Stories

A message from Elizabeth Christopherson and Angela Bednarek for the November issue of the Civic Science Series:

Dear Civic Science Community,

This fall, the United States reached a milestone in conservation and research: a 116-mile span of the California coastline was designated as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. Uniquely, this will be the first national sanctuary to be co-stewarded from the beginning by an Indigenous group, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, alongside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

From day one, Tribal members will work in partnership with researchers from institutions like Stanford University’s new Doerr School of Sustainability to understand and protect this ecosystem as it faces environmental changes.

This is just one example of a growing movement in research: partnerships that bring together communities, policymakers, and scientists to address complex issues. As funders, we are eager to help advance this vision. We’re bringing together networks like the Civic Science Fellows and the Transforming Evidence Network, which connect researchers and practitioners across fields, community leaders, and emerging “boundary spanners” who bridge gaps across sectors and communities. Together, these networks are building collaborative experiments to explore how research can contribute to meaningful change.

These collaborations often prompt key questions for reflection among participants that get to the heart of what research is for and what it needs to collaborate and thrive into the future.

Why do we do research? Is research curiosity-driven, seeking to unravel mysteries of the natural and human world? Or is it use-driven, focused on solving pressing problems? The reality, for many researchers, is a mix of both. “Curiosity-driven” and “use-driven” research form a spectrum, often blending in surprising ways. For instance, decades of seemingly niche research enabled the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. In other cases, practical applications lead to foundational scientific discoveries, as early steam engines led scientists to the laws of thermodynamics. Ensuring all kinds of research can thrive and work together, alongside traditional knowledge and lived experience, can strengthen our ability to understand our world and address our challenges.

What defines rigor in research? Standards for rigor and quality control vary across fields, shaped by their methodologies and goals. In policy-oriented or community-driven research, for example, rigor includes assessing practical value and engagement quality. Crossfield collaborations often require new approaches to rigor to accommodate combinations of methodologies, and they can inspire disciplines to evolve their standards. For example, to strengthen scientists’ engagement with communities, Civic Science Fellows and partners at Ciencia Puerto Rico are introducing them to “reflexivity”—a cornerstone of rigor in qualitative research that prompts researchers to examine their assumptions and biases.

Who sets research priorities? We know that simply conducting research and communicating the results to potential users does not improve outcomes. For research to contribute to solutions, it must be trusted and meet the knowledge needs of policymakers, community members, and practitioners. From the perspective of curiosity-driven research, diverse voices and perspectives contribute to a more accurate understanding of reality. For applied and use-inspired research, research priorities set with those using the results or impacted by the issue at hand can sharpen relevance and enhance the usefulness of the findings. For the sake of new discoveries and better outcomes, we need to continue expanding the voices that shape and evaluate research.

Where do we need to build capacity? Many of today’s pressing scientific and social issues, such as climate change and health equity, are inherently interdisciplinary. Building boundary-spanning capacity—partnerships, training, funding, incentives, and career pathways that bridge disciplines—is essential. This is the moment to fill existing research gaps, and prepare for new, complex challenges of the future.

Promising changes are already emerging. Recent scans by the Transforming Evidence Funders Network and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities show that a growing number of institutions are rewarding collaborative efforts and valuing societal impact alongside traditional scientific metrics. This shift marks a meaningful step toward a future where academic culture supports the innovative, cross-sector work that today’s challenges demand.

We believe these partnerships can deepen our understanding of the world and improve lives. By working together, we can find creative solutions, bridge divides, and build a model of civic science that benefits communities while expanding the horizons of knowledge.

Elizabeth Good Christopherson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Rita Allen Foundation. Angela Bednarek is Project Director of the Evidence Project at The Pew Charitable Trusts. Both organizations are among the Civic Science Fellows funding partners.