Field Assessment Structural Team (FAST) members are responsible for collecting valuable perishable data as part of StEER event responses. FAST members are generally assigned particular roles based on experience, expertise and capacity, including FAST Lead, as well as members designated to conduct particularly assessments with specialized equipment, e.g., UAV operator. FASTs are expected to actively participate in the pre-deployment planning, reviewing the StEER handbook and working with their FAST colleagues and StEER leadership to plan the mission, secure flights, ground transport and lodging, and prepare provisions, supplies and equipment needed for the assessment. FAST members interface closely with key stakeholders and the affected public in their response, so StEER expects FAST members to comply with stated policies and represent StEER and NSF well in these interactions, particularly with individual homeowners. Given that StEER needs to broadly sample performance and work in coordination with others responding to the event, it will set specific objectives for the mission, with targeted geographies. FAST members are expected to collect data and coordinate their investigations on the ground to support these objectives, prioritizing these over their own research questions, though research interests between FAST members and StEER generally closely align. Given the speed with which StEER hopes to share its findings, FAST members must use StEER’s data collection platforms and standards, agree to participate in the preparation of nightly briefings, and participate (to the extent feasible) in the authorship/review of the Early Access Reconnaissance Report (EARR) upon review (for which they receive full authorship with DOI). It is further expected FAST members will assist with data curation tasks following their mission, as requested, such as ensuring data is transferred to DesignSafe and supplying relevant metadata or information needed for the Data Report to ensure the data can be re-used by the community. FAST members are also invited to jointly author conference papers and journal articles on their mission and any data collection or analysis they choose to continue following the event.

Each mission receives budget authorization from the StEER Director to ensure best stewardship of StEER’s limited resources for event response. StEER will directly reimburse reasonable expenses associated with travel to the affected region (by economy air or ground, including parking), lodging in the affected region, local ground transport in the affected region (rental car or reimbursement of mileage if personal vehicle is used), and cost of shipping (or renting) equipment. Each Field Assessment Structural Team (FAST) member also receives a daily meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) stipend based on the current GSA estimates for the affected region. This is intended to offset the cost of food, telecommunication costs (data plan on personal phone running relevant mobile applications) and other incidentals/supplies. Because availability of housing is often limited after major disasters, FAST members should expect to share rooms. After the mission, FAST members will submit their receipts via a google form and the lead institution (Notre Dame) will reimburse these direct costs by check. This turnaround time is generally less than 30 days. Note that, per NSF regulations, only individuals associated with US Academic institutions can receive financial support from StEER to offset costs of participation on FASTs. The individual does not need to be a US citizen.

While Field Assessment Structural Teams (FASTs) have had unfunded/self-funded collaborators in the field, this is generally determined on a case by case basis. Because logistics can be very difficult to arrange after major disasters, FAST size is often constrained by the available number of seats in rental cars and number of beds/couches in hotels/rental homes, rather than budget. In cases where there is availability, StEER has included 1-2 self-funded personnel (regardless of budget, this is necessary for anyone who is not affiliated with a US academic institution). These individuals are then embedded within the StEER FAST and indistinguishable from other team members (stay in the same accommodations, etc.), except for the funding issue.

In other instances, StEER has shared its plan for fieldwork with other interested self-funded groups, who will possibly coordinate in the field with StEER, but handle their own logistics. Working together, these teams would still adopt StEER’s data collection platforms and standards and share the workload collaboratively to support StEER mission objectives. This is a more feasible prospect for StEER, as it reduces the stresses of securing accommodation and transport for a large team.

Finally, anyone can adopt StEER’s data collection platforms and collect data in compliance with the StEER standards, so even if self-funded, StEER hopes this platform can minimally help self-funded researchers collect consistent, high-quality data. Visit https://web.fulcrumapp.com/communities/nsf-rapid to join our Fulcrum Community and access the App used currently for door-to-door damage assessments.

While StEER’s primary objective is to field a team with the optimal blend of experience, expertise and capacity to collect the data anticipated in a given event, StEER has limited resources and can grow participation across the community at a faster rate when cost-sharing is available. In past StEER missions, Field Assessment Structural Team (FAST) members have been funded by a range of StEER, other NSF or other agency funds, as well as defraying costs through the use of university vehicles, etc.The ability to financially contribute to the mission objectives will be given due consideration in building out teams, though would not be expected as a prerequisite for participation.

StEER members at Levels 3 and 4 are generally invited to participate in Field Assessment Structural Teams (FASTs). See https://www.steer.network/membership for additional details. FAST members are selected by the StEER Leadership team based upon availability, expertise, capabilities and proximity to the event site. However, in order to grow participation among early career researchers, StEER will reserve one trainee slot on each FAST for a Level 2 StEER member. StEER members at Level 4 are generally appointed as FAST Leads. Note that, per NSF regulations, only individuals associated with US Academic institutions can receive financial support from StEER to offset costs of participation on FASTs. Non-academics, e.g., industry/private sector, have served as unfunded collaborators with FASTs, provided this can be logistically accomodated.

The size of an Field Assessment Structural Team (FAST) or the number of FASTs formed depends upon the scale of the event response as well as the availability of accommodations and transport in the affected region. Team size is often capped simply due to logistical challenges. A typical FAST ranges from 4-6 members. Larger events may warrant multiple sequential FASTs, referred to as FAST-1, FAST-2, etc.

StEER does not conduct hypothesis-driven research or support the research agenda of any specific researcher. StEER’s mandate is to collect perishable data swiftly and systematically in order to inform the continued study of a disaster through subsequent in-depth data collection that addresses specific research questions. While involvement in StEER or the examination of StEER data and reports undoubtedly helps to illuminate new research questions, these questions should be addressed through a researcher’s own follow-on proposal to NSF (through mechanisms such as the RAPID grants) or other agencies.  

​

However, StEER does encourage outreach to its leadership to raise awareness about an event worthy of response and a member's willingness to lead a virtual or field assessment structural team in that response, particularly if that member is in close proximity to the impacted area. In such instances, please post a message to the StEER slack channel or send an email directly to StEER at admin@steer.network.