Often, careers in community science are not straight lines. Like many in my field, I’ve pivoted, adapted, and taken a circuitous pathway in my career. So last month when I was able to connect my current role back to one that I held as a fellow fresh out of my post-doctoral position, it was a rewarding moment and an important reminder that career experiences don’t have to be linear to matter.
When I was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Belmont Forum, I helped the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress (SRI) plan, launch and host their first and second gatherings to foster transdisciplinary research with societally relevant impacts. It was a formative experience that further fanned the flames of a life-long love of connecting science to pressing needs and concerns of communities. My experiences working with the Belmont Forum on SRI also taught me a lot about socially-impactful research and I made connections around the world that I still value today. It is not an exaggeration to say that my time there helped to prepare me for my current role at Thriving Earth Exchange. So when I was given the opportunity to represent AGU at SRI in Helsinki, Finland this past June I jumped at the opportunity.
Leading up to the Congress, I was asked to join the SRI Programme Committee tasked with developing a strong and diverse grouping of offerings. I additionally worked with collaborators, Future Earth and EPIC-N, to submit a proposal on supporting community resilience through science. With over 30 attendees, we had a fruitful discussion on how our programs support participatory, sustainable work and the challenges of scaling for global impact. Building trust is a key aspect to community-based work, the scaling of which is not easily accomplished. The main takeaway from the discussion is that although there is a lack of both human and financial capital for sustainability transformation, our programs can provide the structure to train and deploy human capital all over the world. Stitching together these stories and opportunities are needed to inspire humanity to prioritize environmental health.
Many of the sessions attended were participatory in nature, which made for deep engagement and networking. In one session we conducted a fishbowl discussion, an interesting way to facilitate conversation that I will be able to use in my own work. One of my favorite events was Sustainable Storytelling hosted by Maggie Dugan , the founder of Inclusive Innovation, which focused on telling stories to help people make sense of the knowledge we want and need to share. I was thrilled to see two of our AGU Thriving Earth Fellows, and Bashudev Neupane, as speakers at this event, inspiring us with their efforts. Given the powerful stories that emerge from Thriving Earth Exchange projects, Maggie is eager to work with us at AGU for the next Sustainable Storytelling event at SRI 2025 in Chicago!
My experience at SRI has been an important foundation for future community science work and my current pathway. Opportunities at young age can leave youth inspired to dream large and so when Tim Kileen, University of Illinois System President, asked if my children could give a small speech at the Closing Ceremony SRI2024, I was happy to ask them, to which they accepted. I worked with my son, daughter, and the son of Veera Mitzner, Director of SRI, to say a few sentences about what the environment and the future means to them. As these children are 6-8, it gave me a new appreciation for teachers and coaches, and I anxiously listened as they went onto stage and were handed mics in front of a large crowd of distinguished global researchers. All the kids said their script, if not a little shyly, and the crowd erupted in clapping and cheers. It was a proud moment for me to be able to share my work with my kids. Maybe this experience at SRI will similarly influence the career path for my children the way it did for myself.
One of the final highlights of SRI was serendipitous running into Colorado Governor Jared Polis on a small boat coming back from an SRI farewell dinner. As he is my state governor, I am familiar with his work in Colorado. I shared about AGU as an organization and discussed with him environmental sustainability and energy transitions.
SRI 2024 allowed me to work closely with individuals and organizations that can help support Thriving Earth Exchange and provides an avenue for AGU to reach out globally. It is these kinds of experiences that broaden our understanding of the world, although they may not always feel like obvious linear connections. These matrixed and interwoven linkages are exactly the kinds of contexts that can lead to powerful and sustainable connections in community science.
Now that SRI 2024 is over and SRI 2025 will take place in Chicago, it is clear there are many opportunities for co-designing sustainability leadership across our organizations and we look forward to working together again.
Amanda Shores Manager of Cohorts, Thriving Earth Exchange
