Welcome

Maeva! Welcome! In this guide, we present a curated set of resources designed to promote safe and culturally informed research practices in Moorea. Hundreds of research projects are underway that span almost all biomes in and around Moorea, yet the inclusion of community values and knowledge has been limited. The purpose of this guide is to encourage all users of Gump Marine Station, from students and educators to researchers, scientists, and community members, to reflect on the perspectives we hold as we engage in scientific work and foster a shared understanding of values, culture, and scholarship.

Structure

This guide is designed to accomplish two goals:

(1) to provide a short (~1 page, ~3min ea.) guided pathway for new and seasoned users of Gump Marine Station to access unique or existing resources that will aid the success of diverse, equitable, inclusive, culturally-informed, and rewarding research;

(2) to serve as a foundation for conversations and community connections surrounding the construction of collaborative, intentional science in Moorea for new and seasoned members of the community.

The structure of this guide and its learning modules are heavily influenced by, but not limited to, the following sources: Kūlana Noiʻi, which builds a baseline to hold conversations regarding inclusive research on colonized land; the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network and  Moorea Coral Reef (MCR)  codes of conduct and policies, which provide introspective blueprints of expected researcher behavior; and the Gump Station website, which provides a reserve of important user information. We intend for it to be translated into three languages (English, French and Reo Tahiti) with the opportunity for more (please contact the working group moderator(s) if you are interested in translation). We highly encourage new users to explore this document and associated resources in a modular fashion before before traveling to and beginning work in Moorea. It is also valuable to revisit as a seasoned researcher to allow all users to familiarize (or re-familiarize) themselves to continuously changing aspects of the station, the culture and community in Moorea, and the responsibility of individual researchers to maintain cultural land permanence and island stewardship. This is a living document, built by a community, and will evolve with time.

Limitations

This documentation is merely a guide to existing and available resources meant to encourage self and institutional reflection on mindful and inclusive scientific pursuits in the context of the research and working community in Moorea. It cannot itself, for example, build a collaborative scientific relationship, hold inclusive conversations, or ensure successful culturally-informed research.

This guide is not designed to be a manual, checklist, nor syllabus. 

This guide attempts to highlight aspects of life, culture, community, and responsibilities that we - those who interact with Gump Station - strive be cognizant of as we converse among researchers and community members to ensure responsible, respectful, equitable, and inclusive research in Moorea. It makes no attempt to be comprehensive.

This guide is not meant to be unidirectional or unilateral. While it is built with new users of Gump Station in mind, it is by no means exclusive to this audience and it welcomes intersectional input to reflect the perspectives of all who interact with Gump Station and its affiliates.

This guide is a non-static, working document; with the help of all of those who interact with scientists on Moorea, it can and should change with time.

We are each responsible for demonstrating our intentions through our actions. e.g. “if we intend to have a safe and inclusive culture, our actions must be safe and inclusive.” We can make individual and collective commitments toward a combined set of values, culture, and scholarship by exhibiting respect, self-awareness, reciprocity in science, responsible stewardship, active communication and engagement, as well as being inclusive members of the community. In doing so, we can make numerous small yet significant contributions toward creating a positive impact.

We are capable of - and responsible for - holding ourselves accountable in this endeavor.