Shared leadership can promote success in collaborative research networks in ecology

Abstract While collaborative science is becoming the norm in ecology, many ecologists participating in collaborations are less aware of the body of research that studies the processes by which collaborative teams organize and communicate. Here, we discuss how we successfully used a shared leadership model in the Dry Rivers Research Coordination Network. We discuss how this model promoted our success in different stages of the project, using the Tuckman model of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Shared leadership in the forming phase helped us recruit a diverse membership from different scientific disciplines. In the storming and norming phases, shared leadership was especially useful in ensuring that all voices were heard in establishing group norms that promoted adhesion among and investment by RCN members. Shared leadership in the performing phase was crucial in providing opportunities for early career members to lead projects, and in the adjourning phase we reflected upon our entire collaboration to identify that shared leadership was crucial to our success, generating the thesis for this commentary. It is our hope that others may find this discussion of our experience in implementing a shared leadership model useful in developing their own fruitful collaborations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Publication Details

Journal
Functional Ecology
Published
2025-07-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70109
Primary Topic
Research Data Management Practices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Shared leadership can promote success in collaborative research networks in ecology

Chelsea R. Smith, Margaret Ann Zimmer, Arial J. Shogren, Ryan M. Burrows et al.
Functional Ecology
Research Data Management Practices
article

Shared leadership can promote success in collaborative research networks in ecology

Chelsea R. Smith, Margaret Ann Zimmer, Arial J. Shogren, Ryan M. Burrows, Julian D. Olden, Walter K. Dodds, Meryl C. Mims, Amy J. Burgin, Corey A. Krabbenhoft, Margaret Shanafield, Adam N. Price, Anna Bergstrom, Daniel C. Allen, C. Nathan Jones, Richard H. Walker, Carla L. Atkinson, Kate S. Boersma, Mathis Messager, Sarah E. Godsey, Stephen Plont, Yaqi You, Michelle H. Busch, James Stegen, Michael T. Bogan, Annika W. Walters, Thibault Datry, Rachel Stubbington, Erin Seybold
article en

Abstract

Abstract While collaborative science is becoming the norm in ecology, many ecologists participating in collaborations are less aware of the body of research that studies the processes by which collaborative teams organize and communicate. Here, we discuss how we successfully used a shared leadership model in the Dry Rivers Research Coordination Network. We discuss how this model promoted our success in different stages of the project, using the Tuckman model of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Shared leadership in the forming phase helped us recruit a diverse membership from different scientific disciplines. In the storming and norming phases, shared leadership was especially useful in ensuring that all voices were heard in establishing group norms that promoted adhesion among and investment by RCN members. Shared leadership in the performing phase was crucial in providing opportunities for early career members to lead projects, and in the adjourning phase we reflected upon our entire collaboration to identify that shared leadership was crucial to our success, generating the thesis for this commentary. It is our hope that others may find this discussion of our experience in implementing a shared leadership model useful in developing their own fruitful collaborations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Functional Ecology
Idaho State University (US), Boise State University (US), University of Wyoming (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), US Forest Service (US), State University of New York (US), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Arizona (US), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US), University of Kansas (US), SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (US), University of San Diego (US), The University of Melbourne (AU), Flinders University (AU), University of Alabama (US), Iowa State University (US), University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (US), Kansas State University (US), University of Washington (US), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Communauté urbaine de Lyon (FR), York University (US), Pacific Northwest Research Station (US), Services déconcentrés d'appui à la recherche Clermont-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (FR), Ecosystem Sciences (AU), Nottingham Trent University (GB), University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US), Washington State University (US), Virginia Tech (US)
Directorate for Biological Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 74%
Research Data Management Practices
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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