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ABSTRACT As graduate students transition into advanced academic environments, the physical and social contexts in which they engage play a critical role in shaping their sense of belonging, academic success, and personal development. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores how an immersive and place‐based fieldwork program impacted community building and self‐efficacy in incoming graduate students in an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) program. Data were collected through surveys, focus groups, and in‐depth interviews with students over the program's duration. Our findings reveal that the remote location of the program played an important role in community development and fostered autonomy and competence. We also found that choosing a discipline‐focused location for fieldwork can positively impact student experiences. Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and mentorship emerged as key components of fostering a supportive academic community. The study demonstrates a positive role for place‐based strategies in graduate program design, suggesting that creating spaces that nurture collaboration, allow students to enact disciplinary skills, and present students with formative challenges can enhance academic resilience and self‐confidence. The findings offer implications for institutions looking to cultivate stronger, more cohesive graduate communities and for future research on the intersection of place, identity, and academic success in higher education. 

We relied on change theory to design a 3-year intervention with STEM department heads to provide space for busy heads to focus on research-based change in teaching evaluation practices. The impact on departmental practices was variable and department head readiness for change mattered. 

A central issues in ecology is the underrepresentation of individuals from diverse backgrounds. Using the Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory, we present findings from the evaluation of a field-based graduate training program. Three cases describe different students belonging outcomes, providing critical constructive perspectives. 

Most science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments inadequately evaluate teaching, which means they are not equipped to recognize or reward effective teaching. As part of a project at one institution, we observed that departmental chairs needed help recognizing the decisions they would need to make to improve teaching evaluation practices. To meet this need, we developed the Guides to Advance Teaching Evaluation (GATEs), using an iterative development process. The GATEs are designed to be a planning tool that outlines concrete goals to guide reform in teaching evaluation practices in STEM departments at research-intensive institutions. The GATEs are grounded in the available scholarly literature and guided by existing reform efforts and have been vetted with STEM departmental chairs. The GATEs steer departments to draw on three voices to evaluate teaching: trained peers, students, and the instructor. This research-based resource includes three components for each voice: 1) a list of departmental target practices to serve as goals; 2) a characterization of common starting places to prompt reflection; and 3) ideas for getting started. We provide anecdotal examples of potential uses of the GATEs for reform efforts in STEM departments and as a research tool to document departmental practices at different time points.