Documenting development of interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers by visualizing connections

In 2015, a multidisciplinary group of academic researchers and extension personnel was awarded a US Department of Agriculture Coordinated Agricultural Project grant. The team's goal was to understand human decision-making in the context of potential livestock disease outbreaks, investigating the impediments to increased adoption of biosecurity practices by producers from multiple perspectives. Counting publications and presentations was not deemed adequate evidence of growth of interdisciplinary collaboration. Instead, we took a developmental evaluation approach, collecting data to illuminate patterns of interconnectedness across disciplinary boundaries. These data, mapped annually on a baseline framework, reveal the team moving from disciplinary groups with disparate epistemologies and interests to a cohesive interdisciplinary team involved in many unexpected and emergent projects.

Automated summary

The multidisciplinary research team conducted a developmental evaluation to collect data and reveal patterns of interdisciplinary collaboration, showing the transition from disciplinary groups with disparate epistemologies and interests to a cohesive interdisciplinary team involved in numerous unexpected and emergent projects.