Increasingly scientists participate in what is called "multidisciplinary" research, or research that relies on experts from a number of different disciplines. To create effective teams, scientists need to know they're bringing the right experts together. In this talk, we explore how scientists and researchers assess the expertise of those outside their own discipline to create successful multidisciplinary research teams.

Dr. Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher is an assistant professor specializing in rhetoric and science communication at the University of Waterloo. She is an Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Science Early Researcher Award holder (2017-2022) and co-editor of the 2017 Palgrave Macmillan book Emerging Genres in New Media Environments. Previously she was an assistant professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. She holds a PhD from North Carolina State University, and an MA and BA from the University of Waterloo. In addition to publishing more than 20 scholarly papers, Mehlenbacher's work has appeared in the popular citizen science blogs PLOS Citizen Sci, Discover Magazine’s Citizen Science Salon, and on Scistarter.