Seminar: Build it and they will come? Community engagement for Earth Science data initiatives

Speaker: Arika Virapongse, Middle Path EcoSolutions

Abstract

Community-centered approaches have long been a part of the Earth Sciences, since the complex questions that this field grapples with are often beyond what small groups and individuals can address. Despite this, Earth Science initiatives still often struggle to identify why, how, and for what they are engaging communities—both within their fields and beyond. In this interactive presentation, we’ll explore different framings and examples of community engagement approaches that are especially relevant to Earth Science data projects. We’ll learn about how community engagement can range from outreach to activation of communities. We’ll leave with some specific strategies that we can apply in our own projects, such as for organizing workshops, communicating with users, gathering consensus around shared ideas, and increasing the sustainability of projects. In particular, we’ll think about what it means to practice open science and empowerment in today’s context for Earth Science data.

Biography

Arika Virapongse, PhD is a community engagement specialist who works primarily with science and academic initiatives. Her domain expertise is in the Earth Sciences,  human-environment, and conservation and development. As the founder and principal consultant of Middle Path EcoSolutions, she has worked with nonprofits, federally-funded research projects, and businesses to help them develop community engagement programs. As part of her approach, Arika’s community engagement work often addresses strategic organizational change, long-term sustainability of organizations, and the activation of communities within and around organizations. You can find out more about Arika and her work here: https://middlepatheco.com/ 

*For invitation contact taysia@ucar.edu