The following points were gleaned from the Thursday and Friday break-out meetings and the Saturday afternoon concluding session.  The points have been paraphrased and rearranged into clusters.  Some points overlap or could go under multiple headings.

Regarding the IGERT conference:

• This group was upbeat, not the usual environmental gloom & doom.
• Being with other IGERT students encouraged fellows whose universities lack interdisciplinary support.
• Let’s have another conference, perhaps at Arizona State U, in 2 years.

What it means to be an IGERT person:

• Maybe we are the generation of academics who can figure some of this out (complex sustainability problems, ways to do interdisciplinary science).
• Define your own expertise, and defend it from those who want to pigeonhole you in traditional disciplinary categories.
• Challenge & expand what people perceive as scientists’ roles.
• Challenge yourself by going outside your comfort zones.

Sustainability:

• The conference ended up talking a great deal about interdisciplinarity & IGERTs, but not much about sustainability.
• Issues of scale, reference viewpoint and social justice are intrinsic to sustainability discourse.
• Sustainability is about being flexible, not about being “right.”
• We need to change ourselves to change the world.
• Explore the roles of arts & humanities in sustainability.
• Sustainability issues have an element of urgency and mission, pushing us beyond traditional science and into advocacy.

Interdisciplinarity:

• The starting point for good interdisciplinary work is open-mindedness – respect & understanding others’ epistemologies.
• Avoid situations where disciplinary institutions press for exhaustive specialization at the expense of “the big picture.”
• Interdisciplinarity is not an anomaly, but will become the norm.
• Problems that seem disparate have common ground.
• We need to develop more sophisticated & effective interdisciplinary teams that truly meld.
• Explore and develop interdisciplinary methodologies.
• Try the “T” competency tool to evaluate breadth vs. depth approaches.
• Find meaningful ways to involve stakeholders from outside academia in projects.
• Partner with others from the beginning in defining problems, rather than calling them in later for token collaboration or “tech support.”
• We need to keep talking – even with people who frustrate us.

Recruiting & keeping diverse IGERT students:

• Encourage role models & mentors.
• Recruit older students who are already community leaders.
• Provide support networks to nurture participation by under-represented groups.
• Foster family-friendly programs (e.g. accommodating babies).
• Address anxieties about career and financial risks.

Tips for a better IGERT:

• IGERTs work better when the direction comes from students clarifying their needs, rather than top-down management.
• Have a common space where students can interact.
• Provide focused, practical overviews to educate students on topics or tools outside their core expertise.
• Use adaptive management approaches to review and improve programs.

Outreach:

• Develop sister programs to work with foreign colleagues.
• Take time to build networks and trust.
• Create non-traditional informative products (ones mentioned included a movie, a cabaret, school programs, white papers and fairs for undergrads).

Ways IGERTs can help each other:

• Compile a “best practices” list.
• Give other IGERTs feedback on their projects.
• Distribute relevant job postings.
• Notify each other of in-house conferences.
• Have an alumni directory to track the fate of grads & build a mentoring network.

Ways IGERTs can work together:

• Make more use of the existing IGERT list serve.
• Promote online community via blog, list-serve, Google, Face Book, or access grid node groups.
• Develop & conduct student-led, distance-delivery workshops.
• Have an online book group.
• Work together to produce curricula for IGERT courses.
• Do group publications on topics of interest (e.g. mapping epistemologies).
• Partner on comparative studies.
• Help faculty & students from different institutions work together.
• Pursue having small groups hash out ideas more often.

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