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The North American Heritage at Risk (NAHAR) working group developed a research pipeline to employ collaborative methods to address climate impacts at archaeological sites that includes modeling, monitoring, meeting, methodizing, and mitigating. The People of Guana project was the inaugural study using the NAHAR pipeline to focus on a suite of sites located on the Guana Peninsula in northeastern Florida. The project was funded through the National Estuarine Research Reserve System's Science Collaborative (NERRS SC). This paper focuses on collaborative methods employed during monitoring efforts to document eroding resources using the Florida Public Archaeology Network's (FPAN) citizen science program Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS Florida). It further focuses on advanced monitoring techniques—shoreline mapping with an Arrow Gold GNSS receiver, terrestrial laser scanning of landscapes, and photogrammetry of exposed artifacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroscience research has evolved to generate increasingly large and complex experimental data sets, and advanced data science tools are taking on central roles in neuroscience research. Neurodata Without Borders (NWB), a standard language for neurophysiology data, has recently emerged as a powerful solution for data management, analysis, and sharing. We here discuss our labs’ efforts to implement NWB data science pipelines. We describe general principles and specific use cases that illustrate successes, challenges, and non-trivial decisions in software engineering. We hope that our experience can provide guidance for the neuroscience community and help bridge the gap between experimental neuroscience and data science. Key takeaways from this article are that (1) standardization with NWB requires non-trivial design choices; (2) the general practice of standardization in the lab promotes data awareness and literacy, and improves transparency, rigor, and reproducibility in our science; (3) we offer several feature suggestions to ease the extensibility, publishing/sharing, and usability for NWB standard and users of NWB data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(Participatory) citizen science is a research strategy that is strongly promoted by various research institutes throughout continental Europe. The basic idea behind this approach is to include citizens in the research process with the aim of more closely interrelating science and daily life, while increasing the impact of scientific findings on individuals and communities. With that said, participatory citizen science has rarely been used in the field of empirical theology. To demonstrate the potential of its use in this field, this article provides a critical introduction to participatory citizen science as a research strategy and offers insights from a research project in which a religious app was analyzed in collaboration with citizens using a qualitative paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tigers and other large predatory carnivores have suffered population extirpations and range contractions. This is particularly true for tiger populations in southeastern Asia, which harbours one-third of their remaining habitats. In stark contrast, a sustained recovery of a wild tiger population has occurred between 2007 and 2023, in three reserves of Thailand: Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK), Thung Yai East (TYE) and Thung Yai West (TYW), which together cover 6470 km2 (36%) of the larger Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM). We quantitatively monitored this recovery employing closed and open model analyses of data from photographic capture-recapture sampling. The resulting estimates of tiger population dynamic parameters showed: mean (±SE) tiger abundance annually varied from 36 (1.0) to 79 (1.53) in HKK, 2 (0.26) to 20 (4.45) in TYE and 3 (0.26) to 44 (2.11) in TYW, driven by mean annual survival rates of 0.79 (0.02) in HKK, 0.72 (0.05) in TYE, and 0.69 (0.05) in TYW. The annual numbers of recruits fluctuated from 0 (1.69) to 33 (1.93) tigers in HKK, 0 (0.47) to 13 (0.57) in TYE and 0 (1.13) to 36 (2.28) in TYW. Overall, the mean tiger population densities/100 km2 ranged between 1.3 (0.19) and 2.9 (0.29) in HKK, 0.2 (0.08) and 1.8 (0.34) in TYE, and 0.2 (0.07) and 3.1 (0.56) in TYW. Generally, the tiger population trended upward, with reserves protected over longer periods leading the tiger recovery. Our results are further backed by ancillary records on births of 67 cubs, 47 tiger dispersal events, as well as the recovery corresponding with incremental spatio-temporal coverage by the patrols. Cumulatively, our results provide evidence that effective law enforcement should be a critical component for achieving tiger population recoveries in Asia. Alternative conservation strategies that ignore this component do not appear to be evidence-based. Our results also demonstrate the utility of the independent collaborative monitoring framework adopted by the Thailand Government.

Purpose: The Retinal Ganglion Cell (RGC) Repopulation, Stem Cell Transplantation, and Optic Nerve Regeneration (RReSTORe) consortium was founded in 2021 to help address the numerous scientific and clinical obstacles that impede development of vision-restorative treatments for patients with optic neuropathies. The goals of the RReSTORe consortium are: (1) to define and prioritize the most critical challenges and questions related to RGC regeneration; (2) to brainstorm innovative tools and experimental approaches to meet these challenges; and (3) to foster opportunities for collaborative scientific research among diverse investigators. Design and Participants: The RReSTORe consortium currently includes > 220 members spanning all career stages worldwide and is directed by an organizing committee comprised of 15 leading scientists and physician-scientists of diverse backgrounds. Methods: Herein, we describe the structure and organization of the RReSTORe consortium, its activities to date, and the perceived impact that the consortium has had on the field based on a survey of participants. Results: In addition to helping propel the field of regenerative medicine as applied to optic neuropathies, the RReSTORe consortium serves as a framework for developing large collaborative groups aimed at tackling audacious goals that may be expanded beyond ophthalmology and vision science. Conclusions: The development of innovative interventions capable of restoring vision for patients suffering from optic neuropathy would be transformative for the ophthalmology field, and may set the stage for functional restoration in other central nervous system disorders. By coordinating large-scale, international collaborations among scientists with diverse and complementary expertise, we are confident that the RReSTORe consortium will help to accelerate the field toward clinical translation. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the process of scientific discovery using an under-exploited source of information: the Polymath projects. Polymath projects are an original attempt to solve a series mathematical problems collectively and in a collaborative online environment. To investigate the Polymath experiment, we analyze all the posts related to the projects that have resulted in a peer-reviewed publication. We focus in particular on the organization of the scientific labor and on the innovations that result from the contributions of the different authors. We find that a high presence of occasional contributors increases the productivity of the most active users and the overall productivity of the forums (i.e., the number of posts grows super-linearly with the number of contributors). We argue that, in large-scale collaborations, the serendipitous interaction between occasional contributors can be crucial to the scientific process, and individual contributions from occasional participants can open new directions of research.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute convened a workshop in August 2021 to identify opportunities in pediatric and congenital cardiovascular research that would improve outcomes for individuals with congenital heart disease across the lifespan. A subsidiary goal was to provide feedback on and visions for the Pediatric Heart Network. This paper summarizes several key research opportunities identified in the areas of: data quality, access, and sharing; aligning cardiovascular research with patient priorities (eg, neurodevelopmental and psychological impacts); integrating research within clinical care and supporting implementation into practice; leveraging creative study designs; and proactively enriching diversity of investigators, participants, and perspectives throughout the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges facing societies around the globe as they plan for and adapt to climate change are so large that usable, research‐driven recommendations to inform management actions are urgently needed. We sought to understand factors that influence the variation of academic contribution and use of collaborative research on climate change. We surveyed researchers (n = 31), program‐leaders (n = 5), and stakeholders (n = 81) from projects supported by a federally funded network across the United States. Our results suggest that peer‐reviewed publications do not lead to use, but frequency of meetings with stakeholders significantly increased use. Overall, the factors needed for projects to have high degrees of academic contributions are distinct from those needed to be useful to stakeholders. Furthermore, leadership perceptions of use of projects were significantly different from users. Our quantitative results can inform future requests for proposals and better enable researchers using collaborative approaches to conduct science that is more often used by stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners often exist symbiotically, but this relationship does not always benefit both parties. We here discuss a mutualistic research symbiosis that our organizations have developed over the last decade, the challenges which we have experienced as part of this process, and how our experiences may help others intending to develop such mutualisms. The defining characteristic of our model is that conservation implementers, not investigators, lead the research. This power balance has promoted synergies between researchers and practitioners and has resulted in one of the first ever Randomized Control Trials of a conservation intervention. We have shortened the distance between basic research and field practices by ensuring that the people who will use the results of an investigation play a lead role in designing and implementing it. Local conservation practitioners have been trained in cutting edge scientific methodologies, while university researchers have had an unparalleled role in designing the conservation and development intervention. Our research model is not perfect, however. Although we have facilitated tight relationships between implementers and researchers, such partnerships take significant resources to develop. Moreover, shortening the traditional "arm's length" distance between implementers and investigators is a double‐edged sword: some donors are uncomfortable that our researchers and practitioners comprise a mutually dependent team. Nevertheless, we believe that our model's benefits outweigh its costs. When our researchers undertake their investigations, they do so in ways that do not simply meet their publication needs. Rather, the integration of partners into a mutualistic research team ensures that our investigations are both scientifically cutting edge and that they can improve our conservation initiatives on the ground in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study delves into the crucial role of standardization, collaboration, and education in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in otolaryngology. It emphasizes the necessity of large, diverse datasets for effective AI implementation in health care, particularly in otolaryngology, due to its reliance on medical imagery and diverse instruments. The text identifies current barriers, including siloed work in academia and sparse academic-industrial partnerships, while proposing solutions like forming interdisciplinary teams and aligning incentives. Moreover, it discusses the importance of standardizing AI projects through system reporting and advocates for AI education and literacy among otolaryngology practitioners., Competing Interests: Disclosure Y. Bensoussan is funded by the National Institutes of Health, United States through the Common Fund for the project “Voice as a biomarker of Health.” Award number: 3OT2OD032720-01S1. E. Evangelista has no disclosures., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Keywords: catalysis; collaborative science; climate change; environmental chemistry; carbon dioxide capture EN catalysis collaborative science climate change environmental chemistry carbon dioxide capture 1 3 3 08/09/22 20220805 NES 220805 B "YEuCat Better Together was the first collaborative event organized by the Young European Catalysis Network with the goal of joining young minds to propose an innovative catalytic solution to a global problem." b This and more about YEuCat Better Together can be found in this Guest Editorial. Catalysis, climate change, environmental chemistry, collaborative science, carbon dioxide capture CO SB 2 sb scrubbing is a more mature technology, already implemented for flue gas emissions at power plants.[13] After removing the pollutants, the remaining CO SB 2 sb could be stored aboard using compression or liquefaction. The problems identified were (i) CO SB 2 sb emissions by transportation, (ii) the use of non-biodegradable plastic, (iii) N SB 2 sb O greenhouse gas and (iv) CO SB 2 sb emissions by concrete production. [Extracted from the article]

The Planalto Santareno region includes areas of the municipalities of Santarém, Belterra and Mojuí dos Campos, state of Pará, Brazil, and has emerged as an emblematic case of the conflict between agribusiness and family farming. In this article, we present the forms of interaction between these two production models, based on the results of a Participatory Zoning of Family Farming in the Santareno Plateau, carried out with local actors as part of an effort to co-build an Observatory of Social and Environmental Dynamics in the Amazon. The results show that albeit a relatively homogeneous logic of agribusiness expansion in the Planalto Santareno, family farming configures itself and interacts with agribusiness in various ways in this territory. We argue that this diversity of family farming, characterized by distinct zones, reflects local trajectories that vary according to a series of contextually operating factors, such as occupation history, physical landscape attributes, market access, infrastructure, social organization, proximity with urban centers, among others. Taking this diversity into account, we propose reflections on the relationship between the different production models addressed, pointing out possible strategies for strengthening family farming.

Engagement of undergraduate students in research has been demonstrated to correlate with improved academic performance and retention. Research experience confers many benefits on participants, particularly foundational skills necessary for graduate school and careers in scientific disciplines. Undergraduate curricula often do not adequately develop collaborative skills that are becoming increasingly useful in many workplaces and research settings. Here, we describe a pilot program that engages undergraduates in research and incorporates learning objectives designed to develop and enhance collaborative techniques and skills in team science that are not typical outcomes of the undergraduate research experience. We conducted a collaborative science project that engaged faculty advisors and upper year undergraduates at four institutions and conducted a review to assess the program’s efficacy. Students developed a broad suite of competencies related to collaborative science, above and beyond the experience of completing individual projects. This model also affords distinct advantages to faculty advisors, including the capacity of the network to collect and synthesize data from different regions. The model for training students to conduct collaborative science at an early stage of their career is scalable and adaptable to a wide range of fields. We provide recommendations for refining and implementing this model in other contexts.

OpenML is an online platform for open science collaboration in machine learning, used to share datasets and results of machine learning experiments. In this paper, we introduce OpenML-Python, a client API for Python, which opens up the OpenML platform for a wide range of Python-based machine learning tools. It provides easy access to all datasets, tasks and experiments on OpenML from within Python. It also provides functionality to conduct machine learning experiments, upload the results to OpenML, and reproduce results which are stored on OpenML. Furthermore, it comes with a scikit-learn extension and an extension mechanism to easily integrate other machine learning libraries written in Python into the OpenML ecosystem. Source code and documentation are available at https://github.com/openml/openml-python/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Decades of research has generated new scientific understanding and technologies aimed at better managing environmental change in estuarine and coastal regions. Yet many across the communities of coastal and estuarine research, management, and funding believe that progress has been too slow in applying this research in practice. This essay reviews how the National Estuarine Research Reserve System's funding program evolved over the past two decades to improve how researchers and users of research work together to increase the uptake of science to achieve resource management and conservation goals. Incremental innovation in the design of the NERRS funding program enabled more intensive and multiway engagement between funders, researchers, and users, which created new pathways for applying science in practice. Furthermore, these interactions stimulate reflection and adaptation within each separate institutional setting, supporting changes that may science to better support environmental problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to rethink the culture of evaluation in the light of the anthropological transformation that is affecting knowledge in the age of internet. We argue that evaluation is a reaction producing closure and disciplinary surveillance against the emerging changes in networked knowledge. The more knowledge institutions think their borders are threatened by the challenges of new forms of knowledge production and distribution, the stronger they react as to protect their artificial borders. In short, we intend to explore the relationship between the process of governamentality based on the evaluation practices, on the one side, and the new digital technologies of communication and knowledge, on the other. Disabling of the capabilities, reduction of the info-diversity and crisis of the culture of cooperation are just some of the most evident consequences of the culture of evaluation.

Anthropogenic Marine Litter (AML) accumulating on beaches causes damage to coastal ecosystems and high costs to local communities. Volunteers sampled AML on 130 beaches along the central and southern East Pacific coasts, with AML densities ranging from 0.46 to 2.26 items m−2 in the different countries. AML composition was dominated by plastics and cigarette butts, the latter especially in Mexico and Chile. The accumulation of AML in the upper zones of the beaches and substantial proportions of cigarette butts, glass and metal pointed mainly to local sources. Statistical modelling of litter sources on continental beaches revealed that tourism, access and related infrastructure (e.g. parking lots) best explained AML densities, while plastic densities were also influenced by the distance from river mouths and national Gross Domestic Product. Large-scale monitoring can be a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies that should primarily focus on land sources. • Citizen scientists investigated beach litter in 9 countries of the East Pacific. • Human activity on beaches caused litter pollution in the study area. • Plastic and cigarette butts dominated, the latter especially in Mexico and Chile. • Beach accesses led to higher litter densities, but not parking lots and roads. • Lower Gross Domestic Product resulted in higher plastic densities on beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years ago, work commenced on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The project aimed to collect a statistically complete dataset over a large fraction of the sky and turn it into an open data resource for the world’s astronomy community. There were few examples to learn from, and those of us who worked on it had to invent much of the system ourselves. The project has made fundamental changes to astronomy, and we are now faced with the problem of ensuring that the data will be preserved and kept in active use for another 20 years. In redesigning this very large, open archive of data, we made a system that is able to serve a much broader set of communities. In this article, I discuss what we have learned by rebuilding a massive dataset that is available to an increasingly sophisticated set of users, and how we have been challenged and motivated to incorporate more of the patterns of data analytics required by contemporary science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare disease represents one of the most significant issues facing the medical community and health care providers worldwide, yet the majority of these disorders never emerge from their obscurity, drawing little attention from the medical community or the pharmaceutical industry. The challenge therefore is how best to mobilize rare disease stakeholders to enhance basic, translational and clinical research to advance understanding of pathogenesis and accelerate therapy development. Here we describe a rare, fatal brain disorder known as Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) and an innovative research collaborative known as Support of Accelerated Research for NPC (SOAR-NPC) which illustrates one pathway through which knowledge of a rare disease and its possible treatments are being successfully advanced. Use of the "SOAR" mechanism, we believe, offers a blueprint for similar advancement for many other rare disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we undertake the first broad-scale, cross-institutional collaboration to collect data on the size at maturity and reproductive strategy of the commercially fished decapod crab species, Cancer pagurus. Using identical methodology and temporal sampling, morphometric and physiological estimates of size at maturity were undertaken using 1806 crabs sampled from populations in the seas off Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales, England, and Norway. Additionally body condition, prevalence of external parasites, black spot disease, and the hepatosomatic index (HSI, hepatopancreas weight as a percentage of total tissue weight), and gonadosomatic index (GSI, gonad weight as a percentage of total tissue weight) were estimated for some populations. C. pagurus appears to use a "capitalist" reproductive strategy, relying on previously accumulated energy to use through the reproductive season. Crabs displaying black spot disease had significantly lower HSI values, taking into account that HSI decreases with each progressive reproductive stage. Male crabs with poor body condition and black spot disease displayed greater GSI values. Though this pattern was regionally variable, it indicates that, in some cases, physical stress may induce greater investment into reproductive resources. Based on the carapace width (CW) at which 50% of the sampled population was physiologically mature (CW50), estimates of size at first maturity varied between sampled populations in the range 97-117mm CW in females and 59-106mm CW in males. The CW50 estimates reported here are smaller than previously reported values for C. pagurus populations. However, the variety of laboratory and statistical methodologies used in published studies prevent absolute comparisons with our results. We discuss the benefits of developing a standardized methodology for size at maturity research and the need for greater collaboration in fisheries research to achieve goals set under the European Union's Data Collection Framework for this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent guidance on environmental modeling and global land-cover validation stresses the need for a probability-based design. Additionally, spatial balance has also been recommended as it ensures more efficient sampling, which is particularly relevant for understanding land use change. In this paper I describe a global sample design and database called the Global Grid (GG) that has both of these statistical characteristics, as well as being flexible, multi-scale, and globally comprehensive. The GG is intended to facilitate collaborative science and monitoring of land changes among local, regional, and national groups of scientists and citizens, and it is provided in a variety of open source formats to promote collaborative and citizen science. Since the GG sample grid is provided at multiple scales and is globally comprehensive, it provides a universal, readily-available sample. It also supports uneven probability sample designs through filtering sample locations by user-defined strata. The GG is not appropriate for use at locations above ±85° because the shape and topological distortion of quadrants becomes extreme near the poles. Additionally, the file sizes of the GG datasets are very large at fine scale (resolution ~600 m × 600 m) and require a 64-bit integer representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborations to address complex societal problems associated with managing human-natural systems often require large teams comprised of scientists from multiple disciplines. For many such problems, large-scale, transdisciplinary projects whose members include scientists, stakeholders, and other professionals are necessary. The success of very large, transdisciplinary projects can be facilitated by attending to the diversity of types of collaboration that inevitably occur within them. As projects progress and evolve, the resulting dynamic collaborative heterogeneity within them constitutes architectures of adaptive integration (AAI). Management that acknowledges this dynamic and fosters and promotes awareness of it within a project can better facilitate the creativity and innovation required to address problems from a systems perspective. In successful large projects, AAI (1) functionally meets objectives and goals, (2) uses disciplinary expertise and concurrently bridges many disciplines, (3) has mechanisms to enable connection, (4) delineates boundaries to keep focus but retain flexibility, (5) continuously monitors and adapts, and (6) encourages project-wide awareness. These principles are illustrated using as case studies three large climate change and agriculture projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Conservation authorities and local Maori are engaged in a collaborative science project within the Morere Scenic Reserve (east coast of the North Island in New Zealand). Although the project was restricted initially to the integration of knowledge to support sustainable harvests of kiekie ( Freycinetia baueriana), the illegitimacy of state agencies to manage competing Maori demands for that species led inadvertently to the devolution of harvest administration to a local tribe. The success of the Morere experiment is evident in widespread support for a subsequent decision to fallow the kiekie resource, suggesting that further experiments to activate Indigenous polities within conservation management are warranted. Nonetheless, ambivalence towards Maori development needs circumscribes the potential of devolved management and collaborative science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing costs are challenging the capacity for resource management agencies to keep up with mounting needs for robust data about fish populations and their habitats. Furthermore, trust among scientists, government agencies, and the public is fundamental to effective fisheries management, and relations among these three groups are increasingly strained when decisions about fishing limits are made (or are perceived to be made) on the basis of limited information or analysis. In the South Atlantic region of the United States, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has begun building a citizen science program to increase the quantity and quality of data used for fisheries management decisions throughout the region and to build trust and foster mutual understanding among those involved in the process. The goal is to build on existing management infrastructure to address key challenges to managing fisheries for long-term sustainability. In the present article, we examine the collaborative process used to establish the program., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.)