About the Golden Trowel Project™

The Golden Trowel Project™ is a collaborative effort to make fieldwork safer, more ethical, and more inclusive across the sciences and humanities.

We compile practical tools, legal references, and survivor-centered resources to help researchers build environments rooted in consent and accountability.

Our Mission

We believe that excellent research begins with safety and respect. The Golden Trowel Project™ provides accessible, evidence-based resources to help individuals and institutions strengthen their culture of consent, prevent misconduct, and respond effectively when harm occurs.

Who We Are

The Golden Trowel Project™ grew from conversations among researchers, students, and fieldworkers who saw a need for practical, accessible safety tools. The project’s content is curated by academics and advocates dedicated to survivor-informed practice. While it began in anthropology, the site welcomes input from all disciplines conducting fieldwork.

The project is currently maintained by volunteer contributors who collaborate on open-access safety guides, templates, and outreach initiatives. We welcome suggestions, corrections, and shared experiences that can improve accuracy and impact.

Our Core Values

Consent: Every participant and collaborator deserves clear, informed, and voluntary agreement in all aspects of research.
Safety: Fieldwork should protect physical, emotional, and professional well-being — not put it at risk.
Transparency: We share verified information about laws, reporting options, and institutional policies so no one has to navigate alone.
Equity: Safer fieldwork is inclusive fieldwork — centering marginalized voices and lived experiences.
Community: Change happens when we share knowledge and support one another across disciplines and borders.

Get Involved

The Golden Trowel Project™ thrives on collaboration from students, educators, field technicians, and advocates working toward safer and more ethical fieldwork. There are several ways to contribute or connect.

Join the Project

Contribute to our growing database by sharing verified legal or safety resources, assisting with accessibility and translation, or helping review new materials for clarity and inclusion.

Website Feedback Survey

Want to request a specific country or institution’s information, suggest an edit, or point out an outdated resource? Use the feedback form to help us improve and expand the site.

anthrosafetywarrior@gmail.com

We also welcome collaboration from advocacy groups, educators, and legal experts to maintain accurate and globally inclusive content. If your organization shares these goals, we’d love to connect.

About the Name

The golden trowel has a history in archaeology as a satirical metaphor, most famously used by Kent Flannery (1982) to critique academic work that was elegant in theory but disconnected from the messy realities of fieldwork. In that sense, the “golden trowel” symbolized prestige and perfectionism — often at the expense of practice and substance.

The Golden Trowel Project™ reclaims this imagery with a new purpose. For us, the “golden trowel” represents an aspirational ideal of fieldwork done well — not only rigorous in method, but also rooted in consent, safety, and equity. True excellence in research comes not from prestige or flawless theory, but from creating environments where all researchers can do their work without harassment, coercion, or harm.

In short, we transform the old metaphor of the “golden trowel” into a call for a better standard: safe, ethical, and inclusive fieldwork.

Website Graphics

Logo

The logo was developed through an iterative creative process. All descriptive prompts and visual concepts were written and envisioned by Samantha E. Gogol, and the final illustration was generated in collaboration with ChatGPT Plus using GPT-5 software.

Infographics

All infographics were designed by Samantha E. Gogol using Visme.

Header Images

All header photographs were captured by Samantha E. Gogol during leisure or fieldwork travel adventures

Home: Peștera Muierilor, Romania (2017)
Preparing: Hocking Hills State Park, OH, USA (2014)
Support: Silver Falls State Park, OR, USA (2024)
Reporting: Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya (2018)
About Us: Lake Powell, AZ, USA (2020)