In 2024, the LTER Network Office will offer two FieldFutures workshops designed to prevent harassment and assault in fieldwork.
Target audience: These workshops are designed for LTER researchers who expect to be in leadership roles in the coming field season. This includes, but is not limited to, investigators, graduate students, postdocs, and staff.
Sessions (register for one or the other, not both):
- Tuesday April 23 at 10:30-Noon PT (1:30-3:00 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, May 14 at 10:30-Noon PT (1:30-3:00 p.m. ET)
- If there is demand, we may be able to add another session in late May
Registration: Each workshop is open to 30 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are required to be part of an LTER site.
Training Description: This FieldFutures harassment and assault prevention workshop will help participants learn to prevent, intervene in, and report incidents of sexual harassment and assault in scientific or field settings. They will also learn prevention via positive organizational climate-setting activities matters for the movement toward safe, inclusive fieldwork. Grounded in the latest evidence-based research on harassment prevention and organizational psychology, each session is designed to help participants build knowledge, competency, and self-efficacy so they can set and enforce positive norms in fieldwork settings.
Scope of Work: FieldFutures will organize and lead harassment prevention content tailored to fieldwork settings. This workshop will be highly interactive, and we ask that participants come prepared to engage with the facilitators and participants. Our workshops rely on active participation and peer-to-peer feedback in scenario-based sessions in small and large groups.
As a result of this workshop, participants will learn how to:
- Identify incidents that meet legal and institutional definitions of harassment and assault
- Implement field-ready protocols and tailor them to their own field setting
- Safely intervene in incidents using a suite of bystander tools
- Recognize risk factors in their individual field settings
Key components include:
- The essentials of the prevention and intervention for harassment and assault
- Identification of reporting requirements and channels while in the field
- Tangible template field safety guides, community agreements, and field safety checklist
- Skills training through hands-on scenario practice, peer feedback, and group activities
