PEACCH Lab Values

This Values and Expectations Statement is a living document designed to facilitate the continued growth and development of PEACCH lab members by providing guidelines on broad cultural values as well as some specifics for implementation.

The philosophy of our research group is that each of our members has something important to contribute to ecological science and to human society. The guidelines we outline here are meant to ensure that every voice is heard, every opinion is valued, and that we produce the best science as a group as we possible can. We believe in active inclusion of students, postdocs, non-academic researchers, and the general public in promoting scientific literacy, especially as it pertains to climate change and climate change ecology. Diversity of perspectives and wide incorporation of values will help us improve our science and our community.

Text and ideas presented here are strongly based on discussions with TJ Jones and Gerardo Arceo-Gomez, published ETSU policy, and documentation written by Jeff Ross-Ibarra and Paula T Hammond.

Last updated 2024.09.19

Land acknowledgement

All of the work that we do in the field occurs on land that was taken from indigenous and ancestral Americans. Our lab strives to always be cognizant of this when we are doing field work and to be respectful of the land and the forests in which we work. In particular, we follow all policies and regulations provided by tribal leaders when working on their lands, including work done in partnership with the National Park Service.

The ETSU Land Acknowledgement is as follows:

ETSU is a community of educators and learners residing on the ancestral homeland of the Cherokee, also known as the Tsalagi people. The Cherokee constituted one of the largest politically integrated tribes at the time of European colonization of the Americas.

At the time of their forced removal, the Cherokee numbered some 50,000 individuals who controlled 40,000 square miles of the Appalachian Mountains, in parts of present-day Georgia, east Tennessee, western North and South Carolina, and northeast Alabama.

Over the years, the tribe lost many of its people to wars and to diseases brought by the settlers. Many of the Cherokee people walked the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. And those who stayed here, now reside in western North Carolina, and are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

Our hope is that this acknowledgment serves as a reminder to all of us to recognize how we came to be here today, and to honor those who were here before us.

And it is a call to action for us to care for the land on which our campus resides.

Understanding the historical and current experiences of people who are Indigenous to this land, which many call Turtle Island, will help inform the work we do.

Expectations

A safe and healthy workplace depends on clear communication and expectation from those who work closely together. While most expectations vary by rank, lab members of all ranks are expected to abide by two basic rules:

Safety first: Your health and safety are more important than your research. This includes adhering to lab safety codes, as well as maintaining your physical and mental health. Never work in the lab if you are feeling sick, under medication that might negatively affect your ability to work normally, and or under the effects of any kind of drugs. Avoid working in the lab by yourself doing potentially dangerous activities. Please read ETSU’s lab safety page.

Respect: I expect lab members to contribute to a productive and friendly environment conducive to learning and research. This includes treating your colleagues with respect, listening to others’ viewpoints and ideas, and ensuring the lab is a place where everybody feels welcome and appreciated. Racist, sexist, or other inappropriate comments or behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstance. ETSU provides a number of resources to discuss and report any harassment that occurs.

Furthermore, all lab members can expect the following from Ben:

Advice, guidance, and training related to your thesis and your career

Flexibility in expectations and work schedule as much as reasonably possible. I want you to succeed however you can, so as long as you’re meeting your departmental, lab, and research expectations, I will be happy

Facilitation of networking with other labs and scientists as best as I am able

Letters of reference for any award, grad program, or job that you apply to

An open-door policy on availability. If I am in my office and the door is open, you are welcome to come in and talk to me

Weekly scheduled 1-on-1 meetings (if you want them)

The continuation of this support beyond graduation and leaving the lab

Collegiality

It is the responsibility of all lab members to cultivate a collegial and kind atmosphere where we are all comfortable learning and growing. Be kind, be welcoming, and be proactive in opening discussions and offering assistance.

Approachability and patience in communication

When discussing research and science, always begin speaking at a basic level. Lab members come from a great variety of backgrounds and levels of experience, so it is important to start by describing the fundamental concepts that are at the heart of your research topic. Further, be kind to those who ask for assistance, especially when it is a topic that you are an expert in, even when the answer seems obvious to you. Do your best to help them so that we can do the best science possible as a group.

Asking for, receiving, and giving help

If you are having trouble with a particular theory, protocol, or piece of writing, it is far preferable that you ask another lab member rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. If you are a senior lab member, consider asking newer members to help out on your research to help develop their skill set. For newer lab members, it is expected to that you ask questions in order to develop your science. Please do not hesitate to ask questions when you are confused or to ask to join research or other lab-related activities. I encourage all lab members to write up any protocol they develop or implement in their research and add it to the lab google drive for posterity.

Fellowship and commiseration

Finally, celebrate your lab mates’ achievements and invite them to join you in celebrating your own! And when you have a disappointing result, receive a rejection, or some other woe, remember that your lab mates know that feeling as well and can be a source of empathy and advice. Shared joy is a double joy and shared sorrow is half a sorrow.

Mentorship

You will be provided mentorship and onboarding documents when you join the lab. A mentor-mentee relationship is sacred in academia and it importantly functions on expectations going both directions. Your first task in the lab will be do co-develop and agree upon a mentorship agreement with Ben that outlines each of your expectations in this relationship.

Senior lab members are strongly encouraged to mentor younger lab members in the course of their research. Mentoring and teaching will be strong components within most ecological fields, so developing these skills is an important part of your training.

Open Science

Open science is important. In the PEACHH Lab, we believe in publishing our data open source in public repositories as soon as we can. We publish preprints as soon as a manuscript is ready for submission. We document our work with R markdown, metadata, readme files, etc. so that it is intelligible and reusable in the future. All lab members are expected to practice open science to the best of their ability.

Diversity and Inclusion

Lab members are expected to intentionally, deliberately, and proactively include other lab members in lab activities and research discussions at all times.

Lab members should recognize and appreciate the diversity of scientific and personal backgrounds of others and are expected to have patience and understanding for different cultures and backgrounds. Misunderstandings can lead to conflict, but do your best to give your lab mates the benefit of the doubt and to exercise clear communication, forgiveness, and contrition when resolving friction. Diversity makes our lab stronger.

In cases of lab-sponsored or lab-centric social events, it is expected that the invitation is extended to all lab members in all instances. This includes journal clubs and celebrations.

Lab members are expected to act respectfully toward each other at all times. They shall not discriminate or use any behavior or language that might be considered discriminatory against anyone for any reason. This includes, but is not limited to, discrimination on the basis of sex, color, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and age. All lab members will follow the ETSU discrimination and harassment policy.

Scientific Integrity

Lab members shall acknowledge the work of others when developing their own ideas and especially in their writing. This includes listening to the ideas of other lab members and acknowledging when their ideas help you do develop your own. You must follow proper citation guidelines in all publications and pre-prints.

The validity of the scientific process as well as the trust of the public in science and scientific institutions hinges on scientists being honest in their data collection and statistical analysis. Lab members are expected to be honest in all of their research, especially when results are perhaps not what you ideally wanted. Improper data or statistical manipulation will not be tolerated.

Artificial intelligence should never be used in writing. Science is an inherently creative process and depends on the creative insight and human ingenuity that you will develop and foster in this lab and beyond. These are characteristics that a sequence of linear correlations is incapable of producing. That said, we employ AI as a tool in the lab both directly (pattern recognition and image processing) and indirectly (via data platforms such as iNaturalist that depend on AI for data processing). Still, AI is a plagiarism machine and must never be used in any instance where plagiarism is inexcusable.

Lab members who participate in federally-funded research will be required to complete training in ethics and scientific integrity.

Health and Wellbeing

Your health and safety are more important than your research. This includes adhering to lab safety codes, as well as maintaining your physical and mental health. Never work in the lab if you are feeling sick, under medication that might negatively affect your ability to work normally, and or under the effects of any kind of drugs. Special accommodations will be made whenever needed to ensure inclusivity. Avoid working in the lab by yourself doing potentially dangerous activities. Please read ETSU’s lab safety page.

Never put your work above your health.

Manuscripts and (Co-)Authorship

Publishing manuscripts is one of the most important ways we disseminate our research to others and to the public. It is also an incredibly important component of building up your resume or CV when applying for jobs or further academic opportunities. All lab members of any rank are encouraged to join projects as co-authors or to initiate and lead projects as first authors. Specific guidelines and requirements to merit co-authorship on a given project are detailed on the lab google drive, but any lab member interested in co-authoring a paper is strongly encouraged to talk with Ben about what is expected and about what opportunities exist for doing so.