Access versus impact in fieldwork

Aims and Objectives

Uncovering accessibility and environmental challenges during practical fieldwork in natural environments.

Experiences and learning in natural spaces have been linked to health benefits. However, since 2007 more people live in urban areas than rural. How much people feel a right and connection to nature has great social and political implications. Opportunities to have experiences in nature is not equal, for example, individuals with disabilities can face multifaceted barriers in accessing learning in natural environments. In recent years concerted efforts have been made to provide resources to raise awareness and share knowledge to tackle barriers and ableism in science, including improving accessibility and inclusion in fieldwork. A unique aspect when considering accessibility in natural environments is finding balance between ecological impacts and how natural environments may be used and adapted in order to be more accessible for people.

Our work aims to explore the current understanding and approaches to accessibility and inclusion across disciplines at the University of York using sociological research methods to identify barriers and knowledge gaps to accessibility in fieldwork. We will conduct a meta-analysis of the literature to gather evidence of the ecological implications of accessible fieldwork practices. Key findings and considerations will be published. The project will share insights and facilitate potential collaborations across departments and with local conservation organisations via a roundtable workshop to co-design an inclusive conservation field project and evaluation study to a managed conservation area.

Project Outputs

The aim of the study was to identify and ameliorate barriers to inclusion and access to fieldwork in a higher education institution. Fellows performed 15 interviews and organised a stakeholder roundtable event to collect data. The main outcomes were:

Often, the inaccessible parts of the fieldwork are the transition spaces between home, campus, and field sites, and these transition spaces are often ignored when assessing accessibility. Even within a university campus, individual buildings are often very accessible, but the spaces between buildings may be less so.
A 'pass-the-buck' mentality often exists, where different players often want to assign responsibility to other layers in the bureaucracy. This tendency is exacerbated by financial pressures at all levels.
Academics often serve as conduits of information and policy between university structures, students, and external organisations, but negotiating their role as hubs of support for disabled students can be quite challenging and confusing. Sometimes this requires hidden, accumulated knowledge of support systems available.
Academics and students need to combat historic tendencies that equate fieldwork with macho-ism or that consider the physical challenge of fieldwork to be a critical part of the student experience.

As a post doc it was an opportunity for me to be a PI and build experience as the project lead which has been very valuable for my career development, alongside broadening my skill set - particularly working with an interdisciplinary team.

- Dr Kayla McCarthy

Principal and Co-Investigators

Principal Investigator

Kayla McCarthy, Department of Biology

Co-Investigators

Dr Daphne Ezer, Department of Biology

Professor Calvin Dytham, Department of Biology

Professor Karl Atkin, Department of Sociology

Dr Katherine Brookfield, Department of Environment and Geography

Dr Samarthia Thankappan, Department of Environment and Geography