TITLE: Transdisciplinary Research Through the Lens of Values

ABSTRACT: Transdisciplinary research (AKA convergence research) aims for real-world impact by bridging disciplines and engaging with societal partners. Transdisciplinary efforts often fall short of their goals, and one approach to improving outcomes is through more explicit recognition and management of values—which can vary across disciplinary cultures and between researchers, decision makers, and stakeholders. In this talk, I present work that applies this strategy to study the challenges of transdisciplinarity and develop frameworks for facilitating it. I will discuss: (1) a location-scoping process applied in a $20-million NSF-funded project to identify climate-adaptation planning problems as focal points for place-based research, (2) a framework called Values-informed Mental Models for designing climate-risk studies around what matters to affected parties, and (3) survey and interview studies examining how transdisciplinary project personnel navigate the competing demands of interdisciplinary, societally-engaged academic research.