Using Science to Support Community Needs
Triplett believes that bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and communities is key to addressing environmental injustices. Scientific findings are often inaccessible to those most affected by environmental problems. For example, when a multinational corporation proposed a tar sands pipeline in Minnesota, they had the resources to hire scientists, while opponents—citizens, Indigenous peoples, and non-profits—did not. Triplett recognizes that this lack of access to science is another form of environmental injustice. When local groups asked for her scientific expertise, she “just kept saying ‘Yes’” despite the challenge of balancing her academic work with these demands.
Prior to getting involved with advocacy and legal challenges, Triplett had only worked in the academic realm. In the public sphere, she has found that powerful entities often use information and numbers in ways that are not always straightforward or fully accurate. She is quick to point out that she is doing science, not advancing a political agenda; her goal is for people to understand their world as well as they possibly can, so everyone can thrive to the greatest extent possible. Triplett deeply appreciates the support she has received from the college as she has taken up research with community partners. When she told administrators that she was criticizing a big corporation and did not know how they might respond, she says, they affirmed their trust in her research and decisions.
Triplett has participated in more than one community-oriented project; she was also the PI on a project examining a local watershed. This large community engagement project worked to have farmers employ best farming practices to decrease harms to local waterways. Triplett and her team worked with the collaborators—the EPA, the state pollution control agency, and the local farmers—to plan how to collect and measure the data to find out if their approaches were working. Triplett’s colleague, Julie Bartley—co-chair and professor of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences at Gustavus—has been involved in the field and laboratory side of taking the needed measurements. Bartley notes that the project is complex, so data can be hard to tease out in the short term; however, the researchers can confirm that water quality is headed in the right direction after three years of mitigation efforts.
Projects like these, Bartley observes, show students not only how to do science, but also how to communicate to multiple audiences. The students learn how to talk with the farmers and see that they are making a difference in the community. Also, as Bartley explains, “The students get to see all the parts without having to do the whole project.”
In another community-based project, Triplett and Bartley are both part of a group of scientists who are taking inventory of landslides in Minnesota. Even though the state is not mountainous, the geography is prone to landslides, which shape the landscape. As part of this project, Triplett volunteered to lead the group who drafted the technical report of their research findings and interpretation of the results; their paper is in revision now.
Bartley admires Triplett’s unique ability to assemble teams of people who can collaborate to “get the best result.” She says Triplett displays this ability with students, fellow faculty members, and research collaborators alike. The groups she assembles work productively because she thoughtfully assembles them, then sets clear expectations. She suggests how to proceed and explains exactly what she wants within a specific time limit. Bartley states that watching the groups work together to successfully accomplish their tasks is “amazing.”
Developing Students into Better Scientists
Triplett’s commitment to developing students as critical observers is central to her teaching philosophy, ensuring that they can navigate the complexities of field and lab research with insight and integrity. Triplett says that nearly 20 years into her career as a professor, she seems to be “turning everything upside down” as she continues learning how to best serve students. One motivating factor is developing her students’ abilities as careful observers. As a small example of how she accomplishes this goal, she discusses an exercise that she asks her students to do before they engage in any field work. In Triplett’s experience, most field researchers get to the research site and immediately begin unloading and setting up to gather the data they are after. In order to cultivate her students’ abilities to observe, however, Triplett asks them to pause before jumping into their established agenda. She asks them to find a spot to sit and take three minutes to be in the space. The students can pay attention to their own mental, physical, and/or emotional state—because those aspects of themselves can affect their abilities to observe. Then they can pay close attention to the world around them, noticing flora, fauna, and topography.
Taking the time to take stock in this way can help the students to make better decisions in the field; when they take a moment to calm their minds and bodies, as well as a moment to acknowledge the world around them, they are better prepared to direct their attention to gathering data that will best help them answer their research questions. Triplett likens this practice to being a good listener in one’s human relationships—pausing and paying attention for a few minutes is one way to better observe the information the environment provides.
Triplett also asks her students to keenly observe the decisions that researchers make in publishing their findings. As she notes, “Data is not produced in a vacuum; people produce it.” For this reason, she asks her students to question an author’s goal in collecting data and writing a report in a specific way; she also asks them to consider the implications if the report had been developed differently in order to highlight other aspects of the same data. Such inquiries help students uncover their own biases and develop the ability to critically analyze published research.
Triplett takes care to ensure that her student researchers will not be exposed to any potential risk that might come from studying potentially polarizing issues such as the environmental effects of the tar sands pipeline. She wants to make sure, however, that these scientists-in-training see where science is being done well—and when it is not being done enough—so that these insights can help them to become better scientists. When she does have student researchers working on some of these more fraught subjects, she keeps them at a remove—they gather data, but she is always the public face of the research.
One student researcher who worked with Triplett is Melanie Kistnasamy, a 2022 graduate who majored in Environmental Studies and minored in Geographic Information Systems. Now working as a sustainability officer for a local poultry company in her native Mauritius, Kistnasamy first met Triplett through the Environmental Action Coalition, a student organization on campus for which Triplett is the faculty advisor.
When she was a sophomore, Kistnasamy sought campus employment as an undergraduate researcher. She found a position in the Geology Department working with Triplett on an ongoing scientific inquiry related to environmental damage from the pipeline, looking specifically at water quality in the Minnesota River. Triplett had not seen anyone else doing this work, so she began research to gather the data, and she appreciates the many strengths that Kistnasamy brought to her work.
Calling the experience “amazing,” Kistnasamy says the experience aligned well with the realities of doing similar work in a professional capacity, noting that “a lot of the skills I learned in that research have helped me in my current job.” Kistnasamy is particularly thankful that Triplett provided resources and guided her but still left space for Kistnasamy to figure out how to accomplish her goals on her own. The campus chromatography machine, for example, posed a challenge, but after mastering its use, Kistnasamy created a manual to help future students navigate it more easily.
Triplett “sees the potential in you and will empower you to explore that potential while she assists you in the journey,” Kistnasamy says. She also appreciates that Triplett not only acknowledges students from diverse backgrounds but “goes above and beyond to make sure she reaches everyone—she spends so much time designing the curriculum.”
Kistnasamy is thankful that Triplett brought case studies of her own outside consulting work into the classroom. When she discusses her advocacy work, Triplett explains the kinds of questions that people in the community are asking, how she helped to answer those questions, and what she learned in the process. Kistnasamy notes that this information is so important in the field of Environmental Studies, where it can be difficult to make sustainable development happen. Kistnasamy states that when Triplett shared her experiences, “it made everything real.” She also notes that showing vulnerability through sharing personal experiences is uncommon for a professor. Kistnasamy and her peers are impressed that Triplett finds the time and energy for advocacy work on top of her academic teaching and research commitments. “This is an important value she taught me—you can go beyond your work; you’ll be very busy, but it will be worth it.”
Triplett’s Long-Term Vision
As Triplett continues her work in both academia and community-based research, she is increasingly driven by the need for science that is not only thorough but practical, offering clear benefits to society. Bartley says that Triplett continually asks these questions: “Now that we’ve done science, what do we do with it, and who will benefit?” Bartley observes that the kind of interdisciplinary work that Triplett does—involving maps, computer modeling, and both field and lab work—can take a long time to come to fruition; there might be three years of field work and two years in the lab for one publication. Bartley explains that it is important to understand that the benefits are not only in publishing the findings, but also in the conversation and learning that happen through the slow, methodical gathering of data over time.
Triplett says the more she does this work, the more she recognizes the complexities involved. She would encourage every person to keep evolving in their work and find new things to be inspired by. She notes that there is “such need out in the world for thoughtful, careful thinkers and teachers.”
Triplett’s work exemplifies the profound impact that thoughtful, community-centered scientific research can have on both local environments and the next generation of scientists. By merging her expertise in geology with a deep commitment to addressing real-world problems, she not only contributes to improving the environment but also empowers students and communities to engage with science in meaningful ways. As she continues to evolve as both a researcher and educator, Triplett’s vision of science as a tool for justice and education remains clear: it is not enough to simply gather data; the true value of science lies in its application to improve lives and inspire others to think critically about the world around them.
