Drilling deep: Knowledge co-production in contested spaces

This study evaluates the North Slope Borough-Shell Baseline Studies Program, an organization that was created based on a collaborative research agreement between the North Slope Borough of Alaska and Shell to improve information collection and management of issues associated with the potential impacts of oil and gas development on marine ecosystems and coastal communities dependent subsistence resources for their livelihoods.

We seek to understand what factors contribute to the effective knowledge co-production within an emergent boundary organization in the context of a contentious political environment.

Our research is grounded in an understanding of the Baseline Studies Program as a boundary organization that exists at the frontier of science and decision making.