Editor’s note: This series of Unscripted guest blogs highlights the pandemic’s impact on campus community members.
Guest Blog: Virtually Possible (How the Pandemic Forced Us to Rethink Data Collection)
The pandemic’s impacts on our campus research ecosystem are many and varied. In his guest blog, Kevin Trewartha (CLS/ICC-HCC) shares how the halt in face-to-face interactions compelled his team to find alternatives with applications far beyond current challenges.
“In the Aging, Cognition, and Action Lab, we investigate the relationship between age-related changes in cognitive and motor function and the neurophysiological basis for those changes,” writes Trewartha. “Like so many others who study human behavior and physiology, our research relies on volunteers to perform tasks in the laboratory while we record their performance.
“The pandemic caused a sudden and unexpected end to all face-to-face data collection, and an astounding pause in the research methods I have relied on for almost two decades. Yet, as is often opined, great challenges bring great opportunities.”
Read Trewartha’s guest blog on Unscripted, the University research blog.