Quivira Interns Chase Hetler & Jessie Hook on Bridging Academia and Ranching
Chase Hetler and Jessie Hook spent much of 2023 as Quivira Coalition interns through the Carbon Ranch Initiative, investigating the financial and ecological viability of compost application and erosion control structures on rangeland in the southwest. Host Taylor Muglia chats with both interns about their experiences and how their internships changed the way they see academia’s role in ranching.
Music attribution:
Wanderlust by Scott Buckley
Shownotes
2:36 Intro to Quivira interns Chase Hetler & Jessie Hook
2:55 Jessie’s unconventional path to agriculture
5:02 Chase’s interest in the intersection of policy and agriculture
6:00 Difference between a Quivira internship and a NAP apprenticeship
6:29 Hear about Jessie’s internship projects (economics of rural dryland composting and soil amendments in the context of rural New Mexico rangelands)
8:45 Difference between research and white papers
10:46 How conversations played into the project process
12:19 What were the surprising takeaways from Jessie’s project
15:47 What did Jessie learn about working with producers
18:12 What was Chase’s project (cost analysis and practical considerations of implementing adding organic amendments to erosion control structures)
23:05 What is the ultimate goal of this type of project when it comes to erosion control structures
25:48 What worked, didn’t work, and what changes would Chase make in her process?
28:27 Bridging the gap between agriculture and academia
33:15 How important area-specific research is in academic research in agriculture
36:10 The informal knowledge that ranchers and farmers have that might not be reflected in academic papers
42:00 Why funding mechanisms are important to support producers in sustainable actions
43:44 How Chase and Jessie created a mentor relationship
46:07 Advice for future interns and what’s next for Chase and Jessie
49:37 Check-out Quivira’s technical guide webpage
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