DOCSLIB.ORG

Capturing Women Farmers' Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Capturing Women Farmers' Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 12-2019 The Farm as Place in a Changing Climate: Capturing Women Farmers' Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia Tagen Towsley Baker Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Baker, Tagen Towsley, "The Farm as Place in a Changing Climate: Capturing Women Farmers' Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia" (2019). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7675. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7675 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FARM AS PLACE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: CAPTURING WOMEN FARMERS’ EXPERIENCES IN IDAHO, UNITED STATES AND VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA by Tagen Towsley Baker A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Environment and Society Approved: ______________________ ____________________ Claudia Radel, Ph.D. Roslynn G.H. Brain McCann, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ Christopher Conte, Ph.D. Peter D. Howe, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ Hal Crimmel, Ph.D. Richard S. Inouye, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice Provost for Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2019 ii Copyright © Tagen Towsley Baker 2019 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT The Farm as Place in a Changing Climate: Capturing Women Farmers’ Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia by Tagen Towsley Baker Utah State University, 2019 Major Professor: Dr. Claudia Radel Department of Environment and Society In Australia and the US, women play a vital role in the agricultural sector. However, historically farmwomen’s contributions to agriculture as well as their individual knowledge and social resilience to stressors like climate and climate change have been unrecognized and rendered invisible. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from geography and the humanities, this dissertation explores the farm as place in a changing climate, drawing on women farmers’ experiences, under three distinct themes: identity, place, and photography. The dissertation research includes three distinct parts. First, incorporating non-fiction writing and photography, I explore my agricultural and religious heritage, as well as familial connections to the landscape of rural Idaho. Second, and in conjunction with the Invisible Farmer Project, the largest ever study of Australian women on the land, I analyze women’s photovoices, relying primarily on qualitative interview and Facebook data, as well as photographs, to understand women’s emotive connections to the farm as place, farmer identities, and roles in the agricultural sector. Analysis of the Facebook posts revealed how women are establishing a new dialog about iv what it means to be a woman farmer and how emotion is the foundation for establishing community and connection. Women's posted photovoices allow us to gain new insights into the women farmers' connections to the farm as place as well as their diversified perspectives and identities. Third, using integrative methods, I study women farmers and ranchers in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia through an environmental history lens. Examining the hydrological histories of each region, and how the layering of social and ecological factors shapes the farm as place, resilience, and women’s work, I study how the identities of the women farmers and the farm as place cannot be separated. In both the second and third parts, I seek to redefine "farmer" by revealing experiences that have been invisible in the traditional agricultural sector. Rural women farmers have diverse identities and experiences, and their contributions to the agricultural sector are significant. They perceive and adapt to climate impacts and they strive for resilience. Emotion and ties to the farm as place are at the center of their identities, resilience, and day-to-day work and shape their adaptation strategies and emotional well-being. (219 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT The Farm as Place in a Changing Climate: Capturing Women Farmers’ Experiences in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia Tagen Towsley Baker In Australia and the US, women play a vital role in the agricultural sector. However, historically farmwomen’s contributions to agriculture as well as their individual knowledge and social resilience to stressors like climate and climate change have been unrecognized and rendered invisible. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from geography and the humanities, this dissertation explores the farm as place in a changing climate, drawing on women farmers’ experiences, under three distinct themes: identity, place, and photography. The dissertation research includes three distinct parts. First, incorporating non-fiction writing and photography, I explore my agricultural and religious heritage, as well as familial connections to the landscape of rural Idaho. Second, and in conjunction with The Invisible Farmer Project, the largest ever study of Australian women on the land, I analyze women’s photovoices, relying primarily on interview and Facebook data, as well as photographs, to understand women’s emotive connections to the farm as place, farmer identities, and roles in the agricultural sector. Analysis of the Facebook posts revealed how women are establishing a new dialog about what it means to be a woman farmer and how emotion is the foundation for establishing community and connection. Women's posted photovoices allow us to gain new insights into the women farmers' connections to the farm as place as well as their diversified perspectives and identities. Third, using integrative methods, I study women farmers and ranchers in Idaho, United States and Victoria, Australia through an environmental history lens. vi Examining the history of water in each region, and how the layering of social and environmental factors shapes the farm as place, resilience, and women’s work, I study how the identities of the women farmers and the farm as place cannot be separated. In both the second and third parts, I seek to redefine "farmer" by revealing experiences that have been invisible in the traditional agricultural sector. Rural women farmers have diverse identities and experiences, and their contributions to the agricultural sector are significant. They perceive and adapt to climate impacts and they are resilient. Their experiences with the farm as place is at the center of their identities, resilience, day-to- day work, and shapes their adaptation strategies and emotional well-being. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to express my thanks my committee members, Drs. Claudia Radel, Roslynn G.H. Brain McCann, Christopher Conte, Peter D. Howe, and Hal Crimmel for their interest, commitment, knowledge, and support throughout this process. I owe my deepest gratitude to Liza Dale-Hallet, Catherine Forge, and Ilse Matthews, key collaborators of the Invisible Farmer Project, for their continuous support of my research and willingness to share their knowledge to help me see this dissertation through to the end. Many thanks to Danielle Grundel, Photo Archivist for the Idaho State Historical Society, for her assistance with documentation on historical irrigation projects and Natalie Teichert for her help with transcription. I am also grateful to my co-workers at Space Dynamic Laboratory for their reviewing last-minute edits on my research papers, missing their lunch breaks to give me feedback on presentations, and covering for me at work when I had a school conflict. Thank you to Utah State University Research Foundation, and Space Dynamics Laboratory, for providing me with the privilege to participate in a half-tuition scholarship as well as allowing me to establish a flexible work schedule to attend all my classes. Finally, thank you to my partner, Brendon Baker, for his continual support, my sister, Tara Towsley Huish, for her genealogy assistance, my parents and extended family for all their past and present efforts to document our family history. Many thanks to Tom Coates for sharing all his knowledge on water rights and ranches in the Mackay area. To all the women farmers in interviewed in Idaho and Victoria, thank you for your time and your knowledge. Tagen Towsley Baker viii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………...……………………………………………………………………………. iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………………………......…vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ viii REGIONAL MAPS ............................................................................................................... x I. GEOGRAPHY AND THE HUMANITIES ............................................................... 1 References ................................................................................................................. 6 II. THEMES ................................................................................................................... 8
Load more

Recommended publications
  • DE-EE0002848 E Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project
    DE-EE0002848 e Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project – Innovative Approaches to Geothermal Exploration Phase 1 Report Prepared by John W. Shervais Department of Geology Utah State University Logan, Utah 84322-4505 1 September 2010 Phase 1: e Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project DE-EE0002848 Phase 1 Report DE-EE0002848 e Snake River Geothermal Drilling Project – Innovative Approaches to Geothermal Exploration INTRODUCTION e Yellowstone-Snake River Plain (YSRP) volcanic province, which began ≈17 Ma under eastern Oregon and northern Nevada and is currently under the Yellowstone Plateau, is the world’s best modern example of a time-transgressive hotspot track beneath continental crust (Figure 1). Recently, a 100 km wide thermal anomaly has been imaged by seismic tomography to depths of over 1000 km beneath the Yellowstone Plateau (Waite et al 2006; Yuan and Dueker 2005; Xue and Allen, 2010; James et al 2009). e Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field consists largely of rhyolite lavas and ignimbrites, with few mantle-derived basalts (Christiansen 2001). In contrast, the Snake River Plain (SRP), which represents the track of the Yellowstone hotspot, consists of rhyolite caldera complexes that herald the onset of plume-related volcanism and basalts that are compositionally similar to ocean island basalts like Hawaii (Pierce et al 2002). e SRP preserves a record of volcanic activity that spans over 16 Ma and is still active today, with basalts as young as 200 ka in the west and 2 ka in the east. us, the Snake River volcanic province represents the world-class example of active time- transgressive intra-continental plume volcanism. e SRP is unique because it is young and relatively undisturbed tectonically, and because it contains a complete record of volcanic activity associated with passage of the hotspot (Shervais et al, 2006a).
    [Show full text]
  • Eology of the Southern Part )F the Lemhi Range, Idaho
    :;eology of the Southern Part )f the Lemhi Range, Idaho 'y CLYDE P. ROSS :oNTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY ~EOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1081-F NITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1961 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRED A. SEATON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washin!1ton 25, D.C. CONTENTS Page Abstract--------------------------------------------------------- 189 Introduction------------------------------------------------------ 189 Location and scope of the report________________________________ 189 Acknowledgments--------------------------------------------- 191 TopographY------------------------------------------------------ 192 LemhiRange_________________________________________________ 192 Valley of Birch Creek__________________________________________ 193 Valley of Little Lost River_ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 193 Stratigraphy and petrography __________________________ ------------_ 194 Generalfeatures----------------------------------------------- 194 Precambrianrocks--------------------------------------------- 195 Swauger quartzite_ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 195 Lower Paleozoic rocks ___ -------________________________________ 201 Kinnikinic quartzite_ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 201 Saturday Mountain formation and overlying dolomite__________ 203 Three Forks limestone
    [Show full text]
  • Reconnaissance of the Hydrology of the Little Lost River Basin Idaho
    Reconnaissance of the Hydrology of the Little Lost River Basin Idaho GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPEI j Prepared in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Reclamation Reconnaissance of the Hydrology of the Little Lost River Basin Idaho By M. J. MUNDORFF, H. C. BROOM, CHABOT KILBURN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1539-Q Prepared in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Reclamation UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1963 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.G. CONTENTS Page Abstract_________________________________________________________ Ql Introduction..____________________________________________________ 1 Numbering of stream-gaging stations___________________ ______ 2 Well-numbering system._______________________________________ 2 Acknowledgments---_______-__-_________-________-_--_--_-_-__ 3 Physical setting.__________________________________________________ 4 Topography and drainage._____________________________________ 4 Geologic features.____________________________________ __ 5 Climate._____________________________________________________ 7 Irrigation development and ground-water pumpage____ ___ 10 Water supply.____________________________________________________ 13 Interrelation of surface and ground water_______________________ 13 Surface water._____________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Little Lost River Subbasin TMDL
    Little Lost River Subbasin TMDL August 2000 An Allocation of Nonpoint Source Pollutants in the Water Quality Limited Watersheds of the Little Lost River Valley Idaho Department of Environmental Quality 1410 North Hilton Boise, ID 83706 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................1 1.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................3 Total Maximum Daily Load ........................................................................................3 History .........................................................................................................................4 Issues of Concern.........................................................................................................5 2.0 WATERSHED ASSESSMENT ..................................................................................6 2.1 WATERSHED DESCRIPTION..........................................................................6 Climate................................................................................................................6 Hydrology ...........................................................................................................6 Geology...............................................................................................................8 Soils ....................................................................................................................8 Geomorphic
    [Show full text]
  • Geology of East-Central Idaho: Geologic Roadlogs for the Big and Little Lost River, Lemhi, and Salmon River Valleys
    Link and Janecke -- Geology of East-Central Idaho: Roadlogs 295 Geology of East-Central Idaho: Geologic Roadlogs for the Big and Little Lost River, Lemhi, and Salmon River Valleys Paul Karl Link Department of Geology, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209 Susanne U. Janecke Department of Geology, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322 INTRODUCTION As part of this introduction we present several summary fig- This article contains a discussion of the regional geology and ures. First is a regional geographic map (Fig. 1), and a simplified historical geography of east-central Idaho, north of the Snake River geologic map on the same base (Fig. 2). The Proterozoic and Plain and southeast of the Salmon River, and four roadlogs for Paleozoic stratigraphic correlation diagram (Fig. 3) also shows the main highways in this huge (15,000-km2) area. The roadlogs thrust fault relations. Figure 4 shows major structures and basins progress from south to north and west to east. They include: of the Trans-Challis fault zone and Figure 5 shows the Challis 1) Big Lost River Valley, Volcanic field. Photographs in the road log section illustrate many 2) Little Lost River-Pahsimeroi Valley, of the field localities. In the introductory summary we cite (out- 3) Birch Creek-Lemhi Valley, and of-sequence with their position in the text) several photographs 4) Stanley to Salmon along the Salmon River. in which specific stratigraphic features are present. This article covers much of the same country described by East-central Idaho contains diverse and economically impor- Ross (1963) in the first geologic roadlog of east-central Idaho, tant, mineral deposits.
    [Show full text]
  • Upper Snake Province Assessment
    Upper Snake Province Assessment Prepared for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council May 28, 2004 Upper Snake Provincial Assessment May 2004 Table of Contents 1 Overview .............................................................................................................................................1-1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................1-1 1.2 Assessment Conceptual Framework ..........................................................................................1-1 1.2.1 Scientific Principles ................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2.2 Provincial Null Hypotheses........................................................................................................ 1-4 1.3 General Description....................................................................................................................1-5 1.3.1 Province Location ...................................................................................................................... 1-5 1.3.2 Snake Headwaters Subbasin.......................................................................................................1-6 1.3.3 Upper Snake Subbasin ............................................................................................................... 1-7 1.3.4 Closed Basin Subbasin..............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Geology of East-Central Idaho: Roadlogs 295
    Link and Janecke -- Geology of East-Central Idaho: Roadlogs 295 Geology of East-Central Idaho: Geologic Roadlogs for the Big and Little Lost River, Lemhi, and Salmon River Valleys Paul Karl Link Department of Geology, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209 Susanne U. Janecke Department of Geology, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322 INTRODUCTION As part of this introduction we present several summary fig- This article contains a discussion of the regional geology and ures. First is a regional geographic map (Fig. 1), and a simplified historical geography of east-central Idaho, north of the Snake River geologic map on the same base (Fig. 2). The Proterozoic and Plain and southeast of the Salmon River, and four roadlogs for Paleozoic stratigraphic correlation diagram (Fig. 3) also shows the main highways in this huge (15,000-km2) area. The roadlogs thrust fault relations. Figure 4 shows major structures and basins progress from south to north and west to east. They include: of the Trans-Challis fault zone and Figure 5 shows the Challis 1) Big Lost River Valley, Volcanic field. Photographs in the road log section illustrate many 2) Little Lost River-Pahsimeroi Valley, of the field localities. In the introductory summary we cite (out- 3) Birch Creek-Lemhi Valley, and of-sequence with their position in the text) several photographs 4) Stanley to Salmon along the Salmon River. in which specific stratigraphic features are present. This article covers much of the same country described by East-central Idaho contains diverse and economically impor- Ross (1963) in the first geologic roadlog of east-central Idaho, tant, mineral deposits.
    [Show full text]