News

 PIs from several of our Pursuits and Graduate Pursuits share the practices they’re using to keep their projects moving forward and to maintain strong connections among their team members.  

This year, SESYNC’s annual Graduate Student Workshop on Socio-Environmental Synthesis took on a new focus—increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in team-based, socio-environmental (S-E) synthesis research. The workshop sought to 1) Celebrate the insights, abilities, and problem-solving capacities gained from embracing diverse backgrounds and identities in socio-environmental synthesis research and on teams; and 2) Provide a research platform to channel such benefits into fully funded, independent, interdisciplinary team experiences (i.e., Graduate Pursuits) that help advance and highlight underrepresented voices and contributions in science.

During SESYNC’s most recent virtual seminar, Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges, of the University of Maryland's School of Public Health, spoke about the advantages of using a system dynamics approach to solve complex research problems, particularly in relation to developing interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Dr. Mysha Clarke, Assistant Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, in the School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Florida, recently gave a seminar titled, “The Human Dimensions of Natural Resource Management: What Is the Role of Mixed Methods Approaches?”  This talk provided a comprehensive look at how researchers can combine quantitative and qualitative social science research methods, also known as the mixed methods approach, to address complex S-E problems.