Kate Sherren

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Tag: Extension (Page 1 of 2)

New Brunswick Living Lab meeting

January 23, 2024 /

Brooke doing her thing at the NB-LL meeting in Jan, 2024

Today’s blog post comes from PDF Brooke McWherter based on her recent trip to NB

The annual New Brunswick Living Lab (NB-LL) meeting and workshop brought together government, industry, NGO, and producer stakeholders to discuss the year’s progress in the development and running of the NB-LL. Before the start of the event, Atlantic representatives from other living labs in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and PEI, came together to discuss their progress in measuring the socio-economic impacts of the program. The different representatives highlighted the strong bond among the Atlantic provinces and their commitment to collaborating and continuing to support each other as the living labs continue to evolve and grow. At the event talks included discussions on current trials measuring the impact of various BMPs on soil health, and carbon sequestration.

Our MREM intern Patrick James presented his work, funded by the SSHRC Engage Program, examining co-production and engagement of LL producers and federal scientists. Patrick’s talk highlighted how challenging co-production can be for all sides, but also the steps members are taking to be flexible including working with farmers to collect data that doesn’t deter from their harvesting schedules. I then ran a workshop defining co-production and providing some tips for enhancing engagement moving forward which then led to developing logic models (an objective-oriented planning tool) around the five BMP foci of the program. Producers, government staff, site contractors from various watershed and conservation organizations, and industry reps discussed the outcome form the program they wanted and identified activities and capacities they may need to develop to achieve those objectives.

Patrick James (centre) with the NB Living Labs team, including FaRM Program collaborator and CFGA ED Cedric MacLeod

Rangeland social science meeting

January 28, 2018 /
Lynn Huntsinger and Tracy Hruska at a cafe in Reno, the biggest little city in the world

Lynn Huntsinger and Tracy Hruska at a cafe in Reno, the biggest little city in the world

I am in Sparks, Nevada, at an invited meeting of rangeland social scientists (RSS) organized by Hailey Wilmer and Mark Brunson before the Society for Range Management meeting. I arrived in San Francisco late Friday to visit with Berkeley professor Lynn Huntsinger and her UNevada Geography professor husband Paul Starrs. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the harbour was stunning as the sun set, and Paul’s posole a delight. The next morning Lynn and I transected California’s many landscapes and production systems up across the snowy Sierra Nevada (and the notorious Donner Pass), with two of her Berkeley lab PhD students, Tracy Hruska and Sheila Barry.

DRI research professor Tamara Wall prepares to chair us in our RSS unconference

DRI research professor Tamara Wall prepares to chair us in our RSS unconference

Both Sheila and Tracy have led papers or chapters I really like, so it was the beginning of a day full of happy name recognition. Awaiting us at the lovely Desert Research Institute where the RSS meeting was being held: thirty more people  whose work I have enjoyed and cited since my Australian post-doc. Simply meeting them has made the trip worthwhile, and hearing kind words of appreciation in turn a bonus, particularly for my new commentary on standalone social science in rangelands. The meeting is following an un-conference format, which is new to me, but allowed for a very egalitarian agenda design, and productive discussions in small groups and together. I joined a group on community-building and integration, where those from a mix of career stages discussed the importance of an attractive career script for RSS practitioners, and how this nascent community could help. We’ll pick up some of the threads later today for day two of the un-meeting.

 

BioLOG and WTS at NSFA AGM

December 1, 2017 /
New BioLOG banner at NSFA AGM, December 2017.

New BioLOG banner at NSFA AGM, December 2017.

Simon Greenland-Smith is representing the lab and Wood Turtle Strides today at the AGM for the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. Great to see this new banner for BioLOG in place at the trade show component, thanks to our collaborators at the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. Love the boots! The DNR’s gorgeous new Field Guide to Forest Biodiversity Stewardship are also available for pick-up.

Welcome, Carolyn

August 18, 2017 /

Carolyn won’t be wielding any test tubes with us.

Great to have Carolyn Mann joining our sustainable grazing team, working remotely from Ottawa. Carolyn is finishing up her Masters at Dalhousie’s Agricultural Campus in parallel with this part time research contract. Her Masters sees her combining soil testing with farmer interviews about soil quality. She won’t be wielding any test tubes in her work with me, however. Carolyn will be launching the third stream of our Reconciling HM SSHRC project: talking to HM trainers to understand whether HM farmers are born, or made.  Welcome aboard.

New extension video: wood turtles

August 15, 2017 /

Wood Turtle Strides has collaborated (again) with the clever people at Wonderlust Media to develop a video for farmers explaining the biology of wood turtles, a species at risk in Nova Scotia, and how to protect them. This is the third video in our extension series. The first two were about modified harvest, and riparian management. All three can be found at the YouTube channel for the Biodiversity Landowners Guide, our extension website.  Simon Greenland-Smith has been busy this summer signing up farmers that host critical wood turtle habitat in the incentive-based Strides program. Participating farmers get financial compensation for the management changes they undertake on that habitat  to help protect the species. Wood Turtle Strides is a partnership with NSFA and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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