1. Values: Ecology and conservation biology suffer from racial, cultural, ableist, gender, socioeconomic, and other biases that harm people, impede scientific progress, stagnate debates, and make for a less vibrant and inclusive workplace. We believe it is our imperative to work towards breaking down the many barriers that have prevented members from historically excluded communities to build their careers in science. We also believe that, because diversity brings unique viewpoints and approaches, diversifying ecology is critical to mainstreaming conservation, generating novel approaches, and translating research from science to practice. As such, we regularly engage in the following:
  • Self-education. Each of us must confront our implicit biases and grapple with the myriad ways historically excluded people are systematically disadvantaged in science. Ample opportunities for self-education exist on campus and include, but are not limited to, (1) attending diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops and trainings inside and outside the university, (2) organizing and/or participating in anti-racist reading groups, and (3) dedicating lab meeting space to DEIJ (e., diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice) topics and discussions.
  • Holistic admissions. Implicit biases, flawed admissions metrics, and strong societal pressures have created barriers for many to build their careers in the sciences. We practice holistic admissions approaches when recruiting new lab members, from undergraduate interns to postdoctoral scholars. We encourage lab members to use inclusive language in our job ads, encourage people from historically excluded communities to apply, select candidates based on standardized rubrics and interview prompts, and discuss issues surrounding DEIJ and work-life balance with prospective candidates.
  • Building an inclusive environment. We want our community to be inclusive and welcoming, with differences among us explicitly recognized and celebrated. We thus strive to create a community where all feel comfortable speaking and commit to receiving constructive feedback on our words and actions. We hope that any disputes that arise could be settled internally; however, we also provide resources for addressing conflicts at the end of this document.
  • Work-life balance. Keeping ourselves happy, motivated, and enthusiastic is a top priority, both to make sure that we continue enjoying our jobs and to maintain productivity. This means prioritizing work life-balance in the following ways.
    • Lab are members are not expected to work unreasonable hours. Though we recognize that there will be periods when we work less or more (g., during field work), a 40-hour work week is all that is expected. For reference, Danny works a 40 hour week and has done so throughout his career.
    • Your productivity will fluctuate over time. Be sure to give yourself a break on the days you are not feeling productive and take advantage of the days you are.
      • If you are feeling like you have not made progress for an extended period, do not hesitate to come to Danny to discuss the issues and collaboratively look for solutions. There will be no judgement!
    • We love and encourage travel for vacation, for visiting friends and family, for chasing a new bird species, or for other reasons.
      • You do not need to tell Danny if you are going to be gone for a day or two (unless you had a pre-determined meeting during that time).
      • If you will be gone for an extended period (>2-3 days), then let Danny know in advance. Longer periods require more notice.
    • Personal wellness. We recognize that lab members may face a variety of mental and physical health issues before, during, and after their time in the lab (anxiety, imposter syndrome, disabilities, etc.). We value our health and thus encourage lab members to take the space/time they need to address these challenges. Danny is available to discuss how such challenges may affect lab members’ work and/or point lab members towards available university support/resources.
    • Building capacity and outreach. Because much of our work takes place on private land in working landscapes, we recognize the importance of conducting community-engaged research. To that end, we strive to engage with growers, practitioners, industry officials, regulators, and others through all stages of our work. Some strategies include:
      • Distributing individually tailored research reports to study participants
      • Organizing workshops for stakeholders focused on exchanging idea about best practices and building capacity.
      • Coupling our research publications with outreach materials (e.g., press releases, videos, policy briefs, etc.)
      • Including assistants in all stages of our work, up to and including publication.
  1. Building a strong community: One of the greatest assets of UC Davis is its collaborative community. There is so much we can learn from each other as well as from the hundreds of other scientists working on similar topics across the campus. We believe participating in and/or organizing lab, department, and/or university events can enrich our experiences and make our time at UC Davis so much more fun! Lab members are thus expected to…
  • Be present in the office. The benefits of being near your colleagues are enormous. Physical presence helps create a sense of community, provide support to each other when we are struggling, foster new collaborations, and allow for an exchange of ideas. Our expectation is thus for graduate students and postdocs to be physically present in the office.
    • We recognize that people are productive at different times and thus have no official expectation for when you should be present. That said, there are major benefits derived from unplanned interactions with lab mates that occur during normal business hours (i.e., weekdays from 10ish to 3ish).
    • Some members may find working from home or other locations to be more productive. If that is the case for you, then reach out to Danny to collaboratively identify a split between working from the office versus home that will balance your individual success with community involvement.
    • We also recognize there may be periods when working from the office is not feasible due to health issues, caregiving responsibilities, disability, or other factors. We believe that being mindful of and accommodating such requests is paramount to building a lab where we all can thrive.
    • If you are feeling unwell, stay at home! Especially in COVID times, let’s be mindful of each other and not transmit disease.
    • Finally, if there are ways that you feel the office could be improved to facilitate a more fun and productive working environment, please bring those ideas to Danny!
  • Attend lab meetings. Lab meetings will be held weekly throughout the academic year. During the summer, lab meetings will rarely occur and only on an ad-hoc
    • While lab members are expected to attend in person, remote options will be made available when possible to facilitate attendance for people who are traveling.
    • It is expected that graduate students and postdocs will facilitate lab meeting at least 2-3 times per year. This may include getting feedback on a paper/grant, giving a practice presentation, or facilitating a discussion about a paper or topic.
      • When you facilitate, be sure to send an email out 1 week in advance announcing the topic and providing any pre-meeting reading materials.
    • Each quarter, a different lab member should volunteer to organize lab meetings (i.e., choose the time, help pin down a schedule, etc.).
  • Attend seminars. Lab members are expected to attend, and occasionally present at, WFCB seminars. These seminars are a great way to build community within the department, learn more about what your colleagues are doing, and foster new collaborations.
    • Lab members are also expected to monitor other seminars on campus- particularly the Ecology seminar series- and attend whenever possible. Indeed, a rich variety of serminar series regularly occur on campus, including seminar series put on by WFCB, ecology, animal behavior, population biology, entomology, and anthropology, A rough goal should be to try to attend one seminar per week, even if it is outside your area of expertise (you might just be inspired and learn something new).
    • Hosting a seminar speaker, as well as signing up to meet with seminar speakers hosted by others, is highly encouraged to build your professional networks and generate new ideas.
  • Consider signing up to join or lead a committee, either inside or outside the university, focused on something you are passionate about. For example, graduate students often decide to join the Graduate Group in Ecology’s Diversity committee. Engaging in meaningful service is a great way to better your community. Definitely consider talking about opportunities with Danny to help figure out how to balance your time between research, teaching, and service!
  • Social events. Though not mandatory, we encourage lab members to join lab social events (e.g., dissertation defense parties, recruitment events, etc.). Our community becomes even stronger when we celebrate each other’s accomplishments and show new recruits how much fun we can have together! Outside the lab, many lab members may choose to join the ‘Eco Social’ list serve to hear about fun community events.
  1. Communication: Professional, open, and respectful communication are critical to creating a productive work environment. We commit to …
  • Being mindful of our words and receiving constructive feedback from others.
    • We do not tolerate any abuse, discrimination, or otherwise unprofessional behavior in our lab. If such behavior occurs, you can either report it to Danny or through one of the resources listed at the end of this document.
  • Respecting each other’s time.
    • If you require feedback on something, then be sure to provide at least 1 week before any deadline. If it is a longer product (e.g., a long grant, paper, dissertation chapter, etc.), then 2 weeks is preferable.
    • If you require a letter of recommendation, provide the letter writer at least 1 week if a letter has been written before and 3 weeks if this is the first time.
    • While people may send out emails at any time, we do not expect responses from each other outside normal weekday business hours.
    • Danny loves seeing and hearing from you! His door is usually open and will always welcome you popping by to ask a question. When in meetings or away, his door will be cracked or closed.
  1. Professional development: Lab members have distinct ambitions. Our goal is to help prepare you for the career that you want and give you the opportunities you need to succeed. Lab members need individually tailored mentorship and experiences. Key strategies include:
  • Completing an individual development plan (IDP). Graduate students are required to complete the Karp Lab IDP upon entering the lab (postdoctoral scholars are encouraged but not required). This document helps lab members articulate the key skills and goals that they wish to accomplish. Lab members then meet with Danny at least once per year to assess progress, refine tasks, and iteratively adapt the IDP.
  • Attending workshops or courses. Many career development opportunities are available through UC Davis’s “GradPathways” program. GradPathways offers >150 workshops, seminars, and panel discussions on a range of topics, from networking strategies to enhancing leadership and management skills. The ecology community at UC Davis also offers relevant classes (e.g., on pedagogy and on career development). Lab members should work with Danny to identify useful experiences.
  • Attending student/postdoc workgroups. A variety of student/postdoc workgroups and centers exist on campus that can support lab members in learning new skills. Some of these include the UC Davis Data Lab, the GGE statistics support group, and the Davis R Users Group.
  • Attending conferences. Lab members are encouraged to attend, and present at, a scientific conference at least every other year. Our lab often attends the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and/pr American Ornithology Society (AOS) meetings but many other conferences exist that could be appropriate for lab members.
    • It is Danny and your shared responsibility to seek out funding. There will be periods when the lab has funding to support your conference travel, and periods when it will be necessary to seek out your own travel funds. Discuss the funding plan with Danny ahead of time.
    • Take advantage of your time at conferences! Set up meetings with people ahead of time, attend interesting talks, and do your best to network.
    • If you attend with other lab members, offer to introduce them to your friends and collaborators. We can all help each other network.
  1. Funding: As with conference funds, seeking funds to support your research and/or your salary is often a responsibility shared by lab members and by Danny. At the same time, funding can be a major stressor. It is important to communicate openly and regularly with Danny about funding plans to minimize anxiety.
  • You should not pay for research expenses out-of-pocket. That said, it is critical to follow university procedures and policies when buying research supplies, requesting reimbursement, and/or paying for expenses while traveling. We have developed a useful guidance document to help navigate this process. You find the document here.
    • Graduate students and postdocs (who are currently university employees) can obtain travel cards to pay for expenses while traveling. It is your responsibility to submit travel reports and receipts through ‘Aggie Expense’ after your travel has concluded.
    • Supplies should be procured using the ‘prepurchasing’ system.
    • If using a personal vehicles are used for work-related travel, personnel may be reimbursed via either mileage or gas (depending on fund availability and context). However, in accordance with university policy, travel to and within the UC Davis campus (e.g, commuting to work) is not reimbursed.
  • Graduate students. Graduate student salaries are set by the university and department. You should expect to be funded every quarter you are at UC Davis, including summers, however, the source of funding will vary.
    • A funding plan for the following year should be made with Danny while reviewing the Individual Development Plan each year.
    • Provided sufficient funds exist, we often aim for graduate students to receive a minimum of 1 academic quarter of GSR and 1 summer GSR per year. Danny will work with you to find TAships for non-GSR or fellowship quarters.
    • If your project is not directly supported by Danny’s grants, then you should be writing grants to support your research. Danny will help you identify opportunities and work with you on proposals; however, it is also important to be proactive and seek out potential funding sources yourself. Learning how to acquire grants/fellowships is a major part of your training.
  • Postdoctoral scholars. As for graduate students, postdoc salary scales are set by the university. Unlike graduate students, funding sources for postdocs are usually set before entering the lab. That said, it is expected that postdocs occasionally apply to grants to supplement research expenses, especially small internal grants (that require little work).
  • We recognize unpaid internships perpetuate inequity. We thus will actively work to ensure undergraduates and field assistants are adequately compensated. This may involve collaboratively writing grants together (e.g., through the Swift Endowment Fund).
  1. Safety, animal welfare, and human subjects. Maintaining a safe working environment is our top priority. When in doubt, we will always prioritize each other’s safety over all else. We will also prioritize the wellbeing of the animals and people we work with over our research, following university guidance and acquiring relevant permits where necessary. To that end, we agree to:
  • Develop field safety plans. The Karp Lab has developed field-safety plans for in state and international fieldwork. These safety plans outline site-specific risks, and guidelines for addressing these risks. In doing so, the plans recognize that fieldwork can be particularly dangerous for many communities historically excluded from science.
    • It is the graduate student’s and/or postdoc’s responsibility to adapt the safety plan for their project and then submit it to Danny at least 1 month before fieldwork begins. Danny will then review the plan to finalize the field safety plan at least 2 weeks before fieldwork.
    • All personnel conducting fieldwork must be trained according to the field safety plan guidelines.
    • An example field safety plan for Yolo Country can be seen here.
  • Keep up to date with lab safety trainings. Upon entering the lab, lab members will receive safety training and complete the ‘Annual Training Record’ and ‘Site Specific Safety Orientation’ documents. As part of completing the documents, you will be required to finish a series of online safety courses. A ‘refresher’ training will also be required each year.
  • Acquire relevant permits. Lab members will identify the university, state, federal, and/or international permits, protocols, or trainings required to conduct your work. Danny can help with this. Lab members will then work with Danny to acquire relevant permits and/or complete relevant protocols/trainings. Lab members will abide by subsequent rules/regulations, including reporting requirements.
  1. Data Management. Appropriately managing and disseminating the data we collect is critical. Karp Lab data storage and access protocols are listed below.
  • All data collected on paper in the field or lab should be scanned in and/or rapidly transcribed into spreadsheets. Meta-data should then be created, and all files uploaded (ideally from the field) to a cloud-based data storage system (e., google drive).
  • Every lab member should create their own cloud-based project drive and provide (password protected) access to all study participants. Ideally, the lab member would then establish a standardized data folder hierarchy such that each project participant can readily deposit and access all data, code, project protocols, figures etc.
  • Copies of all data should ultimately be stored on two-three mediums to avoid data loss, degradation, and damage: (1) the cloud-based storage program, (2) a personal computer or external drive, and (3) filing cabinets (for field or laboratory notebooks). Danny has filing cabinets in his office and can store paper copies for all lab members.
  • We also encourage lab members to explore using Git as a version control method.
  • We believe in data sharing and open access data ideologies. Upon publication, data and relevant code will be published online for open access (e.g., in Dryad).
    • Special attention will be given to mask identifying characteristics and locations for sensitive data collected from private lands.
  • It is each project member’s responsibility to appropriately archive all data files when leaving the lab, providing clear instructions for data access and metadata locations.
  1. Authorship. We are a highly collegial and collaborative lab. It is thus expected that we will help each other troubleshoot analyses and/or lend a hand in the field as needed. If, however, this help begins to turn into a larger collaboration, then lab members should consider having a conversation about authorship. In general, the Karp Lab takes an inclusive view of authorship, wherein scientists who helped fund, conceptualize, collect data, analyze data, or write up a study are invited to join projects as authors.
  • Though things may change, authorship should be preliminarily agreed upon as early in the project as possible to avoid potential confusion and conflict. This includes defining roles and responsibilities of each collaborator and discussing authorship order.
    • ‘Earning’ authorship requires collaborators to follow through on the mutually agreed upon responsibilities at the start of the project.
  • After leaving the lab, lab members will have up to 2 years to write up and submit a manuscript for their study before the project could be provided to someone else to lead. Of course, a lab member could decide to allow others to take lead on a project with the data they collected earlier.
  1. Resources
  • Ombuds: https://ombuds.ucdavis.edu/ (530-754-7233)
    • For confidential, independent, and impartial conflict resolution counseling of any nature
  • CARES (Center for Advocacy, Resources, and Education): https://care.ucdavis.edu/ (530-752-3299)
    • For confidential advocacy, support, and healing services to survivors of sexual harassment and all forms of sexual violence
  • ASAP (Academic & Staff Assistance Program): https://hr.ucdavis.edu/departments/asap (530-752-2727)
    • For confidential, cost-free assessment, intervention, consultation, and referral services concerning work-related, personal, administrative, individual, career, or relationship focused problems
  • UCD Counseling Center: https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/counseling-services (530-752-0871)
    • For mental health services, advocacy, and consultation
  • LGBTQIA: http://lgbtqia.ucdavis.edu/ (530-752-2452)
  • Women’s Resource and Research Center: http://wrrc.ucdavis.edu/ (530-752-3372)
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/how-do-i
  • Harassment & Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program (HDAPP): https://hdapp.sf.ucdavis.edu/
  • Graduate Student Association https://gsa.ucdavis.edu/
  • University of California Postdoc UAW Local 5810 http://uaw5810.org/welcome-new-postdocs/
  • Field Safety Office: https://safetyservices.ucdavis.edu/units/ehs/research/field