In this paper I use data from interviews conducted with coral scientists to examine the socio-ecological dimensions of science, i.e. how science shapes and is shaped by the living world around it. I use two sets of ideas in particular: niche construction and socio-ecological value frameworks. Using these I offer socio-ecological criteria by which coral scientists evaluate the activities of coral science, more specifically which living systems are intended to benefit from coral science as an activity, and the motivations behind this. The overall picture I present is one of coral science as activity primarily aimed at sustaining a diverse set of living systems, including humans, other organisms, species, and ecosystems, and the social practices associated with these. The value relations between scientists and aspects of these processes dictate how they respond to shifts in the socio-ecological context coral science is embedded in, explaining why the activities associated with coral science are changing as reef ecosystems are threatened. The implication is that natural sciences more generally are entangled with a greater number of social and ecological process than is typically considered, and that shifts in the activities undertaken by scientists may be driven by ecological as well as social and epistemic processes.

在本文中，我使用与珊瑚科学家进行访谈的数据来研究科学的社会生态维度，即科学如何塑造它周围的生命世界以及如何被它周围的生命世界塑造。我特别使用两套想法：利基构建和社会生态价值框架。我利用这些标准提供了珊瑚科学家评估珊瑚科学活动的社会生态标准，更具体地说，哪些生命系统旨在从珊瑚科学这一活动中受益，以及其背后的动机。我所呈现的总体情况是珊瑚科学作为主要旨在维持多种生命系统的活动，包括人类、其他生物体、物种和生态系统，以及与这些相关的社会实践。科学家之间的价值关系以及这些过程的各个方面决定了他们如何应对珊瑚科学所嵌入的社会生态背景的变化，解释了为什么随着珊瑚礁生态系统受到威胁，与珊瑚科学相关的活动正在发生变化。这意味着自然科学更普遍地与比通常认为的更多的社会和生态过程纠缠在一起，并且科学家所进行的活动的转变可能是由生态以及社会和认知过程驱动的。