Hi! I’m Emma Gee, a PhD Student in the Environmental Studies department at UC Santa Cruz. In my previous life I was a strictly natural scientist, working on projects such as measuring the productivity of methane-eating bacteria and calculating abundances of sharks. As I progressed in these fields, though, the gap between my research and the workings of the world began to feel wider and wider. I wasn’t sure that what I was doing was actually serving anyone in particular, or that my findings would ever make it out of the world of peer-reviewed publication. I came to graduate school to learn how to bridge these divides, and was lucky enough to connect with this project, which is doing exactly that.
Joining this project this past year has been my first step in conducting research for my dissertation. I’ve been interested for a while in the relationships between Asian Americans and the coast/marine conservation, and so working with Tim and Jenny to collect diverse perspectives on coastal management has been a great opportunity to explore this. In order to reach disadvantaged and minority communities, I spent the summer connecting with different community groups and attending their events to distribute our survey.
I had no idea what to expect going into our summer field season, having never done such direct community engagement. I was really pleasantly surprised by how friendly almost everyone we talked to was. Instead of feeling like I was imposing on people, many people were supportive and even appreciative of our work. It seemed like many people were happy to have a forum where they could voice their concerns about their coastal spaces.
I had the best time when we tabled at community events, such as the Santa Cruz AAPI festival. Coming to these events helped us reach a wider swath of people who could share their perspectives with us. It was also great to meet the people running the events, who were incredibly warm and passionate. Since these events were in and around Santa Cruz, they made me feel more a part of the community, rather than a transplant student.
Throughout the summer, I was struck by how much more fluid this research was than the natural science research I’d done in the past. When doing experiments in a lab, you create a strict protocol and then follow it as closely as you can to get data. There is no room for deviation or improvements along the way. In this project, we reflected throughout the summer on who we were reaching, who we weren’t, and how we could improve our outreach strategies. Our strategies evolved as we gained more experience in the field, most notably from approaching people to setting up a table and letting them approach us.
One of my favorite aspects of our outreach was that we were able to make connections at community events that enabled us to then go to other events. It was very cool to see all the different community groups at play, how they intersect and support one another. I found it really enriching to think about how not only our project but I myself fit into that landscape. Many people are working together to make the coasts a more equitable and welcoming place, and it has been a great joy to join in that this summer.
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