NDLI: Group Development and Integration in a Cross-Disciplinary and Intercultural Research Team

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Kirk Lawlor, Naomi Allred, Shorna
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	Cross-disciplinary research is necessary to solve many complex problems that affect society today, including problems involving linked social and environmental systems. Examples include natural resource management or scarcity problems, problematic effects of climate change, and environmental pollution issues. Intercultural research teams are needed to address many complex environmental matters as they often cross geographic and political boundaries, and involve people of different countries and cultures. It follows that disciplinarily and culturally diverse research teams have been organized to investigate and address environmental issues. This case study investigates a team composed of both monolingual and bilingual Chilean and US university researchers who are geoscientists, engineers and economists. The objective of this research team was to study both the natural and human parts of a hydrologic system in a hyper-arid region in northern Chile. Interviews (n = 8) addressed research questions focusing on the interaction of cross-disciplinary diversity and cultural diversity during group integration and development within the team. The case study revealed that the group struggled more with cross-disciplinary challenges than with intercultural ones. Particularly challenging ones were instances the of disciplinary crosstalk, or hidden misunderstandings, where team members thought they understood their cross-disciplinary colleagues, when in reality they did not. Results showed that translation served as a facilitator to cross-disciplinary integration of the research team. The use of translation in group meetings as a strategy for effective cross-disciplinary integration can be extended to monolingual cross-disciplinary teams as well.
Starting Page	665
Ending Page	683
Page Count	19
File Format	PDF
ISSN	0364152X
Journal	Environmental Management
Volume Number	59
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	14321009
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2017-01-11
Publisher Place	New York
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Intercultural Cross-disciplinary Team development Interdisciplinary Cross-cultural Environmental Management Ecology Nature Conservation Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution Forestry Management Waste Water Technology / Water Pollution Control / Water Management / Aquatic Pollution
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology Pollution Global and Planetary Change

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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