Welcome to My Survey!

You are invited to participate in a research study entitled: Investigating Public Understanding of Fossil Legislation in Western Canada

Student Researcher:
Mollie Black, undergraduate student, Geology Department, University of Saskatchewan, ciz097@usask.ca

Supervisors:
Dr. Emily Bamforth, adjunct professor, Geology Department, University of Saskatchewan, curator@dinomuseum.ca
Dr. Colin Sproat, assistant professor, Geology Department, University of Saskatchewan, c.sproat@usask.ca

This project is inspired by the Found a Fossil Project. To learn more go to www.foundafossil.com

Purpose and Objective of the Research:
  • The purpose of this research is to understand how well people understand fossil laws within their province, covering from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
  • The goals of this research is to determine what people know, and how we as scientists and educators can better explain how to properly manage fossil resources.
Procedures:
  • This survey will ask you questions about yourself, fossils, fossil legislation, conservation, and science communication. Please answer as honestly as possible.
  • This survey should take about 11 minutes to complete.
Funded by:
  • This project is funded by the Bryan and Elaine Russell Thesis Enhancement fund in the Department of Geological Sciences.
  • Any additional funding will be covered by Dr. Colin Sproat’s NSERC Discovery Grant.
  • There is no actual or potential conflict of interest on the part of the researchers or sponsors
Potential Risks:
  • Some sections of this survey will ask about the legal collection of fossil materials. Please know that this research is entirely academic and no legal action will be taken.
Potential Benefits:
  • This research provides you with a chance to provide input to palaeontologists on how we can do better as science communicators and make palaeontology and proper fossil handling more accessible to everybody.
Compensation:
  • At the end of this survey, you will have the option to submit an email address for a chance to win 1 of 3 gift cards, 1 valued at $50, and 2 valued at $25.
  • Any personal information collected as a record of honorarium payment will be stored separately from the data by the PI and may be kept for 7 years in case the University of Saskatchewan is subjected to a financial audit.
Confidentiality:
  • Participants are anonymous unless they provide an email to opt into the draw for a gift card. Email information will be stored separately and will not be able to be linked to participants. As stated above emails may be held for up to 7 years.
  • The collected data will be disseminated in the form of an undergraduate thesis. Data will be reported anonymously in summarized form.
  • This survey is hosted by Survey Monkey. Your data will be stored in facilities hosted in Canada. Please see the following for more information on the Survey Monkey Privacy Policy.
Storage of Data:
  • Electronic data will be stored on Dr. Sproat's computer as well as USask OneDrive.
  • For long term storage, the data will be stored on Dr. Sproat’s Datastore network share at the University of Saskatchewan
  • Data will be deleted once all work on this project has been completed, including possible future publications.
  • Emails collected from the survey will be destroyed after up to 7 years.
Right to Withdraw:
  • Participation in this survey is voluntary.
  • You can decide not to participate at any time by closing your browser, or choose not to answer any questions you do not feel comfortable with. Survey responses will remain anonymous. Since the survey is anonymous, once responses are submitted they cannot be removed.
Follow up:
  • To obtain results from the study, please: email Mollie Black (ciz097@usask.ca) or go to @fossil_legislation_project on Instagram for project updates and a link to results, which will be available by May 2025.
Questions or Concerns:
  • Contact the researcher(s) using the information at the top of the page
  • This research project has been approved on ethical grounds by the University of Saskatchewan Behavioural Research Ethics Board. Any questions regarding your rights as a participant may be addressed to that committee through the Research Ethics Office: ethics.office@usask.ca; 306-966-2975; out of town participants may call toll free 1-888-966-2975.

By completing and submitting this questionnaire, your free and informed consent is implied and indicates that you understand the above conditions of participation in this study.

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