that the project would benefit the researchers at the expense of using the students as “guinea pigs”; there was concern that we would collect our data and disappear back into our labs. Accordingly, demonstrating our commitment to the students, to working with university partners, and to giving the research findings back to the community in ways that benefit our students and our university has been key to winning over the more skeptical stakeholders. Practically speaking, engaging with our community has meant countless hours of meetings on my part, listening to concerns and getting to know large numbers of individuals around the university who all play important roles in the many pieces of this large-scale project. Although this is incredibly time-consuming, it has also been extremely rewarding. Developing connections with new colleagues, and listening to the concerns of colleagues, have ultimately informed and improved the research. But be forewarned: sweat equity is required.
