Natural and Indigenous sciences: reflections on an attempt to collaborate

Natural scientists are increasingly being encouraged to engage with local and Indigenous communities when carrying out research. However, these attempts at collaboration can repeatedly bring up challenges that have their root in how the different stakeholders relate to one another throughout the research process. This essay explores the experiences of the author, an early career researcher trained in the natural sciences, in her attempts to undertake interdisciplinary collaborative work with Sámi reindeer herders in Northern Europe. Whilst underpinned with good intent of creating decolonial, collaborative and locally useful research, the practice of this work lacked awareness of how to do so effectively, leading to multiple challenges in the project. This was largely due to the author having an inadequate understanding of key relevant discourses, including research fatigue, ethics of co-authorship, mismatching timelines, mismatching expectations between academics and relevant communities and power dynamics in interpersonal relationships. These are topics that have been explored in-depth in fields such as human geography, social sciences and anthropology, yet they are insufficiently considered in the natural sciences as a whole. The purpose of this essay is two-fold. The first is to signpost natural scientists wishing to engage in collaborative research towards key texts and concepts that could aid their work. It is not an extensive review, but rather what is hopefully an accessible introduction. It is, quite simply, an essay that the author would have appreciated having access to before undertaking her work. The second is to contribute to a wider discussion around the need for a more diverse and decolonial training in the natural sciences, so we all can respond to the many changes currently occurring on our planet using knowledge generated from well-informed, meaningful and effective collaborations.