Capturing research stories long after the funding ends

Session: Great Lakes Outreach and Education (2)

Carolyn Foley, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, [email protected]
Katherine O'Reilly, University of Notre Dame, , [email protected]

Abstract

Researchers typically receive funding from agencies for 1-5 years to support a particular project. During this time, they provide regular progress reports to their funding agencies who in turn report up the chain to policy makers. Communication between funded researcher and funding agency is consistent while funds are being spent. However, given long turnaround times on publication, acceptance of a body of work into the public record, and implementation of research recommendations into day-to-day policy/management decisions, the ultimate outcomes from funded research may take 10+ years to realize. While it is vital to communicate these long-term impacts, there are many challenges associated with adequately capturing and sharing this type of information. In this presentation, we summarize efforts by Sea Grant programs in the Great Lakes and beyond to track and communicate long-term outcomes of funded research. We share methods for engaging with researchers themselves, the types of stories that resonate with policy makers, and effective methods for communicating results. We also review challenges associated with the process, including tracking principal investigators or students down, convincing individuals to reply to requests for information, and determining a reasonable impact of a single agency on projects that received support from many sources.