Researchers should check out the book while preparing for work abroad.
When Gillian Ice first traveled to Kenya for research, she was surprised to find she struggled with certain tasks that were common in the United States.
As a result, Ice, associate professor of social medicine in Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, decided to join forces with Nancy Stevens, professor of functional morphology and vertebrate paleontology in OU-HCOM, in an effort to help other researchers with similar problems.
The two penned a book called “Disasters in Field Research: Preparing For and Coping With Unexpected Events.” It uses stories as a way to discuss how to better prepare for fieldwork abroad or how to deal with fieldwork that goes wrong.
“It has been enormously rewarding to engage in exploration and discovery in these different settings, and I'm happy to share strategies and lessons learned to help students start projects of their own,” Stevens, who has researched throughout rainforests, savannas and deserts primarily in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, said in an email.
Ice and Stevens also worked with Darna Dufour, an anthropology professor and associate dean for Faculty and Administrative Affairs at the University of Colorado-Boulder, on the book.
“Collaborating with the three of us who have all had such different kinds of experience, that was cool,” Ice said. “It was cool that we had this diversity, but at the same time, there was a common thread of issues, which kind of confirmed that it was a good idea to write the book because if we did, other people probably did, too.”
The book took about five years to create from conception to completion, primarily because, during the process, at least one of the authors would be away researching, Ice said.
“I remember reading drafts of text while riding along bumpy field roads between field sites in Africa, and sending sections in from different, remote parts of the world,” Stevens said. “But the actual writing happened during quiet times when colleagues and family were asleep and I could focus on the words.”
Ice said she hopes the book is both informative and entertaining.
“The best part was collaborating and sharing stories with Gillian and Darna, and those times when we would struggle over a section until we finally got it right,” Stevens said. “This experience has been an excellent way to share strategies that can help others to embark upon the kind of work that has shaped our careers.”
Both Ice and Stevens said they were unsure how many copies of the book have sold so far because they don’t yet have the data.
“Dr. Ice and Dr. Stevens are both veteran field researchers who’ve done significant work in areas including global health and evolutionary biology,” said Kenneth Johnson, executive dean of OU-HCOM, in an email. “A book that draws on their combined practical experience is bound to be useful to others researchers working abroad.”
On Amazon, the book comes in hardcover for $80.75, paperback for $25.79 and as an e-book for $16.19 and was released on the site in January.
“If this can help one student to start a successful field research project, it will have been worth the effort,” Stevens said.
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