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Arts and humanities inquiry in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network: empathy, relationships, and interdisciplinary collaborations

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences volume 7, pages 361–373 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collection of 25 National Science Foundation-funded sites committed to long-term, place-based investigation of the natural world. While activities primarily focus on ecological research, arts and humanities inquiry emerged in 2002 and since then, a substantial body of creative work has been produced at LTER-affiliated sites. These art-humanities-science collaborations parallel a wider trend in universities and non-profits. However, there is little empirical work on the value and effectiveness of this work. After launching a survey in 2013 to assess the values and challenges associated with arts and humanities in the LTER Network (Goralnik et al. 2015), which identified empathy as a meaningful potential outcome of this creative work, we conducted a follow-up analysis to understand the following: the relevance of empathy in the LTER Network; the role of empathy in bridging arts, humanities, and science collaborations; and the capacity of empathy to connect wider audiences both to LTER science and to the natural world. Our research included phone interviews with representatives from 15 LTER sites and an audience perception survey at an LTER-hosted art show. We found that arts-humanities-science collaborations have great potential to catalyze relationships between scholars, the public, and the natural world; cultivate inspiration and empathy for the natural world; and spark awareness shifts that can enable pro-environmental behavior. Our research demonstrates the potential for art-humanities-science collaborations to facilitate conservation attitudes and action in the Network and beyond.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) subaward grant 976021-874U-2 from the University of New Mexico (NSF Prime award #0936498). We obtained approval from the Oregon State University Institutional Review Board (project #5827). The authors acknowledge support from the HJ Andrews LTER program, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research Program (DEB 0823380), as well as LTER colleague Fred Swanson. Thanks, also, to Elyse Richman for transcription assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Rd #151, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Lissy Goralnik

  2. Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Michael Paul Nelson

  3. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Hannah Gosnell

  4. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA

    Mary Beth Leigh

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  1. Lissy Goralnik
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  4. Mary Beth Leigh
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Correspondence to Lissy Goralnik.

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Goralnik, L., Nelson, M.P., Gosnell, H. et al. Arts and humanities inquiry in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network: empathy, relationships, and interdisciplinary collaborations. J Environ Stud Sci 7, 361–373 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0415-4

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