Your Team

Here we provide a brief rundown of important things to consider for building a strong team and maintaining a safe, ethical environment with your team throughout your field season. For more details and discussion on team building please refer to the UC Field Operations Safety Manual, pages 33. 

 Team Building Considerations

1. Make sure you outline what it is your field experience can provide before you start seeking out participants. You need to define the scope of work you are asking someone to help you perform. When considering adding mentorship to your fieldwork, it is even more important to define what it is you can provide and what it is you cannot - some projects are more appropriate to beginner volunteers, while other field activities require some prior training outside of the project to qualify to carry out. Some questions to ask yourself as you start forming your team include: 

• Are you looking to build in mentorship? 

• What is the intensity of your fieldwork (the nature of the activities you need to carry out, the timeframe, the logistics, your budget)? What kind of people do you need to help you carry this out?

• What is your experience leading the field activities you will carry out or your experience in the context where you will work?

• To what extent will team members work independently?

• Which skills do team members need to have already and which skills can they learn on the job? How does this impact safety?

2. Ensuring your field safety plan is built for multiple people, adapting to skill levels and committing to understanding different safety concerns.

Your safety plan needs to be appropriate for all of the skill and experience levels represented by your team. Another very important component to consider is that risk can look different for different people, and risk due to prejudice is an important factor to plan for to create safety for a group of people.

3. Defining core values and maintaining a respectful environment. 

• Respect: This is often included in ethics statements for organizations and groups, but can be difficult to define. Considering how you want people to feel in the field setting can mean you create norms around topics you consider “work appropriate” and not, and how communication around these topics happens in the “workplace”. It can also lend itself to the tones and body language you ask participants to maintain. While field settings are not the same as office settings, a lot of the general parameters around behavior that would seem normal to maintaining a respectful environment in an office can also apply in a field setting. 

• Commitment to diversity: as discussed in the above section, acknowledging the barriers different people face to fieldwork can aid in helping you define how this can be implemented in your specific project. For example,  this can mean stating clearly to your team that this experience includes learning and can be a way to facilitate increased participation in your project. 

4. Maintain clear, consistent and frequent communication with and among team members. 

Ensuring that you and your team go over the procedures, rules and expectations of the field project as well as creating norms around consistent check ins and reminders is key to maintaining clear communication in the field. Maintaining consistent policies on norms and rules and using consistent language can help ensure your communication with your team members is clear. Communicating often is another helpful way to maintain a collaborative and efficient team environment, and can further help foster better inclusion to less experienced team members as they learn the ropes. 

Please refer to the UC Field Operations Safety Manual, specifically pages 33-38, for more detailed information and tips.

 Leading + Learning + Mentoring

 Being a grad student is hard enough without performing a new job, like leading a crew or conducting field work, that you might have never done before. It can be so overwhelming to develop your research questions, gather field materials, and handle logistics, that it becomes easy to not prioritize safety. Or perhaps you don’t know what safety policies you need to consider. Effective preparation, through using the resources on this website or working with the field safety office, to minimize risk and create a safe environment for yourself and others is key to being a good student and mentor.

First, define the expectations and responsibilities for yourself and the people you are working with.

• Have frank discussions with your PI about your role and responsibilities vs. theirs. An aligning expectations worksheet can help with this.

  • Example questions may be, “Who is considered the supervisor of the work crew?” “Am I expected to train people, if so what support can I expect in developing training?” “What are your lab’s field safety policies - how active are you in prioritizing field safety needs? Can you be relied upon for check-ins, planning help, budgeting, etc.?”

• Align expectations and responsibilities with your crew.

  • What are your expectations of them? What responsibilities do you have? What are disciplinary actions for not meeting these guidelines?

  • Ask your crew what they expect from you.

Once you have a handle on what your expectations are for yourself and others on your team, you can seek out resources that will help you succeed in those roles. Great templates and resources can be found here: Equity / safety resources – Macrosystems Ecology Laboratory (benjaminblonder.org) and here: Search - SumTotal

General recommendations for leading safe fieldwork:

GAR

• Before, during and after fieldwork discuss risks and mitigations with your crew. 

Safety Mindsets

• Embrace top-down and bottom-up safety practices - trust your team to alert you to safety concerns and take their suggestions seriously. Enforce safety from the top-down as well by setting examples. 

Lead with Authority

• Although it is important to consider your crew, it is important that you establish authority with your team. This mostly means that you establish yourself as the ultimate decision-maker. Clear hierarchies allow for clear processes when issues arise.

Role Model

• When your crew includes undergraduates, it should be understood that you are acting as a role model to them. Partaking in risky behavior, dismissing concerns, or other deviations from safety are infectious to the rest of your team. 

Onboarding

• Write down expectations your crew has of you, and what you have for them (see below). Provide it to your crew, ask if any clarification is needed. By providing written communication, you ensure common understanding.

• If you are using volunteer help they must sign a form to be covered by insurance!

  1. Volunteer information: HR’s information page addressing volunteers (includes the volunteer policy and links to the form)

Template for Expectations/Onboarding document:

1. Your team member’s responsibilities before, during and after fieldwork. Outline consequences as well.

   1. Examples for before fieldwork: No heavy drinking the night before fieldwork as it will make you more prone to dehydration and decrease your reliability in the field. 

   2. During fieldwork examples: you are expected to ask questions when unsure and raise concerns when you notice hazards. You are also expected to listen to the crew lead's direction. 

   3. After fieldwork examples: Do not schedule events after fieldwork as return time is approximate.

   4. Consequences example: Failure to follow expectations may put safety of the crew or data collection at risk and could result in you not being invited back out into the field. If severe, you may be asked to leave before the fieldwork has concluded.

2. Your crew's expectations of you

   1. From your conversation with them, determine what your team is expecting of you before, during, and after fieldwork. 

      1. Do they want you to check in on them to ensure they got home okay? Do they expect you to write them a letter of rec? Do they want you to give them opportunities for special projects?

3. Include tips and tricks for them to be successful with your fieldwork

   1. What are gear, clothing recommendations you have for them?  

4. FAQ's are also helpful - especially for questions that may be uncomfortable to discuss.

   1. "How do I go to the bathroom?" "Will there be access to potable water?" "How should I deal with my menstrual cycle in the field?"

 PI Problems: Knowing Your Rights and Resolution Structure

More information and resources: 

• UC Davis Policy & Procedure Manual. PPM 290-15 (Safety Management Program) outlines roles and responsibilities for safety.

• SafetyNet 131: Safety Program Guidelines for Principal Investigators

• Your department's Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP) will describe how to formally report a hazard.

• Your Graduate Program Coordinator and Senior Academic Advisor (SAA)

• Your Department Safety Coordinator (DSC) and/or Safety Officer. DSC Directory.

• Graduate Studies Problems and Dispute Resolution resources.

• List of confidential resource, other resources, and reporting options at the HDAPP website.

  • See the definition of "Responsible Employees" who are mandated reporters. 

• Aggie Mental Health Student Support Resources for Faculty, Staff, and TAs.

  • Red Folder: "To ensure that these resources are accurate and up to date, the Red Folder is no longer printed. For direct access, please bookmark the Red Folder in your web browser or download and print a QR code for quick access in your office."

• Consider inviting the Ombuds Office to give a presentation about their services and what to expect from an individual meeting or mediation with them. They also offer a variety of trainings, including bystander intervention and one called "Conflict Competence for Graduate Students and Postdocs."

• Academic Affairs Complaint Processes and Resources

• Safety Services (including EH&S)

  • Who do I call? contact list

  • Report an Incident or Concern

•  "Report an Incident or Concern" at the top of the Safety Services website. This form is always an option, especially if not sure which department or individual to contact. These reports go directly to a small team in Safety Services leadership, who discuss and determine the appropriate response or referral. The next steps vary widely depending on the type of concern. There is an option to report anonymously, although providing more information makes it easier for them to investigate or follow up. This is not a confidential resource.

  • The webpage with the form also contains information about the Office of Compliance & Policy, whistleblower reporting, and links to report certain urgent matters.

• UCOP President's Safety Policy

2. “University employees who direct the activities of other individuals are responsible for protecting faculty, staff, students, visitors, the public and the environment, and for adhering to this policy. Accountability should be addressed in job descriptions and performance evaluations, and in contract”

6. “Before a member of the University community conducts an activity which has potential adverse implications for health, safety or the environment, a responsible party must evaluate the associated hazards and environmental impacts and identify the appropriate set of protective safety and environmental requirements to assure that faculty, staff, students, visitors, members of the public, and the environment are protected from adverse affects. The principal responsibility for such an evaluation resides with employees and supervisors. The campus EH&S offices will provide assistance and consultation to identify requirements, controls, and their implementation.”

9. “Before operations or activities are initiated, the person responsible for the activity must ensure that all protective safety and environmental requirements have been identified and addressed. Review and approval requirements may vary commensurate with regulatory requirements and the level of hazard or environmental impact associated with a particular activity. Certain higher risk operations require formal prior authorization. This authorization may be provided by appropriate protocol review committees, department heads, or other administrative offices. On occasion, agency permits must be secured before performing the activity. Each location will establish local procedures on obtaining appropriate authorization”

Responsible Employee (Mandated Reporting)

As graduate students the sources of our funding may vary and we may not all be considered “Responsible Employees.” HDAPP defines a “Responsible employee as, “Any UC employee who is not specifically identified as a confidential resource in the SVSH Policy is a “Responsible Employee” required to report Prohibited Conduct to the Title IX Office.” If you receive a paycheck through UC Path, you are likely an employee of UC Davis. If you receive outside funding, you may not qualify. Reach out to HR or visit Responsible Employee | Harassment & Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program (ucdavis.edu) for clarification if needed. 

Be sure you know your responsibilities, especially if you are working with/around undergraduates. Be sure that your students/team know if you are a responsible employee and what this means. Make sure you are not in a position where prohibited conduct is revealed to you without knowing how to handle it. Take the responsibility seriously.