How to Collect Humans: A Video Ethnographic Approach to Fieldwork in Paleontology

如何收集人类：古生物学现场工作的视频民族志方法

• 批准号: 1921841
• 负责人: Wesley Shrum
• 金额: $ 10.58万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1921841&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: How; Collect; Humans; Video; Ethnographic

To many, the process of scientific discovery can seem complex if not mysterious. But finding our earliest human ancestors can also seem like a matter of luck. This project documents a group of paleontologists at two of the most exciting fossil sites in the world. Paleontology is a classic discovery science: the game is to find fossils in a high risk/high payoff area. Teamwork, heat, and hardship occasionally produce global headlines on human ancestors. The fieldwork team is unique: the only such expedition run by a Kenyan scholar in collaboration with an American woman scientist. 'How to Find Humans' documents this fieldwork using video ethnography to (a) collect extensive footage, (b) assemble a curated selection of this footage for both scholarly and public access, (c) edit the footage to produce audiovisual outputs for use in teaching, public awareness of the discovery process, and advancing STS understanding of fieldwork. These broad impacts on education, scholarship, and public engagement include the production of teaching videos and a public archive of audiovisual materials. A series of short videos are being created as teaching aids for undergraduate and graduate education in both science and STS. Students, scholars, and the public will see scientists and fossil finders as they examine and discuss rocks and fossils, make decisions on whether to collect them, and try to understand their significance in the human timeline. Unlike traditional documentaries that present after-the-fact versions of science, the project presents science in the making. The fieldwork itself occurs at two main locations: one is a new site that has already produced some evidence on the earliest anatomically modern humans, tentatively dated as having lived 200,000 years ago. The other is the first site to reveal that more than one species of human ancestor was present near the origin of our lineage nearly 3.5 million years ago. It has yielded the earliest stone tools, long predating the origin of our species. Both sites are at the cutting edge of evolutionary studies. The project contributes to the field of science and technology studies in two major ways. First, a deeper understanding of fieldwork in science will emerge through systematic observation and recording of paleontologists at the cutting edge of a science that has always been controversial within science, education, and the public. Second, this project and the method of video ethnography will provide the basis for a general approach to collaborative work in the field sciences going forward. Among the project outcomes are a documentary to educate the public and the development of video ethnographic methods that can be transferred to study fieldwork in other scientific settings.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

对于许多人来说，即使不是神秘的，科学发现的过程似乎也很复杂。但是，找到我们最早的人类祖先也似乎是一个运气的问题。该项目记录了世界上两个最令人兴奋的化石遗址的一群古生物学家。古生物学是一门经典的发现科学：游戏是在高风险/高收益区域找到化石。团队合作，热量和艰辛偶尔会引起人类祖先的全球头条新闻。野外工作团队是独一无二的：肯尼亚学者与一位美国女科学家合作的唯一这样的探险。 “如何找到人类”使用视频民族志记录了（a）收集大量素材，（b）组装策划的该镜头的精选选择，以供学术和公众获取，（c）编辑镜头，以产生视听输出，以在教学中使用，公众对发现过程的认识以及对实地考察的了解。这些对教育，奖学金和公众参与的广泛影响包括制作教学视频和视听材料的公共档案。正在为科学和STS的本科和研究生教育的教学辅助创建一系列简短的视频。学生，学者和公众将在检查和讨论岩石和化石时看到科学家和化石发现者，就是否收集它们做出决定，并试图理解它们在人类时间表中的意义。与呈现后期科学版本的传统纪录片不同，该项目在制作中介绍了科学。现场工作本身发生在两个主要位置：一个是一个新站点，已经为最早的解剖学现代人类提供了一些证据，暂时持续了200,000年前。另一个是第一个揭示了将近350万年前我们血统附近存在多种人类祖先的地点。它产生了最早的石材工具，早于我们物种的起源。这两个地点都处于进化研究的最前沿。该项目以两种主要方式为科学和技术研究领域做出了贡献。首先，通过系统的观察和记录古生物学家在科学的最前沿，对科学领域的野外工作的更深入的了解将出现，而古生物学家在科学，教育和公众中一直存在争议。其次，该项目和视频民族志方法将为未来的现场科学协作工作提供一般方法的基础。在项目成果中，有一部纪录片，旨在教育公众和开发视频民族志方法，可以将其转移到其他科学环境中研究现场工作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准通过评估来获得支持的。