I was interested in joining the LAKES Program because I would have the opportunity to apply my learning in different ways. This program entails understanding the root causes and factors that are contributing to the pollution in surrounding waters. We get to confront this problem from different angles, from biology to anthropology, and even psychology. This program is really interesting because people from different backgrounds are coming together to analyze and solve the different problems surrounding the pollution of the local watershed.
I am on the psychology team which means that I am looking at this issue from a social perspective. In my project, I am going to examine how certain management practices are perceived among farmers and how different social norms tie into them. Once I collect data through a variety of surveys, I’ll be able to analyze how these perceptions influence how common or uncommon farmers think certain practices are, specifically practices that are not visible. Their perceptions of the different management practices are going to be compared to reality, how many farmers are actually participating in these different practices. Something that I have learned through the first couple of weeks here has been how to apply the different norms that I’m going to be looking at, specifically descriptive and injunctive norms. A descriptive norm is what most people in a group think or do whereas an injunctive norm reflects people’s perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved by others. One barrier we have had to overcome is finding a way to create questions for the survey that are easy to comprehend and worded correctly. Some questions could cause confusion among participants, which could make the analyzing process difficult. My mentor Sarah Wood has been great in helping me through this whole process.
Before coming to Menomonie, I was nervous because I would be far from my family in a state that I have never visited. Everyone in the program has been very welcoming and I have had a lot of fun getting to know this charming town. When we arrived, we went to a cute place that made pizza from scratch and it was delicious. That was a great place to meet everyone and get to know all the mentors. The campus is also very beautiful, and it has been a great experience getting to walk around and see everything it has to offer. We also went to a farm and talked about different types of management practices and soil. It was a beautiful farm and I enjoyed seeing the farmer’s cows and eating the delicious food they had prepared for us. One of my favorite things I have done this summer was that I visited a cute thrift shop. Everything was a dollar or less, which was crazy to me. I was able to find some cute clothes and I even got some stuff for my siblings back home. All of us also got bikes that we could use to ride around town, and last week was the first time in years since I’ve ridden a bike. I definitely had to adjust to the bike because I was very rusty. I have had a great experience so far in the LAKES Program and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has to offer.
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