Empowering each other: Female researchers share hard-won lessons on navigating fieldwork abroad

Amanda Broome

14 Mar 2024

A collage of three pictures: a picture of Sara Stamps, Lillian Frost, and Sweta Baniya — (From left) D. Sarah Stamps conducts geodesy research around the Chesapeake Bay. Lillian Frost takes in the views of East Amman, Jordan, while conducting fieldwork. Sweta Baniya talks with colleagues and partners at the Steger Center for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, during a faculty training workshop. Photos courtesy of Karen Williams, Lillian Frost, and by Amanda Broome for Virginia Tech.

Balancing personal safety, cultural norms, and research goals can be tough for any student or faculty member — especially when they are in unfamiliar environments. This is particularly true for women working alone in remote locations.

In recognition of Women’s Month, the Global Education Office is bringing together five researchers whose experiences conducting research in other countries can shed light on the unique challenges and complexities that women often encounter during intercultural fieldwork.

“Our panelists’ stories and experiences are raw, real, and contain so much practical wisdom,” said moderator Allie Oberoi, associate director of global safety and risk management. “We’re going to be talking about all the real things — from feminine hygiene to situational awareness. If you’re a new faculty member or student about to do some kind of work abroad, hearing from these panelists is going to be hugely helpful.”

Meet the panelists

The five panelists, all researchers who work in Blacksburg but have extensive travel experiences, had no overlapping work. However, they discovered a common thread in their experiences: feeling unprepared for the hurdles women encounter while conducting research abroad.

Each has stories to share of times when things did not go perfectly. And now each shares a passion for helping others navigate the challenges and complexities of researching and working internationally.

Jessica Agnew, the associate director of CALS Global in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa for her job. When she started her field research, she wished she had known that “every woman doing this work experiences the same types of things. If I had just known to ask other female researchers to share how they handled similar experiences, it would have been such a help.” Agnew said she anticipates this panel will help people better understand what she wished she had known.
Sweta Baniya, assistant professor of English, regularly travels to Nepal for her research. “When I started, I never had a mentor,” she said. “It was just me by myself having to figure it out all for myself. Even being on this panel has been helpful for me. It’s a chance to learn from my fellow professionals.”
Lillian Frost, assistant professor of political science, has years of experience traveling to Jordan for her research. She said “safety preparations before conducting research with people abroad focused on the safety of research participants, with little attention given to the safety of the researcher.” She said she hopes the panel discussion will shine a light on this important aspect of preparing for and conducting research.
D. Sarah Stamps, associate professor of geophysics whose work frequently takes her to East Africa, said, “I've learned over the years it’s very important to have a field safety plan in place so everyone on the team knows what to do if challenges arise.” Creating and knowing these types of safety plans are some of the topics that the panel will tackle.
Paige Van de Vuurst, a Ph.D. student in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program who has experience trapping and testing bats for infectious diseases in Colombia, said, “Even when we work with dangerous pathogens and dangerous animals, the human element is often the more complicated one. We have to make sure the students know the code of conduct and resources for their safety and security around the people they are working with.”

‘Women empowering women’

The Health and Safety Abroad Panel on Remote Field Work and Research will be offered both virtually and in person in Newman Library’s Goodall Room on Thursday, March 21, from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Please pre-register.

“Women’s Month is an excellent platform for having discussions around safety, security, and risk mitigation,” said Guru Ghosh, vice president for outreach and international affairs. “With the number of researchers and future researchers who travel, it’s an important topic for everyone at Virginia Tech — especially women. This is a tremendous opportunity for these panelists to share tools and techniques they’ve gathered from their years of experience traveling for research purposes. This is an excellent example of women empowering women to do their work confidently and safely.”

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Allie Oberoi.