As graduate students, and despite having vastly different backgrounds, we share a common goal: topositively impact society by producing actionable, social–ecological science. Making the leap from student to impactful researcher, however, was harder than we had each anticipated. While our undergraduate training predominantly consisted of classroom lectures about what is already known, graduate school has – at least for us so far – focused on investigating what is unknown and figuring out how to make it known. The identity shift from student to researcher has centered on learning how to question, which has in turn relied heavily on developing and maintaining confidence in our skills, capabilities, and original ideas. Although navigating this shift has been arduous and lonely at times, we have benefited greatly from participating in an interdisciplinary graduate collaboration, which has empowered us as graduate researchers.

People arrive at graduate school with a variety of skills and knowledge gained from their different professional, academic, and cultural experiences. Given their diverse backgrounds, some students are better prepared for certain aspects of graduate school than others. But, be that as it may, many face an identity crisis that makes it challenging to contribute to impactful science, which may be particularly acute for those coming directly from undergraduate studies. This sense of crisis stems from graduate students aiming to be the scholarly equivalent of an Eierlegende Wollmilchsau immediately upon entry into their respective programs. The Eierlegende Wollmilchsau is a fictional, multi‐functional creature that amazingly produces meat, eggs, wool, and milk. Just like the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau, graduate researchers want to excel in courses, support their supervisors’ research (including conducting fieldwork and/or lab‐based studies), mentor undergraduate students, participate in teaching activities, publish impactful research, and develop external collaborations. These expectations are not just internally motivated; many granting agencies, academic institutions, and future employers have similar expectations. However, time can be a limited resource for graduate students, and especially so for those in master’s programs, which may last for as few as two years. Graduate students need the space and time to develop the tools and confidence to become multi‐faceted, self‐asserting researchers.

Interdisciplinary graduate collaborations can serve as an opportunity for students to develop the tools necessary to strengthen a sense of identity as researchers. Over time, graduate researchers within such collaborations develop a common language, share discipline‐specific skills, and learn how to communicate with each other across disciplines. They also network across research groups and labs, as well as mirror and model themselves after their fellow graduate counterparts. Ultimately, such student‐driven environments cultivate skill sharing and empower graduate researchers to shift from being merely instructed to instead developing ideas alongside their colleagues.

Perhaps even more important than the exchange of tools to facilitate the shift from student to researcher is the power and confidence that flourish from having interdisciplinary collaborators acknowledge how much each person in the group already contributes to science. Within interdisciplinary environments, students may more often develop a sense of autonomous legitimacy as researchers because they are recognized for what they know instead of what they don't know. In itself then, interdisciplinary collaboration creates a more mutually respectful academic setting where “toxic” comparison between individuals is less prevalent because no one can possibly know everything, as opposed to a traditional competitive disciplinary environment where inevitably someone knows everything (or thinks they do). Together, graduate researchers have the opportunity to use comparison constructively, thereby giving space for discovery and experimentation. Graduate collaborators begin to see where they, as independent researchers, fit into the broader realm of addressing complex questions, which in our case included those related to sustainability. This sense of legitimacy and the confidence that accompanies it are essential to graduate students learning to explore the unknown.

The holistic experiences gained from interdisciplinary collaboration can ultimately support graduate students as they navigate the student–researcher identity shift. From the eight‐person collaboration that we participated in, the four of us individually gained a greater sense of confidence and legitimacy as researchers. Along with our fellow graduate collaborators, we collectively cross‐pollinated ideas, allowing the group to develop a multi‐faceted approach to address a complex social–ecological issue. Importantly, we navigated this shift together rather than in isolation. Our collaboration improved our learning and will have further impacts for years to come, influencing what questions we ask and how we answer them. We believe that other graduate researchers can foster their capacity as agents of change through interdisciplinary collaboration, just as we have, and we strongly encourage them to do so.

作为研究生，尽管背景千差万别，我们有一个共同的目标：通过产生可付诸实践的社会生态科学，对社会产生积极影响。但是，从学生到有影响力的研究人员的飞跃比我们每个人的预期都难。虽然我们的本科培训主要包括关于已知知识的课堂讲授，但研究生院（至少到目前为止）对研究未知事物并弄清楚如何使其广为关注。从学生到研究人员的身份转变主要集中在学习如何提问，而后者又严重依赖于发展和保持对我们的技能，能力和原始想法的信心。尽管这种转变有时是艰巨而孤独的，

人们进入研究生院时会从他们不同的专业，学术和文化经验中获得各种技能和知识。鉴于他们的背景各异，有些学生比其他学生对研究生院某些方面的准备更好。但是，尽管如此，许多人还是面临着身份危机，这使得对有影响力的科学做出贡献充满了挑战，对于那些直接来自本科学习的人来说，这可能尤其严重。这种危机感源自研究生，他们的目标是在进入各自的课程后立即在学术上等同于Eierlegende Wollmilchsau。所述Eierlegende Wollmilchsau是令人惊讶的生产肉，蛋，羊毛，和牛奶的一个虚构的，多功能的生物。就像研究生研究人员Eierlegende Wollmilchsau希望在课程上表现出色，支持其主管的研究（包括进行实地调查和/或实验室研究），指导本科生，参加教学活动，发表具有影响力的研究并发展外部合作。这些期望不仅是出于内部动机。许多资助机构，学术机构和未来的雇主也有类似的期望。但是，时间对于研究生来说可能是有限的资源，尤其是对于那些硕士课程的学生而言，时间可能长达两年。研究生需要空间和时间来开发工具和信心，以成为多方面的，自言自语的研究人员。

跨学科的研究生合作可以为学生提供机会，以开发必要的工具以增强研究者的认同感。随着时间的流逝，此类合作中的研究生研究人员会开发一种通用语言，共享特定学科的技能，并学习如何跨学科相互交流。他们还在研究小组和实验室之间建立了网络，并以研究生的同行为自己进行镜像和建模。最终，这种以学生为主导的环境促进了技能的共享，并赋予研究生研究人员从单纯的受训转变为与同事共同发展想法的能力。

跨学科合作者所拥有的力量和信心，也许比交流工具以促进从学生向研究人员的转变更重要，因为这种能力和信心使团队中每个人都已经为科学做出了巨大贡献。在跨学科的环境中，学生可能会更经常地成为研究人员的自主合法性，因为他们被认可的是所知道的而不是所不知道的东西。然后，跨学科的合作本身就创造了一种更加相互尊重的学术环境，在这种环境中，个人之间的“有毒”比较不那么普遍，因为没人可能知道一切，而传统的竞争性学科环境则不可避免地有人知道一切（或认为自己知道）。 。一起，研究生的研究人员有建设性地使用比较的机会，从而为发现和实验提供了空间。研究生合作者开始看到他们作为独立研究人员适合解决复杂问题的广泛领域，在我们的案例中，这些问题包括与可持续性相关的问题。这种合法性以及随之而来的信心对于研究生学习探索未知事物至关重要。

从跨学科合作中获得的整体经验最终可以为研究生引导学生与研究人员的身份转变提供支持。通过我们参加的八人协作，我们四个人分别获得了更大的信心和合法性。与我们的研究生合作者一起，我们共同提出了异花授粉的想法，使该小组能够开发出一种多方面的方法来解决复杂的社会生态问题。重要的是，我们一起而不是孤立地应对了这一转变。我们的合作提高了我们的学习水平，并将在未来几年内产生进一步的影响，影响我们提出的问题以及如何回答这些问题。我们相信，其他研究生研究人员可以通过跨学科合作来培养他们作为变革推动者的能力，