This study will document and analyze the emerging field of Human Exposure Science, conducting in-depth interviews and participant-observation to understand how transdisciplinary collaborations are being forged and sustained in the environmental health sciences. The aim of exposure science is to understand the complex mechanisms by which humans get exposed to disease-causing agents in their environments. The practice of exposure science demands transdisciplinary collaborations among a wide range of scientists and engineers, since it involves research problems beyond the narrow specializations of any one scientific discipline. New technologies, specifically those of personal monitoring, modeling, and biomarkers supported by different institutional mechanisms have catalyzed a rapid growth in this field in recent years. These developments in turn have transformed the very institutions and culture that have supported it. This study aims to document and analyze these developments at universities key for exposure related research and the annual meeting of the International Society for Exposure Analysis (ISEA).
Intellectual Merit. The study will contribute to the historical record of exposure science and the environmental health sciences, highlighting the emergence and sustenance of transdisciplinary collaborations in the field. The focus is on understanding how a particular group of scientists - exposure scientists - themselves understand and articulate the need for these transdisciplinary collaborations. At a general level, this study will create new knowledge about the ways transdisciplinary collaborations emerge and evolve, highlighting how technological development entwines with methodological, institutional and cultural developments.
Broader Impacts. The study will result in journal articles, a book, and presentations at history and social science conferences. The study will also result in presentations at environmental health research conferences and workshops that will help participants understand the cultural and infrastructural aspects of effective transdisciplinarity. Broad impact will also result from the development of case studies for use in undergraduate courses focused on the social, ethical and legal dimensions of science and technology.
