The talk will be held virtually via Zoom and in-person at 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine.

• Virtual attendance: Complete the registration form to receive Zoom connection information.
• In-person attendance: Attendees must follow UMaine’s COVID-19 guidelines.

Speaker: Pips Veazey, Director, UMaine Portland Gateway

Humanity is grappling with wicked problems that are complex, dynamic and difficult to solve including global climate change, ocean plastic pollution, and the coronavirus pandemic. No single person, approach or way of knowing can adequately address these issues single handedly. Collaborative teams of people who represent western science, traditional ways of knowing, funding agencies, businesses, municipalities, and more have the capacity to develop novel and effective approaches and solutions. In order to promote these broad collaborations, we must offer experiences that initiate, encourage and extend ways that we can all work together. Lessons we learned in kindergarten can be pulled forward and expanded through the science of team science to maximize the ways in which we work in collaborative settings.

Pips Veazey serves as the Director of the University of Maine Portland Gateway, a new initiative that provides a dedicated office in Portland to help people and businesses in southern Maine access the vast array of research and education opportunities at the flagship research university.

Prior to accepting the director’s position, she served as the Principal Investigator for the Alaska Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a statewide program funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Alaska aimed at increasing research capacity. She led and co-created the University of Alaska Fairbanks Visualization Space, a high-resolution visual environment designed to promote conversations about complex problems, co-develop creative solutions and enhance team development.

Her doctoral work focused on the competencies required to lead large interdisciplinary science teams, and she has worked with dozens of research teams across the country to facilitate the co-development of research collaboration plans. She serves as a founding board member of the International Network for the Science of Team Science and as a board member for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States.

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth, 207.581.3196 or hallsworth@maine.edu