The UK Polar Network is running a workshop on personal hygiene during remote fieldwork, focusing on menstrual health and going to the bathroom whilst away from sanitation facilities. The workshop has been prompted by the results of a UKPN survey which found that nearly 70% of our members felt that they lacked training in basic field skills.
For many Early Career Researchers (ECRs), their own PhD or MSc fieldwork can be their first time working in remote environments, away from running water, showers or flushing toilets. How likely you are to have had prior exposure to these conditions can vary based on your location, cultural or socio-economic background. This bias can thus perpetuate inequalities in field-based sciences.
Many of us are still using the techniques that were mentioned to us off-hand by more senior field workers: previously, this may have happened in informal settings; over coffee or when walking from camp to a field site. Due to the impact of covid-19 on field courses at the undergraduate level, many ECRs have not had the opportunity to receive this informal advice.
That's where this survey comes in: we would like to 'crowd source' some advice for inclusion in the workshop. Do you have any go-to products for dealing with personal hygiene when in the field? Do you swear by a particular method for going to the toilet when camping? Is there something you wish you knew about before your first field work?
You can access the survey here. Thank you for your participation.
-UK Polar Network Team
