From the Tropics to the Poles: Reflections of Early‐Career Marine Researchers About Fieldwork

Fieldwork is essential for knowledge co-production in marine sciences. It enables the collection of empirical data and provides a platform for bridging various disciplines and knowledge systems. Although awareness of the need for equitable research practices appears to increase, ethical issues in marine fieldwork persist. “Parachute science” refers to research typically conducted in postcolonial contexts without equitable collaboration with local partners. Early-career researchers (ECRs) are confronted with these issues firsthand. They often carry out field-based activities, yet frequently have little or no formal ethical guidance and training. We are a group of marine ECRs who are, or have been, affiliated with research organizations in Western Europe. Many of us come from other regions, including the Global South. In this article, we reflect on our own experiences with knowledge co-production in marine research involving fieldwork from the tropics to the poles. Despite our different experiences, research contexts, and topics within the marine sciences, we all faced limited ability to meaningfully engage with local partners and the research context. Specific challenges involved navigating interdisciplinarity across the natural and social sciences, issues of positionality, research fatigue in the study area, and high administrative demands relating to scientific research and residency. We provide a set of recommendations in the form of guiding questions to support coordinated, multi-level action and intentional steps away from parachute science. Only then can we reinvent marine science fieldwork as a cornerstone of equitable knowledge co-production, with ECRs as drivers of fairer, more impactful and fulfilling fieldwork experience.