The Official️ Pitch
The Dune Crew is a collaborative working group between myself and a rotating cast of amazing undergraduate researchers. The group started when I initiated a systematic review on dune plant community assembly theory (see below) but was looking for how to make the process more inclusive and expansive. I initially had my field technician, Alice Mathew, help read some of the papers I had collected for the systematic review to help push me along in the project. The group really kicked off with my former student’s - Jamie Belone - drive to read more academic literature to grow their confidence. From there, we added more students to help with the systematic review (Sofia Mosqueda, Dylan Sommer, Kassandra Vega, and Pete Maciel Martinez), more projects (an art project, collecting functional traits, and an ethnobotanical database on specific dune species), and more collaborations (the Amah Mutsun Tribal Land Trust and with other graduate students) to the mix. Excitingly, we have recently added two new members to the Dune Crew team! I am proud that the systematic review came together with an authorship team of just myself and these undergraduate students. We even have plans to write a publication of the pedagogical practice of the Dune Crew. Together, the Dune Crew is creating a fun and friendly learning environment for everybody to conduct important research and grow as scientists!
Some Vintage Dune Crew™️ Moments!
Our publication!
How could I start anywhere other than our publication. This has been the ultimate culmination of our work together. We started by working our way through these manuscripts and eventually formulated it all into this manuscript. I am so proud how this blended multiple strengths of different pedagogical systems. From my liberal arts background, it had the individualized mentorship and agency over undergrad’s own work. From my time at bigger, R1 schools, I learned the importance of undergraduates being able to put their names as second or third authors on publications. Being able to accomplish both in this manuscript is incredibly meaningful!
So much credit belongs to all the undergrads involved! In particular, Kassandra deserves a shout-out for doing what I could never in creating such a beautiful conceptual figure for Figure 1. Jamie also did what would have caused me to give up on the whole manuscript and somehow corralled all of our raw data into Tables 1 and Tables 2. If it weren’t for a reviewer’s comment, I thought Table 3 of Jamie’s was their best work (it now lives in the supplement!). I never can be sure how impactful a publication actually is once it is out in the world, but I do know the process of creating this manuscript was meaningful to us!
Art Show and Poster
We also worked together on creating this poster for my graduate group’s art show. I bent some rules to submit my undergraduate’s work because I lack an artistic bone in my body (I mean, you can see how great my collage is in the center, right). At the beginning of our time together, Kassandra specifically wanted to work on science communication through her art. So, I strong armed her into presenting her work here. She had created these fantastic drawings of the focal species in our work with the Amah Mutsun Land Trust. We all supported her by creating these captions on what we have learned about these plants while staying mindful of not sharing anything a tribe would not want to be shared. Overall, it was a highlight of working together for me!
Dune Days with the AMLT
Such a special treat to be able to do events with the Amah Mutsun Land Trust. Being able to share our research and dune enthusiasm with Tribe members and volunteers is beyond special and helps show how the Dune Crew™️ can be such a meaningful endeavor!
Simply good vibes!
For as fancy as this all sounds, part of the reason why it all works is simply because it is fun. The students have fun learning and growing and I have so much fun helping and growing with them. It really becomes a community and we build friendships. At the end of each year I try to use my super generous graduate student salary to treat everyone in some way or another!
