One of GERI's active initiatives is building an early career research (ECR) survey that will assess research training trends, resources, and professional development opportunities of early career ecology and environmental science researchers across the world.

The survey gathers insights on technical skills, personal development opportunities, and the types of mentorship received — with the goal of identifying areas for growth and fostering collaboration within the global research community.

This survey is based on a survey designed and distributed by Farrell et al. (2021) that focused on early career macrosystems scientists. GERI's survey will expand upon Farrell et al., broadening the scope from the United States to across the globe and assessing regional and cultural differences in scientist training and barriers to collaboration. This work will identify next-generation needs to facilitate future network collaborations and provide guidance to institutions to better prepare their ECRs moving forward.

GERI plans to distribute this survey through the GERI member infrastructures (NEON, CERN, TERN, ICOS, eLTER, SAEON), professional societies (e.g., AGU, EGU, ESA), and through other global networks and organisations (e.g., Young Soil Science Network, The Nature Conservancy, FLUXNET). Once the survey data have been collected, GERI will publish these findings — highlighting trends and mismatches between perceived needs, obstacles and received training, as well as cultural and country differences.

If you are interested in getting involved in this work, or helping us distribute this survey, please reach out to the project contacts below.