Two weeks in and I am feeling oh so good! It has been
amazing to switch up the regular learning routine of daily classes and instead
delve into the life of a researcher. I have already learned so much and become
so close with my peers, it is difficult to quantify what these two weeks have meant
to me. Even on the tough and long days, I am so grateful to be here! Back home
in Massachusetts I attend Hampshire College and study sustainable agriculture.
At Hampshire, students develop their own study of interest (rather than
choosing from a list of majors) so I have also been able to foster my interest
in studying community. My partner Elise and I are working with our mentor Nels
Paulson (#TeamNels) on the sociology piece of this LAKES project to create social networks
and examine how these social networks affect the adoption of best management
practices (BMPs). Since my background is not directly in sociology, I was a
little intimidated by the amount of math involved in social analysis and
modeling, but after a few long days of learning statistics, the fun has begun!
These past two days, Elise and I
hit the road and began giving surveys to farmers throughout the Red Cedar
Watershed. These surveys were developed by previous LAKES REU students and ask
questions about landownership and renting, what types of conservation
agriculture are practiced on the farm, what groups of people farmers would be
interested in working with (agencies, farmer led councils, one on one
consultations), what educational programs would be beneficial, and how farmers perceive
the current environmental issues in conjunction with their livelihood. Elise
and I have visited farms in Menomonie and Ridgeland so far and have had very
positive interactions… I was surprised at how eager people were to share their
experiences and opinions with us, and it makes my heart sing! It is one thing
to collect the data from these surveys, but it is another thing entirely to
hear personal stories and make connections with these local farmers. Hearing
about how farms operate in a state so far from home is a wonderful opportunity
for me, and it makes me feel like this work is doing a lot of good. I can see
that there is a genuine passion for improving the local environment and this is
another testament to what a caring and wonderful community there is in
Wisconsin.
Elise and I
are also developing our own research interests off of this main project. What I
will be researching is whether or not social connections affect farmer BMP use.
Narrowing down to this research topic proved to be quite difficult because I
have so many questions! Are most farmers in the area from farming families? Why
do younger people choose to farm? What characteristics do sustainably minded
farmers share? Hopefully I can answer a lot of these questions and the many
more that I continue to think of through my conversations with farming families
and by analyzing the data from the surveys! I feel so inspired and rejuvenated through
this learning experience and I hope these remaining six weeks don’t fly by too
quickly! Keep an eye out for #TeamNels, coming to a farm near you:
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