Date: May 30th - 31st, 2019
Location: Lied Lodge & Workshop Center in Nebraska City, NE
Sponsored by USDA-AFRI Foundational and Applied Science: Understanding Antimicrobial Resistance
Workshop Summary:
This workshop brought together researchers, students, and agricultural experts focused on surveying and communicating the human and economic dimensions of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in agriculture. On-going social science research and communication efforts in AMR are crucial components to wider efforts at AMR mitigation. Much of this work is in early stages, and, to date, there have been few efforts at coordinating and synthesizing these efforts. This workshop brought together researchers and students from various academic backgrounds working on antibiotic resistance in the farm setting to produce knowledge and coordinate our research efforts to create synergy between the various projects in this arena. The workshop consisted of 37 participants including researchers, graduate students, post-docs, and industry experts in this arena. Participants were divided into working groups to facilitate discussion, coordinate research efforts, cultivate long-term collaborations, and offer mentoring opportunities between students and professionals outside of their home institutions.
Workshop Goals:
The workshop succeeded in its goals of bringing together social science researchers and communication professionals and mentoring graduate students and post-docs on best practices in conducting surveys on AMR. Through collaborative teams consisting of science and economic researchers and agricultural experts, participants initiated the process of synthesizing current social science and communication research on the human dimensions of AMR in agriculture. They further began to identify knowledge gaps to guide future research endeavors centered on this topic. The long-term goal of the workshop is to develop science-based surveys and strategic communication structures that can inform our understanding of the basic issues associated with naturally occurring and anthropogenic agricultural resistance.
The short-term goals of the workshop are to produce:
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A series of relevant outputs from the work groups including literature reviews, perspective pieces, white papers and communication materials;
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A collection of survey data and communication materials generated to date, and;
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Training of graduate students and post-docs on various survey techniques used in other researcher’s work.
Workshop Format:
During the two-day workshop participants were divided into two groups: Surveys and Interviews and Communication. Each group consisted of a mix of students, researchers, and industry and extension personnel. Each group had a group leader and a student leader. The leaders facilitated discussion and presented group progress and goals at several points during the workshop. Beneficial outputs were identified by each working group and a plan of action was outlined to complete these goals by the end of the year.
Students and post-docs who participated in the workshop can now apply for paid follow-up visits at research labs. Visits are encouraged to enhance networking and facilitate closer collaboration on developing manuscripts between experts and students that are not co-located.
