Save the World: With a Little Help From Your Friends

If there is one thing that I have learned to be true, it is that most problems need to be solved using an interdisciplinary approach. In fact, the reason I applied for the LAKES REU program is because of how interdisciplinary it is: economics, sociology, geography, biology and anthropology all working together to improve water quality in the Red Cedar Watershed. It is interesting how solitary all of these disciplines seem until you begin to tackle one project together. Elise and I are on the sociology team and have been administering a survey to farmers to learn more about their agricultural practices, values, and networks of how agricultural knowledge is shared in the area. However, a lot of this information needs more background. Luckily, a lot of my questions that naturally arise from this project can be answered by my peers. From the economics standpoint, how do farmers afford to transition from traditional practices to conservation agriculture? Biologically, how can phosphorus pollution be mitigated? Anthropologically, how do people remember water quality changing throughout the years? These, and MANY other questions are being explored by the diverse backgrounds on our team.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I find it fascinating how difficult it can be to choose a path when pursuing higher education, and yet when you settle on the right subject, it seems so obvious. For me, that subject is sustainable agriculture, however it took me quite a bit of personal exploration to reach this conclusion. My original plan was to attend Bridgewater University straight out of high school for psychology because I had taken AP Psychology and was fascinated by how people think. Then, in a whirlwind of spontaneity, my best friend and I decided to take a gap year and backpack through Europe for a few months. This bit of travel was my first introduction to anywhere outside the United States and made me realize how much I had left to see, leading to my ever fervent interest in traveling. Thus, I applied to a program called Global College, a program that allows one to travel while studying for a bachelor’s degree, through Long Island University and was accepted. However, a few weeks before I was about to move to Costa Rica, my loans were not approved and I couldn’t make this program financially feasible. After a second gap year of working full time and saving money, I moved to Western Massachusetts and began to attend community college for women’s studies. Not finding the drive I was looking for,  I FINALLY decided to dig deep down for what truly inspires me, what hobbies I already have that could create a livelihood, where I could see myself in the future…and duh! Agriculture!

#TeamNels Takes the Watershed by Storm!

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!

A Wonderful Menomonie Welcome!

I had been thinking/dreaming/stressing about arriving in Menomonie to begin working with the LAKES REU program for weeks and was so thrilled to FINALLY make it here! I have never visited the northwest and couldn’t help but obsessively google images or ask my (surprisingly plentiful) Wisconsin friends what it is like, but Menomonie has certainly exceeded my expectations. When imagining the northwest, my mind conjured up pictures of wide open expanses filled with corn and cows, few people meandering about, and certainly no conveniently located grocery stores. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very similar college town to the one where I live in Massachusetts, if not better because the influx of students has dwindled.