This is part two of a two part series from Carly Ziter and Karen Dyson, adapted from a recent paper we wrote as a “how to” guide to urban fieldwork on private land. In last week’s post Fieldwork on Urban Private Property: Getting Started, we talked about how to get started with fieldwork on urban private property, including how to contact landowners and how to be a good neighbor during your urban ecology research. Today, we focus on how to stay safe while conducting fieldwork on urban private property.
First, a disclaimer: your experiences in the field will intersect with gender, race, and other aspects of your identity and presentation. We all move through the world with differing amounts of privilege and bias. The authors acknowledge that there are likely perspectives that we missed due to our own identities, and those of the scientists we interviewed. If you can, talk to people similar to you about their experiences in the city and neighbourhoods where you hope to work.
Remember that no data are worth your safety. Let’s repeat that for good measure: no data are worth your safety.
How can I navigate public encounters and stay out of trouble?
In our experience, the quality of a given encounter (friendly vs. threatening) wasn’t likely to differ substantially from non-urban fieldwork, but the number of overall encounters is significantly greater in the city. It is not uncommon to have hundreds of encounters over the course of a field season. We find it useful to categorize encounters on a 4-point scale.
- Level 0: Curious interest. This is the most common interaction for most researchers: picture a friendly onlooker just wondering what you’re up to, or a potential landowner wanting more information about your project before giving permission. See “Preparing for routine questions” in last week’s post.
- Level 1: Suspicious interest. About 70% of our respondents reported encounters with people who were suspicious or challenged their right to be on the property: picture a tenant who wasn’t informed of the work, a vigilant neighbour, or a concerned passer-by in a publicly accessible area. Most concerns at this level can be addressed using a calm explanation and by showing permission to be on site. However, Level 1 encounters can escalate, particularly in cases involving prejudice.
If you are asked to leave, we strongly advise that you do so. Decide later whether to renegotiate a future sampling date, perhaps with the owner present, or drop the site.
- Level 2: Police or security response. About 25% of our surveyed researchers were approached by police or security officers during their work. Researchers addressed these situations by showing proof of permission to be on the property. They also explained their affiliation and research when law enforcement or security arrived. While all of our interviewees were able to peaceably resolve the calls, police shootings are a real concern in the United States and elsewhere.
Before entering the field, consider how you (or your trainees) will react in this situation. - Level 3: Direct threats. While less common, over 10% of our respondents encountered at least one direct threat to their safety. In this situation, we advise moving to safety, and considering a call to 911 or your local equivalent if warranted and you feel safe doing so.
Strongly consider dropping the site from your study.
We strongly advise conducting fieldwork in pairs or teams, preemptively greeting and introducing yourself to neighbors or tenants who might be suspicious, and letting someone know the addresses where you are going.
Just as with routine questions, researchers should prepare for stressful situations with safety as the most important objective. We strongly advise conducting fieldwork in pairs or teams, preemptively greeting and introducing yourself to neighbors or tenants who might be suspicious, and letting someone know the addresses where you are going. Additional best practices to de-escalate stressful situations:
- If the owner is not present, carry proof of permission to be on the property (written documentation, or a phone number for the owner).
- Carry photo identification that shows who you are and your affiliation.
- If you are not the project Principle Investigator (PI), have their contact information on hand.
- Use an institutional vehicle or place a placard with a phone number on your dashboard.
- If the police are called, keep your hands visible.
- Consider calling your non-emergency dispatch to let them know who you are, where you are working, and what you are doing.
Finally, if you are overseeing students, be sure they are adequately prepared and supported during fieldwork. Supervisors, principal investigators, and senior students should encourage a culture of respectful behavior and raise awareness of independent reporting and enforcement mechanisms.
tl;dr? Working with private property owners should be informative, fun, and rewarding, but requires some skillsets new to the toolbox of many ecologists. Our advice? Communicate early and often; be respectful, ethical, and realistic with your scheduling; and trust your gut. Now, get practicing that elevator pitch!
Read more about this topic:
Dyson, K., Ziter, C., Patterson M.S., and Fuentes, T.L. Conducting urban ecology research on private property: advice for new urban ecologists. 2019. Journal of Urban Ecology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juz001
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