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Natasha Udu-gama

Apr 17, 2015
09:46

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Hi gharp, 29 days until this contest ends! At this point, I would encourage you to start fine-tuning your proposal. We now have an amazing set of judges from the National Consortium for Atmospheric Research (Dr. Greg Holland), The University of Maryland (Dr. Surya Sharma), College of the Atlantic (Dr. Doreen Stabinsky) and The Lowlander Center (Dr. Kristina Peterson) not to mention, our two esteemed advisors. Please see: https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301102. I hope your proposal will wow them! Best of luck! Natasha

Morgan Ruelle

Apr 26, 2015
12:11

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Dear Gabriel, I've been meaning to respond to your proposal for several weeks now, apologies for the delay! I am really excited by the research you have been conducting into calendars of the human body, and you've made a lot of valuable connections. I listened in on the conversation you recorded with Stella in which you raised many interesting points. I'm impressed by the graphical lead-in you've developed for your proposal, you not only argue for narrative as a way to organize and convey complex information, but you also demonstrate how you might contribute to that process. You have a lot of great ideas that form an innovative conceptual framework. My suggestion is to select one or two aspects/dimensions that you feel are particularly important. I think the list under 'Cement Competencies' is a great starting point; which of these do you find to be the most promising/exciting entry point? I absolutely understand that you want Pamiri partners to help set the agenda, and that there are so many unknown and uncertainties that it's hard to know where to begin, so you are leaving your options open. But in order for the judges and CoLab community to rally behind this proposal, I think it would help to carry one of your ideas forward, while at the same time acknowledging that you want to adapt your specific objectives and methods through local partnerships and as your research team gains knowledge. This would allow you to write a more specific budget, timeline, etc. I would love to discuss further, and I hope others weigh in with their perspectives, because I think this is a very exciting proposal! Yours, Morgan

Morgan Ruelle

Apr 26, 2015
12:51

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20 days left to iron out your proposal! Don’t forget to share with your networks to maximize discussion before the deadline! Click on "Share conversation" at the top of this page!

Morgan Ruelle

May 1, 2015
09:33

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15 days left to ensure all content on your proposal is as detailed and accurate as possible! Share your proposal on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or send an email to colleagues asking for comments on your ideas!

Morgan Ruelle

May 13, 2015
06:05

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3 days left until the judges will read through your proposal! Take this chance to invite others to weigh-in and ensure your proposal is as comprehensive and accurate as possible! Now is the time to make any last minute changes!

Gabriel Harp

Jun 7, 2015
11:34

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Hey Morgan, Looks like you were correct. The total sum feedback received from the judges was: "The actual project objectives, goals, and practical elements are missing." It seems really clear that not one of the judges or colab organizers was able to engage with any of the core elements, the social/epistemological landscape of the Pamiri communities, any of the research that was described, or any of the uncertainties in a meaningful way. Having worked in communities like these, I do think it is irresponsible to make propositions without having deeper discussions -or- without building shared understanding and redefinition of the problem. I am in absolutely no position to "solve" this problem. I also know that throwing technology at similar problems usually fails. This Climate CoLab was probably the wrong platform with which to engage on this. Lesson learned. Good luck!

Morgan Ruelle

Jun 9, 2015
10:35

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Dear Gabe, Thanks for your note, and I share your disappointment that your proposal wasn't advanced to the next round. As I wrote before, I am sincerely impressed by your proposal, and I would really like to continue to communicate with you about your ideas. I spoke to Karim-Aly Kassam today, who is one of the contest advisors, and he told me that he also found your proposal exciting and would like to be in touch with you. As I mentioned before, I think it's extremely challenging to write a proposal to conduct research that is based on community priorities before meeting with the community, so I understand that you were leaving a lot of things open, to be determined during the research process. I wish that you and I could have continued our discussion to identify specific research objectives that would be open to community interests and priorities after the project began. Thank you again for your contributions to this contest, not only your proposal, but also your feedback to other proposal writers! Best, Morgan

Morgan Ruelle

Jun 9, 2015
11:01

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Hi again Gabe, I agree that given the time you have invested in your proposal, you deserve a more thorough review. I raised this with the contest organizers, and I am passing on some additional feedback from them: "There were many strong elements in the proposal, including the creative approach and the extensive background. The writer clearly grasped the nature of the challenge and clarified it with the strong and creative graphic introduction. The research into the calendar was impressive, and gave the proposal a good foundation. The rest of the proposal, though, was less impressive, and didn’t address the contest goal to 'use both traditional and scientific knowledge to adapt the calendars and anticipate the effects of climate change.' In particular, there was little integration of scientific knowledge. While there were good general strategies for engaging in community dialog, trust-building and problem redefinition, more detail about how those strategies might work in the region or in the case of integrating climate and traditional knowledge would be helpful. The budget was high, the timeline long, and both would have been improved with more detail. Also, the proposal described a process for creating something, but didn’t seem to have a vision for what it was creating." I hope that you find these comments more constructive, that you can use this feedback to continue developing your ideas, and I would be very happy to discuss further with you. All the best, Morgan