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The professional identity of scientists has historically been cultivated to value research over teaching, which can undermine initiatives that aim to reform science education. Course-Based Research Experiences (CRE) and the inclusive Research and Education Communities (iREC) are two successful and impactful reform efforts that integrate research and teaching. The aim of this study is to explicate the professional identity of instructors who implement a CRE within an established iREC and to explore how this identity contributes to the success of these programs. 97 CRE instructors from the Science Education Alliance (SEA) iREC participated in a 2-year, multi-stage, qualitative research project that involved weekly reflective journaling, autoethnographic description, small group evaluation and writing, and large-scale community checking. The resulting description of professional identity consisted of shared values (inclusivity, student success, community membership, ownership/agency, science, overcoming failure, and persistence), specified roles (mentor, advocate, scientist, educator, motivator, collaborator, community builder, learner, evaluator and project manager) and a stated sense of self (dedicated, resilient, pride in students, multiskilled, valued, community member, responsible and overworked). Analysis of individual reflective diary entries revealed how a professional identity underpinned and facilitated the ways in which faculty addressed challenges that arose and worked toward the success of every student. It is the self-concept of the professional identity of the instructor in the context of the CRE classroom that directed the extended commitment and effort that these instructors evidently put into their work with students, which facilitated student engagement, student persistence, and their collective scientific output. The study concludes that a professional identity of STEM faculty in the context of a CRE and iREC combines being a researcher and educator, and that this integrated identity is central for current initiatives aimed at transforming undergraduate STEM education.

Maintaining healthy and consistent levels of physical activity (PA) is a clinically proven and low-cost means of reducing the onset of several chronic diseases and may provide an excellent strategy for managing mental health and related outcomes. Wheel-running (WR) is a well-characterized rodent model of voluntary PA; however, its use in biomedical research is limited by economical and methodical constraints. Here, we showcase the DSC (Dependable, Simple, Cost-effective), open-source running wheel by characterizing 24-h running patterns in two genetically unique mouse lines: inbred High Drinking in the Dark line 1 [iHDID-1; selectively bred to drink alcohol to intoxication (and then inbred to maintain phenotype)] and Heterogeneous Stock/Northport (HS/Npt; the genetically heterogeneous founders of iHDID mice). Running distance (km/day), duration (active minutes/day) and speed (km/hour) at 13-days (acute WR; Experiment 1) and 28-days (chronic WR; Experiment 2) were comparable to other mouse strains, suggesting the DSC-wheel reliably captures murine WR behavior. Analysis of 24-h running distance supports previous findings, wherein iHDID-1 mice tend to run less than HS/Npt mice in the early hours of the dark phase and more than HS/Npt in the late hours of dark phase/early light phase. Moreover, circadian actograms were generated to highlight the broad application of our wheel design across disciplines. Overall, the present findings demonstrate the ability of the DSC-wheel to function as a high-throughput and precise tool to comprehensively measure WR behaviors in mice.

Citizen science connects scientists with the public to enable discovery, engaging broad audiences across the world. There are many attributes that make citizen science an asset to the field of heliophysics, including agile collaboration. Agility is the extent to which a person, group of people, technology, or project can work efficiently, pivot, and adapt to adversity. Citizen scientists are agile; they are adaptable and responsive. Citizen science projects and their underlying technology platforms are also agile in the software development sense, by utilizing beta testing and short timeframes to pivot in response to community needs. As they capture scientifically valuable data, citizen scientists can bring expertise from other fields to scientific teams. The impact of citizen science projects and communities means citizen scientists are a bridge between scientists and the public, facilitating the exchange of information. These attributes of citizen scientists form the framework of agile collaboration. In this paper, we contextualize agile collaboration primarily for aurora chasers, a group of citizen scientists actively engaged in projects and independent data gathering. Nevertheless, these insights scale across other domains and projects. Citizen science is an emerging yet proven way of enhancing the current research landscape. To tackle the next-generation’s biggest research problems, agile collaboration with citizen scientists will become necessary.