Research in the Time of COVID-19
About the talk
The COVID-19 pandemic has offered geographers and others in related fields both opportunities and constraints. This talk will explore both the positive and negative consequences of the current pandemic from a geographical research perspective. Opportunities include the potential importance of geographic and spatial research to addressing unique issues witnessed in the pandemic, as seen by the important research funded by COVID-19 RAPID awards at the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Geography and Spatial Sciences (GSS) and Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences (HEGS) programs. It is clear that geographers and spatial scientists have a strong and important contribution to make in the fields of medical geography, spatial cognition, risk perception, and disaster management among others. At the same time, COVID-19 has created distinct challenges for those doing field-based research due to university travel bans, IRB mandates, research ethics considerations, and complex logistics. Here, I explore these issues, while giving potential best in practice solutions on staying connected to our research communities and each other in the time of COVID-19.
About the speaker
Jacqueline Vadjunec is a Professor in the Geography Department at Oklahoma State University. Her research interests include the human dimensions of global environmental change, land system science, common property theory, natural resource management, cultural and political ecology, and mixed and participatory research methods. Her research centers on the adaptation and resilience of small farmer and extractivist households in the Americas, and has been funded by NSF, the USDA, and Fulbright. Jacqueline has edited numerous peer reviewed articles, as well as guest-edited special issues and edited volumes in diverse fields ranging from geography to ecology and biodiversity. A huge proponent of the value of muddy boots fieldwork, Jacqueline has taken hundreds of students to the field with her. Jacqueline served as an NSF program officer from 2018–2020 for Geography and Spatial Sciences (GSS)/Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences (HEGs) as well as a variety of transdisplinary programs such as Navigating the New Arctic (NNA), Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (CNH2/DISES), Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water (INFEWS), Coastlines and People (CoPe), and Signals in the Soil (SiTs).