We Focus On Collaboration Interdisciplinarity Dialogue
The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative Story
What began as an experiment in crossdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Idaho has expanded internationally, empowering groups to enhance their communication, collaboration, and teamwork through innovative dialogue approaches. Click through our timeline below to learn more.
Roots at the University of Idaho
In 2005, Sanford Eigenbrode, an ecologist at the University of Idaho, launched a seminar with philosopher Michael O’Rourke to explore the philosophical foundations of science. Their goal was to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration among students from diverse fields—evolutionary biology, physics, social science, and philosophy.
The attempt at integration proved fruitful and by 2007 O’Rourke and Eigenbrode secured funding from the National Science Foundation for an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) project. The aim was to advance their research on crossdisciplinary collaboration; they went on to publish their first article on the approach which would become known as the Toolbox Dialogue Method.
A Turning Point
In 2008, Eigenbrode and O’Rourke decided to test the Toolbox method with a new community, conducting workshops at Cornell University. The experience and feedback led to further revisions and developments in how Toolbox workshops were facilitated and how data could be collected and analyzed.
In 2010, colleagues from the Toolbox Project, presented their findings at the inaugural Science of Team Science (SciTS) Meeting in Chicago and also hosted a conference “Enhancing Communication in Cross-Disciplinary Research”, initiating the process of writing a book about the Toolbox method with members of the now growing Toolbox community.
International Expansion
By 2011 the Toolbox Project was working with multiple groups. We began utilizing a bottom-up approach for clients and would adapt the Toolbox instrument to each workshop’s specific needs, optimizing valuable takeaways for participants.
In 2012, the Project went international, presenting at the Integration in Biology and Biomedicine conference in Sydney, Australia. 2012 also marked the Project’s move to Michigan State University, which offered a more robust environment with additional structure, resources, and personnel for growing the Toolbox Project.
In 2014, the Toolbox Project published “Enhancing Communication and Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research”, which grew out of their 2010 conference, and expanded its global presence through workshops in San Jose, Puerto Rico, Stockholm, Sweden, and Waterloo, Canada.
Integrating TDI
The “Toolbox Project” was officially renamed the “Toolbox Dialogue Initiative” (TDI) in 2015. TDI, then housed at Michigan State University, became integrated as a research and facilitation engine in the Center of Interdisciplinarity (C4I).
In 2020, TDI published their book “The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative: The Power of Cross-Disciplinary Practice”, which described its methodology, challenges of communication and integration, and exercises to increase mutual understanding among collaborators.
In 2021, we officially established the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative Center (TDIC) to manage the multiple contracts we had with NSF and NASA. Today, TDIC maintains its commitment to building collaborative capacity by fostering approaches for effective communication and collaboration for crossdisciplinary groups.
Meet the Center
The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative comprises the TDI Center and community. The Center is a consulting and research group based at Michigan State University, while the community includes scholars and researchers who have contributed to the Center and the Toolbox dialogue methodology itself.
MICHAEL O'ROURKE
MARISA A. RINKUS
EDGAR CARDENAS
CHET MCLESKEY
BETH MUGAVERO
EMILIA BREUNING
MERI MCGINNIS
CRISTÓBAL ARELLANO BORGES
DOMINIC HATEKA
JOSHUA DAVIDS UGBANA
Meet the Community
The TDI community includes scholars and researchers from multiple institutions, some of whom have contributed to Toolbox efforts since its founding in 2005. Many community members are engaged in delivering dialogue-based workshops and conducting related research.
Members are from institutions around the United States, including Michigan State University, University of Idaho, Boise State University, Oregon State University, Southern Indiana University, Texas A&M Kingsville, Eastern Oregon University, Western Connecticut University, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Kara Hall – Director, Science of Team Science (SciTS), Director, Theories Initiative, Health Behaviors Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute
- Steven Orzack – Senior Research Associate, Fresh Pond Research Institute, Cambridge, Mass.
- Julie Thompson Klein (In Memoriam) – Professor of Humanities Emerita, English Department, Wayne State University; International Research Affiliate, Transdisciplinarity Lab (USYSTdLab), ETH‐Zurich
- Eric Berling, Research Associate, VERITIES Project, Michigan State University
- Jan Boll, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Interim Director, Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach (CEREO), Washington State University
- Bryan Cwik, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and University Studies, Portland State University
- Lissy Goralnik, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Sustainability, Environmental Science and Public Policy, Center for Gender in a Global Context, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, Michigan State University
- Paul Kjellberg, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Whittier College
- Robert T. Pennock, University Distinguished Professor, Lyman Briggs College and Departments of Philosophy and Computer Science & Engineering, Michigan State University
- Katie Plaisance, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, Department of Knowledge Integration, Cross-appointed to the Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo
- Nilsa Bosque-Pérez, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology & Nematology, University of Idaho
- Barbara Cosens, University Distinguished Professor, University of Idaho College of Law
- Brian Crist, M.A., Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho, 2010 (2008-2010)
- Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Small Farms Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension Fresno County (2007-2008)
- Frank Davis, Distinguished Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and Executive Director, Long Term Ecological Research Network Communications Office, University of California, Santa Barbara (2008-2012)
- Tom Dietz, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Animal Studies Program and Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University
- Paul Griffiths, Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney (2008-2012)
- Renée Hill, Ph.D, Environmental Science, University of Idaho, 2014 (2010-2014)
- J. Britt Holbrook, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (2014)
- Justin Horn, Ph.D. student, Philosophy, University of Auckland (2009-2011)
- John Kerr, Professor, Dept of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
- Chris Looney, Entomologist, Washington State Department of Agriculture (2007-2013)
- Ian O’Loughlin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pacific University (2007-2012)
- Sara Pepper, MA MPH International Grants Manager, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University (2007-2010)
- Zachary Piso, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Dayton
- Liela Rotschy, M.A., Teaching English as a Second Language, Department of English, University of Idaho (2010-2012)
- Lynn Schnapp, Professor of Medicine, Division Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina (2011-2014)
- Thomas P. Seager, Associate Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering & the Built Environment, Arizona State University (2014)
- Dan Steel, Associate Professor, W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia (2013-2017)
- Lori Stinson, PhD, RN, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, Lewis-Clark State College (2007-2009)
- Brianne Suldovsky, Assistant Professor of Communication, Department Communication, Portland State University (2009-2010)
- Sean Valles, Director, Center for Bioethics & Social Justice, Michigan State University; Associate Professor, Lyman Briggs College and Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University
- Chris Williams, Professor and Chair, Department of Statistical Science, University of Idaho (2007-2012)
- Kyle Powys Whyte, George Willis Pack Professor of Environment & Sustainability, University of Michigan
- J.D. Wulfhorst, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director, Environmental Science Program, University of Idaho (2007-2012)
- Stephanie Vasko, Senior UX Researcher, College of Arts and Letters, Michigan State University