Expanding Collaborative Autoethnography into the World of Natural Science for Transdisciplinary Teams

Wicked problems such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic require authentically transdisciplinary approaches to achieving effective collaboration. There exist several research approaches for identifying the components and interactions of complex problems; however, collaborative autoethnography provides an empirical way to collect and analyze self-reflection that leads to transformative change. Here, we present a case study of collaborative autoethnography, applied as a tool to transform research practice among a group of natural and social scientists, by constructively revealing and resolving deep, often unseen, disciplinary divides. We ask, “How can natural and social scientists genuinely accept, respect, and share one another’s approaches to work on the wicked problems that need to be solved?” This study demonstrates how disciplinary divisions can be successfully bridged by open-minded and committed collaborators who are prepared to recognize the academic bias they bring to their research and use this as a platform of strength

Expanding collaborative autoethnography into the world of natural science for transdisciplinary teams

Wicked problems such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic require authentically transdisciplinary approaches to achieving effective collaboration. There exist several research approaches for identifying the components and interactions of complex problems; however, collaborative autoethnography provides an empirical way to collect and analyze self-reflection that leads to transformative change. Here, we present a case study of collaborative autoethnography, applied as a tool to transform research practice among a group of natural and social scientists, by constructively revealing and resolving deep, often unseen, disciplinary divides. We ask, "How can natural and social scientists genuinely accept, respect, and share one another's approaches to work on the wicked problems that need to be solved?" This study demonstrates how disciplinary divisions can be successfully bridged by open-minded and committed collaborators who are prepared to recognize the academic bias they bring to their research and use this as a platform of strength

Movement and habitat use of the freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) in a remnant floodplain wetland

Knowledge of the movement and habitat use of fishes is important in identifying and understanding the causes of population declines and predicting how populations are likely to respond to management interventions. In this study, radiotelemetry was used to examine the spring and summer movement and habitat use patterns of the freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) in a remnant wetland to inform the development of recovery actions for this threatened species. Twenty-one adult fish were tagged and released within Tahbilk Lagoon, Victoria, Australia, in September 2009. Fish were located every 1–2 weeks between September 2009 and February 2010, a period which coincides with the spawning period for the species. Eleven of the fish were also tracked every 2 h for 68 consecutive hours in December 2009 to examine diel movements. The study revealed that freshwater catfish make extensive use of cover (e.g. wood and macrophytes) and typically have limited ranges (median total linear range and 90% linear range 599 and 173 m respectively), although they occasionally moved more extensively (up to 1.5 km) between floodplain and riverine habitats. Fish moved over much greater areas at night compared with during the day. There was also evidence of sex-specific variation in movement, with a trend for greater movement of female fish at night compared with males. The results of the study suggest that strategies that protect macrophyte and wood habitats and improve connectivity between riverine and floodplain habitats are likely to be important in maintaining and restoring remnant populations of this species

Identifying and prioritizing human behaviors that benefit biodiversity

The conservation profession is increasingly seeking effective ways to reduce societal impact on biodiversity, including through targeted behavior change interventions. Multiple conservation behavior change programs exist, but there is also great uncertainty regarding which behaviors are most strategic to target. Behavioral prioritization is a tool that has been used effectively to support behavior change decision‐making in other environmental disciplines and more recently for a small sub‐set of biodiversity behavior change challenges. Here, we use behavioral prioritization to identify individual behaviors that could be modified to achieve biodiversity benefits in the state of Victoria, Australia. We use an adapted nominal group technique method to identify potential biodiversity behaviors and, for each behavior, estimate the corresponding plasticity (or capacity for change) and positive impact on biodiversity outcomes. We elicited 27 behaviors that individuals could undertake to benefit or reduce their negative impact on biodiversity. This list was then used to prioritize 10 behaviors as determined by their likely effect(s) on biodiversity, plasticity, and current prevalence in Victoria. We take a first step in outlining a list of behaviors that can direct Victorian decision‐makers toward increasing positive and reducing negative impacts of society on biodiversity, guide motivated individuals to reduce their own biodiversity footprint, and more broadly, develop a behavior change research agenda for behaviors most likely to benefit biodiversity