Leading through the joys and hazards of scientific field work
Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, photo by P. Maurice
There are few aspects of scientific research and teaching more exciting than getting out into ‘the field’. Good leaders need to ensure safe and appropriate behavior whenever faculty, students and staff prepare to step out of the lab and the classroom to explore the broader world.
By Patricia A. Maurice and Janet G. Hering
16 September 2025, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16885991
For many scientists and engineers, one of our greatest joys is to get out of the classroom and the lab and into the field where we can collect samples for analysis, develop new ideas and hypotheses, and perhaps even work with communities to solve real-world problems. In a previous post, engineering Professor Tracy Kijewski-Correa wrote about her travel for international development projects in Haiti, South and Central America, and Africa [1]. There’s no better way to teach students about the world than to take them out into it, especially to work with local scientists and communities.
Despite the many benefits and joys of field work, it can also be hazardous. As a student, one of us (Patricia) suffered serious injuries from a rockfall while helping another student map a cave for an undergraduate geomorphology project. The injuries to her shoulder, back, hip, and knee have continued to plague her for decades. Later, while working as a hydrologist for the US Geological Survey (USGS), she was granted special life insurance for workers in hazardous professions and occasionally received additional ‘hazardous duty’ pay. She also has taken multiple rounds of malarial drugs and numerous travel vaccinations – all part of the life of a field geologist. Several of her geologist friends and colleagues have been seriously injured or even killed while working in the field.
Cautionary examples
One well-known incident involved volcanologist Stanley Williams, who had been a fellow graduate student with Patricia at Dartmouth College in the 1980s. As a Professor at Arizona State University, he suffered life-threatening injuries including serious head trauma and broken legs during a volcanic eruption at Galeras Volcano in Colombia in 1993. Six other scientists were burned or crushed to death during the eruption [2]. This is a constant risk for volcanologists especially considering how hard it can be to predict an eruption.
Animal attacks of various sorts represent another hazard of field work. Patricia has encountered rattlesnakes, copperheads, and even a Fer-de-Lance during field work, fortunately without ever being bitten by one of these poisonous snakes. She has been tracked by a grizzly bear and turned around by fresh mountain lion paw prints – judging it best to avoid an encounter.
Other geologists have not been so fortunate. In a famous 1977 incident, USGS geologist Cynthia Dusel-Bacon was severely mauled by a black bear while conducting field work in Alaska, losing both of her arms and nearly losing her life [3]. In 2010, mining geologist Robert Miller survived an attack by a grizzly bear in Alaska by playing dead – a strategy that likely would not work for a black bear attack [4]. In 2013, one geologist was mauled and another killed while fishing near a drilling station where they were working in Siberia [5].
Field work can sometimes be viewed as controversial, especially when it involves conservation or valuable resources such as gold or uranium or occurs in a community that is wary of intruders. Primatologist and conservationist Dian Fossey was assassinated in 1985 in her cabin at Karisoke, a research site in the mountains of Rwanda. Although the identity of the murderer remains unknown, the motive was likely related to her work to safeguard the local gorilla population [6].
Field scientists sometimes can be caught up in acts of war or targeted by thieves. One of the most common sources of injury or death is automobile accidents, especially when the scientists are working off-road or in locations with unfamiliar traffic patterns and driving customs. Field equipment can be expensive, and items like camera gear and even rock hammers can entice theft.
Hazards of sexual harassment and assault
Another potential hazard of field work is sexual harassment and even sexual assault. Several of Patricia’s female colleagues over the years have told stories of sexual assault, especially during field camp courses required for geoscience undergraduates. Results of a Survey of Academic Field Experiences, published in 2014, reported that 64% of survey respondents:
“stated that they had personally experienced sexual harassment: i.e. inappropriate or sexual remarks, comments about physical beauty, cognitive sex differences, or other such jokes. Over 20% of respondents reported that they had personally experienced sexual assault: i.e. physical sexual harassment, unwanted sexual contact, or sexual contact in which they could not or did not give consent, or felt it would be unsafe to fight back or not give consent.”
The majority of survey respondents identified as women. Moreover:
“Women trainees were the primary targets; their perpetrators were predominantly senior to them professionally within the research team. Male trainees were more often targeted by their peers at the research site” [7].
In the Earth sciences, much of the jargon used has sexual undertones. For example, certain types of geologic layers are formally referred to as ‘beds.’ A common t-shirt worn by many geologists refers to “so many beds so little time.” Soils are described as fertile, barren, or sterile. As pointed out in a 2020 EOS article, “body-based jargon can be harassment when it turns sexual” [8]. This can be a particular problem in the field, when the various features are being studied and discussed and there can often be a ‘wild west’ attitude.
In 2019, Boston University geology professor David Marchant was terminated after an investigation confirmed that he had sexually harassed women while conducting field work in Antarctica years earlier [9]. This incident was prominently featured in the film “Picture a Scientist” [10]. A 2023 Scientific American article pointed out that sexual harassment can be a particular problem for field researchers stating that:
“At most science institutions, safety lectures for field researchers and support staff teach how to avoid sunstroke, deploy emergency flares, and handle variables such as wild animals and flammable liquids. Sexual harassment is also a safety issue; it deserves the same respect” [11].
What we can do as senior women leaders
How can senior women leaders help to ensure safety of faculty, staff, and students, during field work and field courses? There are several main topics that need to be addressed:
Professional preparation: Before conducting field work, professional preparation is of paramount importance. Students are learning their discipline and cannot be expected to be as well prepared as faculty and senior staff. Basic training is needed in topics such as map reading, proper techniques for collecting data, and discipline-specific information such as the properties of different rock types or how different animals might behave in natural settings. Professional preparation also includes training in ethics with the understanding that sexual harassment is a form of unethical behavior in the sciences.
Formal agreements and paperwork: Many universities now require students to read and sign agreements detailing expectations of behavior in the field, including drug and alcohol use, safety issues, and injunctions against sexual harassment.
Health and Safety: Universities need to ensure that anyone heading out for field work has appropriate health and safety training and that they receive travel vaccinations and medications (such as malaria prophylaxis) appropriate for the field site. Visas and other formal governmental permissions need to be secured in advance (or plans developed for on-site approvals as appropriate). As a senior leader, the buck ultimately stops with you when it comes to ensuring that everyone is safe and accounted for. In some cases, it may be useful to have a fast-response or exit strategy organized in advance. At the very least, people heading out to the field need to know whom to contact in the case of an unexpected emergency.
Planning: Good planning can prevent many mishaps. Field courses and extended field work (especially when overseas) would benefit from at least some level of review by senior mentors (although this is rarely required). Simple items like a list of clothing and personal hygiene and other items can be extremely helpful.
Cultural and legal sensitivity: When traveling in another country or to a location that is distinct culturally, some prior training can be crucially important. This can be particularly important when traveling to a region that is distinctly different in terms of religion and the law. Even seemingly simple issues such as chewing gum or eating outdoors can cause serious problems in the wrong place and time. Local guides or collaborators can be key to preventing misunderstandings and legal blunders, especially when researchers do not speak the local language.
Situational awareness and commonsense: These can be hard to teach and often come with experience. Inexperienced researchers and students can be paired with a more experienced ‘buddy’ until they show greater maturity or improved abilities. If someone demonstrates a continuing lack of situational awareness or basic commonsense, they may need to be steered towards less hazardous activities.
Concluding comments and questions for further thought
These cautions as not meant to dissuade either leaders or students and early career researchers from pursing field work. In addition to being personally and professional rewarding, field work is often essential for research that deals with the natural world or the built environment. With proper training, planning, and preparation, the hazards of field work can be greatly reduced. In addition, field work can teach the valuable skill of dealing with the unexpected.
Here are a few questions to stimulate further thought and discussion:
· Does your institution provide detailed guidelines for conducting safe field work?
· Does your institution provide first aid, CPR, and other formal training for members of the community preparing to embark on field work?
· Do you, personally, have experience conducting scientific field work and if so, how has it informed your actions as a leader?
References
[2] Stanley Williams. 2002. Surviving the Volcano. Abacus, 288 pp.
[3] https://www.ssualumni.org/s/937/m21/interior.aspx?sid=937&gid=1&pgid=330#:~:text=In%201977%2C%20during%20her%20third,as%20a%20USGS%20research%20geologist . (Accessed June 24, 2025).
[4] https://www.cleveland.com/nation/2010/06/man_survives_repeat_attacks_by.html
(Accessed June 24, 2025).
[5] https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/05/27/Bear-attacks-geologists-in-Siberia-kills-one-injures-another/97081369665782/# (Accessed June 24, 2025).
[6] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-27/primatologist-dian-fossey-found-murdered-in-rwanda (Accessed June 23, 2025).
[7] Clancy, K.B.H., Nelson, R.G., Rutherford, J.N. Hinde, K. 2014. “Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault.” PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102172
[8] Cartier, K.M.S. 2020. “Body-based jargon can be harassment when it turns sexual.” EOS, 101 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO138285.
[9] https://www.science.org/content/article/boston-university-fires-geologist-who-sexually-harassed-women-antarctica (Accessed June 9, 2025).
[10] https://www.pictureascientist.com/ (Accessed July 10, 2025).
[11] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sexual-harassment-still-pervades-science/ (Accessed June 5, 2025).