RESEARCH CODE
Contents
A. General Policies 1
B. Research Approval 1
Specific review considerations include: 2
C. Space Assignments 3
Criteria for prioritizing space (not prioritized by importance) are: 3
D. Restrictions on Types of Research 4
E. Conducting/Managing Research 4
F. Acknowledgements and documentation 5
G. Provisions of the CRC Staff 6
H. Housing and Use of Facilities 6
I. Amendment/Interpretation 7
Thank you for considering the Canyonlands Research Center (CRC) to host your research or educational course!
We are an active community of researchers, educators, and practitioners committed to understanding the interactive effects of land use and climate to maintain the ecological viability of the broad range of ecosystems on the Colorado Plateau and in semi-arid lands worldwide. We have created this document as a guide to conducting research and using the CRC facility. Please feel free to reach out to our management team at any time with additional questions.
Best wishes,
Nichole Barger (Science Committee Chair, University of Colorado)
Philip Adams (Field Station Manager)
A. General Policies
1. The provisions of this code apply to all research activities involving utilization of the Canyonlands Research Center (CRC) facilities, and/or involving CRC-approved research plans, and/or involving research carried out under the umbrella of a CRC permit.
2. The provisions of this code apply to class and group projects as well as to individual investigators.
3. Failure to comply with any element of the Research Code may be grounds for rejection of subsequent research applications, loss of space, and/or termination of the research, at the discretion of the Executive Committee (Science Committee Chair, Field Station Manager, TNC Director of Conservation and Project Manager).
B. Research Approval
1. A new research application or a renewal research application must be submitted 90 days before initiation of the research. The research application may be downloaded from the CRC website or requested from the Field Station Manager (Philip Adams). Any significant changes to the original research plan will require additional approval by the Executive Committee and may result in additional time for review. Researchers may request “fast track” approval of projects under special circumstances. Please note, however, that “fast-track” status will generally not be granted for manipulative studies, releasing isotopes, projects involving radiation, projects involving substantial genetic manipulations, studies involving the significant movement of genes or organisms, extensive collections, new research involving vertebrates, studies on non-native species, or studies requiring irrigation.
2. All research must be approved by the Executive Committee.
3. All work, including but not limited to plant and soil collection, surface disturbance and access routes, must be explicitly described in the new or renewal research application. Work will not under any circumstance be considered “approved” unless it is explicitly described within an application and that application is approved.
4. Regardless of whether scientists have outside funding, the CRC cannot guarantee that any given research application will be approved until it has been reviewed by the Executive Committee.
5. Research projects can be approved for up to five years. Longer-term approval can be granted under special circumstances upon request. Once research has been approved, researchers need only submit a continuing research application by Feb. 1.
6. When researchers apply to renew their projects, they must certify that 1) all sites have been appropriately cleaned up, and 2) all conditions imposed on the previous project, either by the Executive Committee, have been met.
7. Research with vertebrate animals requires documentation of appropriate permits and submission of a protocol for review by the Executive Committee.
8. Review criteria used to accept research proposals:
Promise of or the fulfillment of quality scientific achievement is the major criterion by which plans are reviewed. A secondary consideration in the review of plans is whether an investigator’s research can benefit by the research currently being conducted at the CRC, whether current CRC research can be enhanced by the presence of the particular investigator, and the extent to which the research takes full advantage of the location and assets of CRC.
Specific review considerations include:
a) Quality of the proposal. Proposals should have compelling objectives, carefully thought out methodologies, well described environmental impacts, and should clearly describe the relationship between the proposed work and existing or historical work. Proposals that align with the CRC Research Needs will be given higher priority over other research (see http://www.canyonlandsresearchcenter.org/htm/research/researchquestions).
b) Feasibility and appropriateness of CRC to facilitating the research. Projects will be evaluated based upon whether the work can be done at CRC (e.g., are organisms or study sites available) as well as whether they take advantage of resources unique to CRC.
c) Compliance with federal and state law, including responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act.
d) Past and current compliance with the CRC Research Code.
e) Appropriate treatment of animals. Intrusive research on or holding of vertebrate animals will be approved only if CRC is the appropriate site to conduct the research, the work itself is scientifically sound and has all appropriate permits. All vertebrates maintained in captivity must have a plan for housing and caring for them in a humane fashion. Lab and field studies involving vertebrates must be in accordance with current federal and state regulations.
f) Impacts on ongoing research. Ongoing research has precedence.
g) Impact on natural systems. Extensive collections, significant habitat alterations such as modifications of chemical, physical or biological properties of terrestrial or aquatic environments, and introductions of species/genes will be critically reviewed. Additionally, the use of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals will face higher scrutiny. Impacts on natural systems include those associated with installation of equipment or structures, or that generate high levels of traffic to a site. The greater the impact the more important it is to demonstrate strong intellectual motivation for the project.
h) Impacts on future research. Projects which potentially exclude large amounts of future research may not be approved. For example, projects which take up large amounts of available study sites will face a higher level of scrutiny. The use of radioactive or stable isotopes that potentially foreclose future research will be carefully reviewed.
i) Impacts on unique areas. Some types of research may be prohibited or discouraged in sensitive areas, which will be determined by the Executive Committee.
j) Scientific productivity. Scientists who have worked at CRC and who are proposing additional work need to demonstrate the fulfillment of scientific achievement based upon the work at CRC. Such achievement can be demonstrated by, though it is not limited to, scientific publications, scientists trained, external funding, and grey literature based upon the field work conducted by the scientist.
C. Space Assignments
When space is limited, including but not limited to housing, laboratory, or research sites, the CRC Executive Committee shall prioritize space assignments according to the criteria identified below. The Executive Committee reserves the right to determine whether space is limited and shall have the freedom to set aside unassigned space in order to deal with unanticipated needs.
Criteria for prioritizing space (not prioritized by importance) are:
1. Promise of excellence, based upon the quality of the proposal and alignment with CRC research needs.
2. Scientific productivity. Achievement can be demonstrated by, though it is not limited to, scientific publications, scientists trained, external funding, and grey literature based upon the fieldwork conducted by the scientist. Additionally, researchers actively conducting research, e.g., the presence of mapped research sites or active collaborations will be a higher priority.
3. Appropriateness of CRC to facilitating the research. Research that gains tangibly from the CRC setting or prior work done at CRC should have priority over research that does not.
4. Diversity. Research that helps maintain a diversity of research at CRC, including representing a diversity of institutions (e.g., teaching colleges, research institutions, agency research), a diversity of conceptual areas, and a diversity of individuals at different career stages, will be given higher priority.
5. Career Stage. Research by graduate students and research scientists has priority over educational research projects such as class projects or independent undergraduate student projects.
D. Restrictions on Types of Research
1. CRC currently conducts some control measures on non-native and invasive plants. New projects should not interfere with ongoing control efforts. Please contact the Field Station Manager about any potential conflicts between weed control and research projects.
2. Until more is known about disease transmission and bee population dynamics, commercial bee colonies will only be allowed under exceptional circumstances. First, the work must occur inside in a double-enclosed environment. Second, there must be a good reason why such work must happen at the Lab (as opposed to a Lab space somewhere else). It may well be that no one can satisfy these two requirements.
3. Access to some locations, e.g., wilderness or special management areas, may be restricted and is under the discretion of our federal partners.
E. Conducting/Managing Research
1. Scientists must submit citations of published work to CRC’s publication database. PDF’s of publications or theses resulting from work done at the CRC shall be sent to the Science Committee Chair as soon as they become available.
2. The use of CRC facilities shall be acknowledged in each such publication. Additionally, any support received from CRC should be acknowledged. When the work is conducted on federal lands, the BLM, NPS, and/or USFS should also be acknowledged.
3. All research sites must be mapped and archived using the Lab’s GPS/GIS system. Research sites which are not mapped in such a fashion will not be managed to avoid conflicts with new research and/or infrastructure development.
4. Animal Care logs and annual check-in forms must be filed with the Science Committee Chair at the end of each field season. A new research season cannot be initiated until logs and forms from the previous season are on file. The Animal Welfare Committee shall monitor ongoing projects periodically to ensure compliance with state, federal and CRC requirements. The Executive Committee may terminate projects that are not in compliance with regulations at any time.
5. Only active research sites will be managed. Past research sites will not constrain management of future research unless special arrangements have been made in writing.
6. Researchers must check the Current Research Map and communicate with the Executive Committee before initiating a research permit at new sites. Faculty and student mentors are responsible for avoiding conflict among their students and other researchers.
7. Research on BLM, NPS, and/or USFS or other public lands shall be done in accordance with the appropriate regulations. Researchers shall provide the Executive Committee with documentation of special permits to work on public land.
8. Equipment necessary to conduct research, including but not limited to hand tools, power equipment, and hardware, is the responsibility of the researcher, researcher assistant, or contractor to bring to the site. Tools and equipment are not available for loan from the CRC at this time. The ranching equipment, housed in the north half of the research barn and all areas east of the barn are off limits to travel and use.
F. Acknowledgements and documentation
1. The following acknowledgment statement is to be included in publications resulting from Canyonlands Research Center supported research:
a. “This work was supported by the Canyonlands Research Center which is funded by The Nature Conservancy.”
2. The following acknowledgment statement is to be included in publications where funding or support was not provided by Canyonlands Research Center:
a. “The Canyonlands Research Center is administered and funded by The Nature Conservancy.”
3. It is requested that two copies of published papers and citation of completed thesis be provided when available. If published work cites CRC support, please send copies and thesis citation to both addresses below in support of maintained on-site bibliographies.
Science Committee Chair: CRC Field Station:
Nichole Barger Philip Adams
N122 Ramaley 820 Kane Creek Blvd
Campus Box 334 Moab, UT 84532
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0334
4. Data and its metadata (data documentation) is to be provided to the CRC in accordance with current procedures where long-term archival will be provided. Additionally, data derived from Federal funds will be made public with permission of the Responsible Investigator once data is published or 2 years after completion of data collection, whichever is sooner unless an exception is made by the CRC Science Committee.
G. Provisions of the CRC Staff
- Proposal review. To help strengthen proposals, avoid duplication of research and devise ways to both to supplement and compliment current research the CRC’s Science Committee offers to evaluate proposals.
2. Project siting. CRC staff will assist in locating research projects on private property. Once sites are located CRC staff will locate the research site on a master map available to all researchers.
3. Irrigation. Water is a scarce resource at the CRC and availability is high variable year to year. Upon an annual assessment of expected water budget conducted in March of each year, CRC may allocate non-culinary sources of water for research projects but this resource cannot be guaranteed.
4. Storage. Options are available for storage space in the lab’s attic, refrigerator and freezer.
5. Weather station. An on-site weather station and access to adjacent station data is available.
6. Fuel. Both unleaded and diesel fuel is available for purchase.
7. Conferences. The facility provides chairs, tables, projector and screen for use.
H. Housing and Use of Facilities
The use of facilities at the CRC is a privilege. It is expected that all components of the CRC be treated with respect and left in as good, if not better, condition than when a guest arrives. The nominal fees charged for use of the facilities helps off-set some of the maintenance costs associated with off-grid living, general wear-and-tear, and basic sanitation of the facilities; fees do not cover clean-up of individual use.
1. Reservations are made online via the Housing Request Form from the Facilities tab on the CRC’s website [canyonlandsresearchcenter.org]. The CRC currently operates the reservation system under a first come – first serve policy, but reserves the right to make all final decisions concerning assignment of housing and laboratory space.