I believe every farmer is a scientist. Growing up on a farm in Nova Scotia, Canada, I learned that farmers make detailed observations. We run high-stakes experiments and take careful repeated measurements of our results. Once we know what works, we describe our results to other farmers over fencelines and cups of tea. Sure sounds like a scientist to me!
I’ve spent a lot of time talking with farmers around the world about nature. Most of this hasn’t been for research — I’m just super chatty! But over the years as a farm manager at home, a farm worker in Canada and Australia, and with my background in agricultural science and ecology, I’ve learned that most farmers really care about nature. We just have to care for lots of different things: our families, our crops and livestock, our communities, and nature. That’s a really hard thing to do, so I have made it my mission to make this easier for farmers just like me.
To help farmers care for all of these things, we need to understand how they all fit together. A helpful way to do this is to view farms as both social (made up of people) and made of natural, living things. My current research looks at the social parts of farms, and how they can work with the natural parts to make rural communities stronger. I’m working with farmers who participate in Landcare, which brings communities together to care for nature in the places they love. This project is really important to me, because it reminds me of my family and my farm back in Canada, and I know I can make a difference for people and nature!
