Description:

Neo-colonial research or neo-colonial science is also described as helicopter research or parachute science. It describes a practice in which researchers visit a location, collect data or samples, travel home to do analyses, and publish results, all without involving local scientists, experts or communities, or having any further communication with them. 

“As described by scientists who have been subjected to the practice, it occurs when foreign researchers swoop in, disregard people with on-ground experience and give little to no credit to local collaborators on published works. When the visitors depart, they are likely to take data with them, and perhaps biological samples, as well as career prospects denied to local researchers.“ (Watson, C. 2021) 

In this extractive approach, researchers assume the right to collect data, regardless of ownership or occupancy of the land. This colonialistic behavior in the Earth system sciences has its roots in the history of European scientific imperialism and the conquering of Indigenous lands and people. 

Unfortunately, still today some scientific endeavors continue to operate in an extractive, non-inclusive way. These practices might lead scientists to take advantage of local infrastructures without including or acknowledging local researchers or communities. For example, globally 40 % of papers about a specific volcano do not include an author whose affiliation is based in the country where the volcano is located, while 56 % are led by authors not based in the country of the volcano (Lerner et. al, 2023).

By not  recognizing and respecting local knowledge and expertise, and by failing to involve local experts in designing and conducting research, scientists of today perpetuate colonial behaviors of the past.

We invite papers that discuss: 

• Examples of neocolonialism practices and their impact
• Positive examples of authentic research partnerships
• Changes in research, funding, education & training, science communication, and publishing practices that can address helicopter science

References: 

Tackling helicopter research. Nat. Geosci. 15, 597 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01010-4

Lerner, G. A., Williams, G. T., Meredith, E. S., Jenkins, S. F. and Barclay, J. (2023) “How inclusive is volcanology? Insights from global bibliometric analyses”, Volcanica, 6(1), pp. 77–94. doi: 10.30909/vol.06.01.7794.

Watson, C., 2021; Parachute science falls to earth. Nature Index. 13 APRIL 2021