Since we began in 2003, our research has explored the interaction of people and ‘wild’ ecology in Columbia County, NY. This is both an ecological and a sociological question, and we have tried to look at it from both of those angles. Agriculture has played a large role in work. Specifically, we have tried to understand how past and present agricultural land use has influenced the ecology of our current landscape, and we have tried to look at how that wild nature interacts with farm production through the likes of pollinators and pest predators.
That said, our entire county is a ‘farmscape’, and we are exploring all aspects of it, including its remoter reaches which have been largely untouched by farming. These explorations have included not just nosing around for plants and animals, but also talking with people to understand how they view and interact with the landscape. After all, human perceptions and actions will play a huge role in shaping our future landscape. The materials here are meant to provide you with tools and perspective as you do your own explorations.
Our research is intended primarily for people in the County. Thus, we focus our outreach efforts on providing materials that might be useful ‘here at home’. If you have any questions or suggestions, we encourage you to email or phone us (518-672-7994). We don’t usually bite unless it’s a really hot day in the office, the internet has collapsed, and we’ve just been notified that our next car repair will cost three times what we expected (don’t worry, that doesn’t happen very often).