE TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: THE EVOLVING ROLE OF POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS IN COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVES

The CLIMATE Justice Initiative (CJI) at UC Irvine (UCI) recently completed its inaugural year, integrating a diverse and multidisciplinary cohort of 17 fellows (6 post-baccalaureate and 11 PhD students) into community-based research (CBR) projects in pursuit of climate justice and transdisciplinary collaborations. To facilitate the projects and the collaborations, CJI leadership (faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars) conducted various activities at UCI, although the majority of community-engaged interactions took place off-campus or outside the formal classroom setting. In this talk, I reflect on my experience as a postdoctoral scholar in the first year, and how my teaching and mentoring roles changed over time to fit the needs of academic-community collaborations.

Drawing from field notes, class materials and a timeline of key events, I trace moments where I intervened and changed aspects of the curriculum in my capacity as a postdoctoral scholar. These interventions are most evident in the evolution of a practicum seminar, where my initial focus on geoscience instruction shifted in response to unforeseen challenges in the community-based projects. Ultimately, I shifted to a pedagogical role, towards a community of practice to address emerging community-based research learning gaps. I also leveraged existing accessibility norms at UCI to champion inclusive design to enrich ongoing community engagement learning, e.g. supporting internal/external access practices for events and web content and using digital collaborative tools in virtual and hybrid spaces. However, comprehensive organizational accessibility practices have yet to be developed, and continuous improvement in the fellows’ learning was limited due to frequent role shifting and lack of actionable feedback loops with time constraints.

My experience as a postdoctoral scholar illuminates critical issues in power dynamics within academic collaborations, particularly where ambiguity in teaching roles and the complexity of community engagement posed major challenges to effective learning outcomes. Opportunities for CJI in Year 2 include offering differentiated instruction, fostering a learning culture, and affirming the inclusion of fellows and postdoctoral scholars in CJI’s vision of futurity and long-term goals.