From the Tropics to the Poles: Reflections of Early‐Career Marine Researchers About Fieldwork

Lol Dahlet, Rebecca Borges, Mondane Fouqueray, Désirée Schwindenhammer, Maheshwaran Govender, Gabriel A. Juma and Cátia Ehlert von Ahn
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Lol Dahlet: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Germany
Rebecca Borges: Instituto de Estudos Costeiros (IECOS), Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Brazil / Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Brazil
Mondane Fouqueray: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Germany
Désirée Schwindenhammer: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Germany / Chair of Sustainability Governance, University of Freiburg, Germany
Maheshwaran Govender: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Germany / Systems Ecology and Resource Management Research Unit (SERM), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Gabriel A. Juma: School of Agriculture and Science, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa
Cátia Ehlert von Ahn: Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Germany

Ocean and Society, 2026, vol. 3

Abstract: Fieldwork is essential for knowledge co-production in marine sciences. It enables the collection of empirical data and provides a platform for bridging various disciplines and knowledge systems. Although awareness of the need for equitable research practices appears to increase, ethical issues in marine fieldwork persist. “Parachute science” refers to research typically conducted in postcolonial contexts without equitable collaboration with local partners. Early-career researchers (ECRs) are confronted with these issues firsthand. They often carry out field-based activities, yet frequently have little or no formal ethical guidance and training. We are a group of marine ECRs who are, or have been, affiliated with research organizations in Western Europe. Many of us come from other regions, including the Global South. In this article, we reflect on our own experiences with knowledge co-production in marine research involving fieldwork from the tropics to the poles. Despite our different experiences, research contexts, and topics within the marine sciences, we all faced limited ability to meaningfully engage with local partners and the research context. Specific challenges involved navigating interdisciplinarity across the natural and social sciences, issues of positionality, research fatigue in the study area, and high administrative demands relating to scientific research and residency. We provide a set of recommendations in the form of guiding questions to support coordinated, multi-level action and intentional steps away from parachute science. Only then can we reinvent marine science fieldwork as a cornerstone of equitable knowledge co-production, with ECRs as drivers of fairer, more impactful and fulfilling fieldwork experience.

Keywords: early-career researchers; interdisciplinarity; knowledge co-production; local actors; marine sciences; parachute science; transdisciplinarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:ocesoc:v3:y:2026:a:12837

DOI: 10.17645/oas.12837

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