Data Management for Field Stations
5 Chapters | ~ 8 hours
This class material was originally used as part of the UC Berkeley Island Sustainability Program (ISP).
The curriculum material will provide guidance for field station administrators and researchers on designing and organizing research projects that include data collected with support from the field station. There is a combination of lecture materials and collaborative projects facilitation ideas. This material will engage the field station community in discussions around the role of science in society, its interactions with local and traditional knowledge and the impacts of data and technology, with consideration of ethical, legal and social issues.
Chapter 1 : An Introduction to the Basics
The first step to fieldwork is getting funded. Starting with your funded proposal, we will review your data management plan (DMP) and create or find ORCiDs.
45min.
Chapter 2 : Preparing Your Project Application
The next step to conducting fieldwork at many field stations is preparing a project application. We will walk through the steps of developing an application for field station review.
1hr. 10min.
Chapter 3 : Pre-Fieldwork Expedition Planning
As fieldwork gets closer, the specificity of plans becomes more clear. At this point, you may realize you need additional permits in order to conduct the work.
2hrs. 27min.
Chapter 4 : Post-Fieldwork Documentation
Post-fieldwork teams often digitize paper notes, organize photos and do other processes to clean the data.
2hrs 1min.
Chapter 5 : Sharing Your Work Back to the Field Station
A critical but often forgotten step is to link research outputs back to the field station.
1hr. 35min.
Erin Robinson
Instructor
Erin is the Research Data Management Advisor for the FAIR Island Project. She has a background in Earth and environmental data management. She developed the material for this course.
Please cite this work as: FAIR Island Project. The Field Station Data Management Curriculum, Version 1. FAIR Island, 2024. https://fairisland.org/data-communication-curriculum/
FAIR and fair Toolkit
The FAIR and fair Toolkit provides the essential steps for field stations to get started supporting researchers do more ethical fieldwork through data practices.
Resources on the Blog
The FAIR Island Project blog is a wealth of information documenting our experiences supporting field stations improve data management practices.