Better Safe than Sorry: Planning for Safe and Successful Fieldwork

Abstract

Although enjoyable and rewarding, fieldwork has inherent hazards and risks. In this article, we describe five steps to help students plan for safe and successful fieldwork in a variety of study sites. In addition to identifying potential hazards and mitigating them, successful graduate research should include a communications plan, strong leadership and awareness of power relationships among faculty, graduate students and undergraduate student assistants. We provide example scenarios, based on actual student experiences, to “test” if your team is well‐prepared for a range of possible situations that may arise in the field. Lastly, we outline a workshop that integrates these steps to facilitate safety planning for graduate students in Forestry at the University of British Columbia.