Progress 05/15/17 to 05/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:In our final year of the project, we worked with small and medium sized maple producers and beekeepers by way of our final outreach products. We completed two technical reports summarizing survey research and shared with stakeholders within the state.Finally, internally, we shared findings from our experiences of engaged undergraduate research experiences as a part of ensuring the sustainability of theSweet Spot Fellows program within the Sustainable Food Systems Research Cooperative. We are optimistic the program will continue in some form after the end of the grant. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through the length of the project, 14 undergraduate students participated in engaged research experiences with Maine maple and honey producers. In the final year of the project, a graduate research assistant was the involved in preparing technical reports and assisting with final data analyeses and stakeholder communication. This student was a resource economics master of science student who benefitted greatly from an understanding of scale and scope issues related to small- and medium-sized farm enterprises. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Over the course of this project, we've disseminated results to: the State of Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, Maine State Beekeepers Association, Maine Maple Producers Association, Northern Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers, Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Somerset County Beekeepers, and the Oxford Hills Honey Bee Club. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our final year of the project was largely focused on finishing all promised deliverables. This included several journal articles, technical reports, and communicating findings to stakeholders. We also assisted the final remaining graduate research assistant on the project through to successful graduation.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Velardi, S., Ladenheim, M., Leahy, J., Collum, K., McGuire, J. and Ladenheim, M. 2022. "Engaged Scholarship with Local Honey and Maple Producers:
Assessment of Student Impacts with a Community Capitals Framework" Presentation t the Engagement Scholarship Consortium International Conference. Athen, GA.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., McGuire, J. and Ladenheim, M. 2022. "Scale and scope decisions of Maine maple syrup producers: A theory of planned behavior application" In prep.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Romick, J., Hurley, P., Leahy, J. and Bell, K. 2022. "2021 Maine Maple Producers Survey Results." Technical Report, Orono, ME.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Romick, J., Hurley, P., Leahy, J. and Bell, K. 2022. "2021 Maine Honey Producer Survey Results." Technical Report, Orono, ME.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Collum, K., Hanes, S., Drummond, F. and Leahy, J. 2022. "We're Farmers, Not Beekeepers:" A Cultural Model of Pollination Management among Lowbush Blueberry Growers in the US and Canada." In review at Human Organization.
|
Progress 05/15/20 to 05/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to work with small and medium sized maple producers and beekeepers despite COVID-19 constraints. We worked with individual producers, as well as connected with regional and statewide associations and stakeholder advisory group. Our stakeholder advisory group includes maple producers, beekeepers, Cooperative Extension, and state agency representatives. Finally, our undergraduate Sweet Spot Fellows in the Sustainable Food Systems Research Cooperative were also target audiences. This year three students came from University of Maine and College of the Atlantic, and work was completed remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions. Changes/Problems:We were significantly delayed due to COVID-19. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In our last cohort of Fellows, three students came from University of Maine and College of the Atlantic. This is what we could handle given pandemic protocols. Through the whole project now, 14 undergraduates have had experiential, stakeholder-driven research experiences. Our post-doctoral researcher secured an agriculture/food systems position at SUNY Binghamton and left her Sweet Spot position early. While at Binghamton, she taught a Sweet Spot-inspired class with stakeholder engagement and a focus on honey/maple. Our Sweet Spot Fellows, now totaling 14 undergraduate students, have continued to excel from their training and professional development in the program. We have begun an evaluation project to better understand how the Sweet Spot Fellows program has affected the students over the long term. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Over the course of this project, we've disseminated results to:Maine State Beekeepers Association, Maine Maple Producers Association, Northern Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers, Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Somerset County Beekeepers, and the Oxford Hills Honey Bee Club. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The pandemic caused significant delays in terms of our ability rehire the position, to carry out research with human subjects, and to do in-person outreach. While we shifted online as much as possible, our producers' access to internet in rural areas is limited, as is their interest in online formats. To meet our staffing needs, we hired a graduate research assistant who began in Fall 2020. We will finish our third research objective, involving the social-ecological mapping of expansion opportunities for small- and medium-size producers. Also, our outreach plans will disseminate findings from our project to stakeholders in a variety of formats including print, online, and in person between now and the new end of the grant.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This year we focused on producing journal articles and publisehd two articles. One was in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension and the other in the Journal of Rural Studies. Another 1-3 publications are in development. Our new graduate student began sweet spot mapping in order to complete our final research objective.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., McGuire, J. & Ladenheim, M. 2021. Adult learning theory principles in knowledge exchange networks among maple syrup producers and beekeepers in
Maine, The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 27:1, 3-20, DOI:
10.1080/1389224X.2020.1773283
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., McGuire, J. & Ladenheim, M. 2021. You treat them right, Theyll treat you right. : Understanding beekeepers scale management decisions within the context of bee values. Journal of Rural Studies, 81: 27-36.
|
Progress 05/15/19 to 05/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to work with small and medium sized maple producers and beekeepers. We worked with individual producers, as well as connected with regional and statewide associations. At the state level, we attended and presented at the Maine Maple Producers Association annual meeting and the Maine State Beekeepers Association annual meeting.We were also able to share our research and other project outcomes with the Northern Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers, Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Somerset County Beekeepers, and the Oxford Hills Honey Bee Club. Our stakeholder advisory group was smaller this year due to COVID-19 constraints, but featured a balance of maple producers, beekeepers, Cooperative Extension, and state agency representatives. Finally, our Sweet Spot Fellows in the Sustainable Food Systems Research Cooperative were also a target audiences. This year students came from University of Maine and College of the Atlantic. Changes/Problems:We have encountered serious obstacles due to COVID-19 that may necessitate another one-year no cost extension. We were unable to fill our post-doctoral research position due to hiring freezes and other administrative hurdles. While we have much to report, weare experiencing delays in meeting all of our ambitious research and outreach goals. We have moved forward with hiring a masters-level graduate research assistant beginning Fall 2020, which is allowed by the university, and this will enable us to move forward. We limited our undergraduate research program to focus on work-from-home tasks, and also had difficulties recruiting students into the program. We anticipate being able to run the program again next summer using an in-person format. Our outreach will need to pivot more to online sharing, whereas previously we've been meeting face-to-face with producers and their associations. We are striving to meet all deadlines and deliverables. Another no cost extension would certainly enable us to complete this project fully. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our post-doctoral researcher secured an agriculture/food systems position at SUNY Binghamton and left her Sweet Spot position early. While at Binghamton, she taught a Sweet Spot inspired class with stakeholder engagement and a focus on honey/maple. Our Sweet Spot Fellows, now totally 14 undergraduate students, have continued to excel from their training and professional developent in the program. We have begun an evaluation project to better understand how the Sweet Spot Fellows program has affected the students over the long term. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At the state level, we attended and presented at the Maine Maple Producers Association annual meeting and the Maine State Beekeepers Association annual meeting.We were also able to share our research and other project outcomes with the Northern Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Knox-Lincoln County Beekeepers, Penobscot County Beekeepers Association, Somerset County Beekeepers, and the Oxford Hills Honey Bee Club. We will have several outreach products being shared on UMaine's Digital Commons in the upcoming year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?To accomplish our research objectives, we will hire a graduate research assistant to complete the third research objective, which will involveconstructing a social-ecological map of "sweet spots" for potential sustainable growth and/or development of small- and medium-sized beekeeping and maple syrup enterprises. We will also continue to analyze existing data and write peer reviewed journal articles. Some have already been submitted into the review process. To accomplish our educational objectives, we will run a Sweet Spot Fellows program during the summer of 2021. Finally, for our outreach objectives, we will release more materials using the search engine optimized Digital Commons. This will allow us to track downloads and geographic interest, providing interesting altmetrics to evaluate impact.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This year we completed the analysis and technical report writing for the baseline industry surveys. This provides a snapshot of small and medium-scale maple producers and beekeepers which never before existed for Maine's producers. Preliminarytechnical reports were shared at the state association meetings. The reports will be made available online in the upcoming year. We had several research papers submitted and one on adult learning theory applied to knowledge exchange among producers was published during this year. We anticipate even more in the upcoming year. We have not yet begun research objective 3, which will begin in the upcoming year.This year we had three undergraduate students in our Sweet Spot Fellows program. This program took significant modification and flexibility to adapt to the reality of COVID-19, university protocols, and ethical considerations to our maple producer and beekeeper collaborators. All three students completed rigorous projects and will continue to refine and share their work over the upcoming year. The projects included a discourse analysis of maple producers cooperative efforts using solidarity economictheory, an oral history project of Maine's long standing beekeeping mentors, and a climate change communication study.Our extension work involving business consultations has been completed and in the upcoming year we will sharing the materials (e.g., templates, spreadsheets, worksheets) publicly.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. Leahy, M. Ladenheim, J. McGuire, and K. Collum. Incorporating the Community Capitals Framework in Honors Teaching: An Innovative and Creative Approach to Building Community Partnerships and Integrating Place-Based Research in Undergraduate Education. National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. McGuire, P. Hurley, H. Merchant, J. Leahy, M. Ladenheim, and K. Collum. Making the Honors Experience a Little Sweeter: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Honors Education through Collaborative Community Partnerships in the Maple and Honey Industries in Maine. National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2019.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Velardi, S. 2020. Finding the Sweet Spot: Project Overview and Updates. Presentation for the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative Seminar Series, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. Leahy, K. Collum, J. McGuire, and M. Ladenheim. 2020. Adult learning theory principles in knowledge exchange networks among maple syrup producers and beekeepers in Maine. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, doi: 10.1080/1389224X.2020.1773283.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Hurley, Patrick. Mites, Camera, Action: Assessing Varroa Mite Treatment Trends of Maine Beekeepers. University of Maine Student Symposium 2020
https://umaine.edu/umss/2020/02/19/umss-patrick-hurley/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Teisl, D. Tapping the Sweet Spot: Assessing a woodlots potential to transition into a productive, commercial-sized sugarbush. University of Maine Student Symposium.
https://umaine.edu/umss/2020/03/01/umss-deven-teisl/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Laurita, Henry. "Path, Pattern, and Preference: The Power of Shape to Modify Honeybee Foraging Behavior." University of Maine Student Symposium 2020
https://umaine.edu/umss/2020/03/01/umss-henry-laurita/
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Laurita, Henry. "Path, Pattern, and Preference: The Power of Shape to Modify Honeybee Foraging Behavior." Senior Research Capstone, Spring 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. Leahy, J. McGuire, K. Collum, and M. Ladenheim. More Land Access, More Food? Assessing the potential for collaborative networks among maple producers, beekeepers, and landowners in Maine, U.S. Presentation at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management Virtual Conference, 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. Leahy, J. McGuire, K. Collum, and M. Ladenheim. Community-Engaged Teaching with Local Honey and Maple: Strengthening a Knowledge with Action Approach in Student Learning and Research. Presentation at the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences Virtual Conference, 2020.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Hurley, Patrick, "An Analysis of the History and Current Treatment Trends of the Parasitic Mite Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in Maine Beekeeping" (2020). Honors College. 599. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/599
|
Progress 05/15/18 to 05/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience this year primarily included maple producers and beekeepers, especially those who are considered small and medium-sized based on the number of taps and colonies they maintain. We included multi-generation and first generation farmers and landowners. We reached other stakeholders, primarily through our active stakeholder advisory group. This consists of a 13-person Sweet Spot Stakeholder Advisory group, which includes state agency, Cooperative Extension, nonprofit associations, and individual producers. Students are the final target audience in year 2. Our target audience included upper-division students at the College of the Atlantic and lower- and upper-division students in the University of Maine's Honors College. This year there were 8 undergraduate research fellows. Changes/Problems:We are generally on schedule with no problems to report this year. We anticipate some potential for upcoming delays due to the departure of the project's post-doctoral researcher, but will strive to stay on target with our timeline and deliverables. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several training activities were provided for the 8 undergraduate researchers in the Sweet Spot fellowship program. As well, professional development was provided for the post-doctoral researcher who recently was successful in securing a faculty position at Binghamton University. In the upcoming year, we will complete more outreach to producers which may include trainings and professional development opportunities based on our research results. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have shared materials via Digital Commons as well as in person at local, state, regional and national meetings. Local media has also had a keen interest in the Sweet Spot project. Local press coverage examples include: https://www.coa.edu/live/news/1719-students-seek-sweet-spot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31rQes44zFw https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/Undergraduate-students-working-on-a-summer-research-project-513261921.html https://www.foxbangor.com/news/item/umaine-student-researches-foraging-designs-for-bees/ What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For education, we will run another Sweet Spot Fellowship program during the summer of 2020. We will also share the SFSRC model at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference. To meet the remaining research objectives, we will complete the survey of producers and also complete the sweet spot mapping to identify socio-geographic areas of collaboration where producers and farmers/forest landowners may have high probabilities of working together to increase production. For outreach, we will share the business consultant materials publicly and advertise their availability to increase use from the producer community.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In year two, we made additional strides toward the primary education objective of the project: to enhance, expand, and create a transferable model of the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative (SFSRC) fellows program. The second year of the SFSRC featured 8 undergraduate student researchers with 4 students from University of Maine, 3 students from College of the Atlantic and 1 student from Western Washington University. This was a major increase inthe number of undergraduate training opportunities at the University of Maine Honors College and College of the Atlantic, with a specific focus on the interdisciplinary area of sustainable food systems. Our application process was refined as well as the summer fellowship experience with research training, stakeholder mentorships, and field trips.The program is training undergraduate fellows, the next generation of scientists and farmers, in knowledge-to-action models so that they become better at creating, using, and sharing of actionable knowledge that benefits small and medium-sized producers. The 8 fellows worked closely with the project post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Sara Velardi, and the Co-PIs to: develop research questions related to small- and medium-scale maple syrup and honey production; research and write a literature review; develop a research design; write a research proposal; collect data; and collaborate with a mentor in either the beekeeping or maple syrup industry. Student projects ranged from forage arrays for bees, a cost of production study, labor shortage survey, mite treatments, non-timber forest products (mushrooms), maple/sugarbush site assessment tools, and sugar maple-American beech regneration competition. These projects are all ongoing. Last year's fellow, Marianna Mead, published her project on the rearing of northern queen honey bees and has entered the Peace Corps as a agricultural specialist in The Gambia. Last year's other fellow, Skye Siladi, developed a project on social capital among multi- and first-generation farmers, that was the basis for her Honors thesis. She worked on this project through May 2019. She is currently employed at the Lost Kitchen and seeking work in the fall within one of Maine's agricultural support organizations (state and non-profits). This year we offered one Honors tutorial,"Cultural Aspects of Food and Agriculture in Maine, at the University of Maine. This recruited two of the six students from that course into the fellowship program. As well, the post-doctoral research has recently been hired by Binghamton University and will be transporting this class to her new position. This is evidence that the SFSRC and other Sweet Spot educational outcomes are spreading. We also made advances toward meeting our research objectives. We continued informational interviews to understand baseline conditions. We completed well over 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews with producers, and this has led to three manuscripts drafted as journal articles. Two have been submitted and another will be submitted to Agriculture and Human Values in the fall. We are in the middle of the mail survey of beekeepers and maple producers and this will be completed in the upcoming year. Further, in the upcoming year we will complete the spatial analysis research objectives. In terms of extension, Mark Hews finished his work on the business consultation design which will include creating an overview of supply chain and market channels, and a business plan template designed to address scale management issues for small scale beekeeping and maple syrup producers. This design work then transitioned into producer site visits and business plan development. He has provided direct business consultations to 8 producers. In the upcoming year, his materials will be shared via a public website and publicized via a press release and other outreach. Finally, we also attended and/or participated in thefollowing events: Maine Maple Mania,Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME; Swan's Honey Open Field Day, Albion, ME; and Cooper Charolais Farm and Apiary Open Hive Day, Windham, ME.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Hurley, P., S. Magnano, and J. Sean. 2019. Climate change and diverse challenges facing Maines maple industry: areas for potential future research. Student poster presentation at the Center for Undergraduate Research Student Symposium, Bangor, ME.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Mead, M. In press. Rearing queen honey bees: A bullet journal. Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Mead, M. 2018. Rearing queen honey bees: A bullet journal. Sweet Spot. 1. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/sweetspot/1.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Merchant, H., A. Zenga, and K. Tims. 2019. Maine beekeeping and adapting to the effects of climate change: Areas for potential future research. Student poster presentation at the Center for Undergraduate Research Student Symposium, Bangor, ME.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Overturf, K. & McGuire, J. 2018. Knowledge to Action Education: Finding the Sweet Spot for Maine Maple and Beekeeping Scale Decisions. Student & Faculty Poster Presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, November 7-11. Boston, MA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., Ladenheim, M., and McGuire, J. 2019. The sap buckets are half-full: Scale up of Maine's small- and medium-scale maple producers. Presentation at the New England Society of American Foresters Meeting. Burlington, VT.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. Leahy, K. Collum, J. McGuire, and M. Ladenheim. 2019. You Treat Them Right, Theyll Treat You Right : Understanding Beekeepers Scale Management Decisions with the Context of Values Toward Bees. Presentation at Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society Annual Meeting and Conference, University of Alaska - Anchorage, Anchorage, AK
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Siladi, S. 2019. Sustainability in the Maine Maple Sugaring Industry: How Alternative Forms of Wealth Are Conceptualized By Producers. Presentation at the Maine Sustainability and Water Conference, Augusta, ME.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Siladi, S. 2019. Making a Sweet Spot: How Wealth Is Realized Among Maine Maple Syrup Producers. Student poster presentation at the Society for Economic Anthropology Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Siladi, S. 2019. Creating A Sweet Spot: How Alternative Forms of Capital are Valued by Small- and Medium-Scale Maine Maple Syrup Producers. Student poster presentation at at the Center for Undergraduate Research Student Symposium, Bangor, ME.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Siladi, S. 2019. Beyond The Sugar Shack: How Non-Financial Forms of Capital Are Conceptualized By Small- and Medium-Scale Maine Maple Syrup Producers. Honors Student Thesis, defended April 2019.
|
Progress 05/15/17 to 05/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience this year primarily included maple producers and beekeepers, especially those who are considered small and medium-sized based on the number of taps and colonies they maintain. We included multi-generation and first generation farmers and landowners. We reached other stakeholders, primarily through ouractive stakeholder advisory group. This consists of a13-person Sweet Spot Stakeholder Advisory group, which includes state agency, Cooperative Extension, nonprofit associations, and individual producers. Students are the final target audience in year 1. Our target audience included upper-division students at the College of the Atlantic and lower- and upper-division students in the University of Maine's Honors College. Changes/Problems:We ran into challenges recruiting a qualified post-doctoral researcher for this project. We eventually found an ideal candidate but we had a later start date than anticipated. This has set us back on our anticipated timeline. We are optimistic that we can still meet all of the deliverables by the end date, although the possibility exists that we may request a no cost extension in the last year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Marianna Mead, an undergraduate from College of the Atlantic completed her independent senior research project evaluating the potential to begin a northern queen rearing program. She conducted extensive field work with a Master Beekeeper in Maine working with him to test and attempt different methods for rearing northern queens. She completed an annotated bibliography and literature review on the current research guiding her field work and methods. Her final output from the project will be a Bullet Journal with charts, photographs and timelines detailing her research experience and recommended methods for the public in rearing northern queens. Upon completion within the next couple of months the Bullet Journal will be made publicly available on the University of Maine's Digital Commons for those interested in referencing her notes and recommendations. Skye Siladi, an undergraduate anthropology major at the University of Maine developed her Honors Thesis prospectus, which will explore social and cultural capital within the maple syrup industry in Maine. She completed an annotated bibliography on the community capital framework, alternative means of valuation in anthropology and ethnographic research on maple sugaring and is currently in the process of writing her literature review. She participated in outreach events for maple sugaring including Maine Maple Mania and Open Farm Day and performed informational interviews with maple sugar stakeholders in Maine. She assisted the project team creating interview questions designed to answer her specific research question and will be assisting the postdoctoral research associate in conducting in-person interviews, honing her interview and qualitative method skills. Our post-doctoral researcher, Sara Vilardi, also has benefited from training and professional development ranging from STEM education workshops/conferences to undergraduate research mentoring. Training and professional development in IRB human subjects protection and knowledge-to-action models was completed by all new project participants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Given the earlier stages of this project, in year 1, we have given two poster presentations and have another two accepted already for year 2. We anticipate resultsbeing disseminated to communities of intereston a more widespread scale once data have been gathered and analyzed. We held both a stakeholder advisory committee meeting and an academic advisory committee meeting so our various stakeholders are up to date and have had opportunities to shape the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research: As we enter into year two, we will conduct up to 50 qualitative interviews and carry out a mail survey of small- and medium-size producers or farmers/landowners. These data will be analyzed and results disseminated within the state and with academic audiences. Year two will also include the development of the spatial analysis which will be finalized in year three. Education: We anticipate offering Bees & Society at College of the Atlantic andReflections on Cultural Aspects of Maine Agriculture as an honors tutorial at the University of Maine. Students will explore the social, economic, political, biological and environmental interacting principles of agriculture with specific focus on Maine. Added emphasis on research preparation will include evaluation of sources, formulating research questions and presenting research posters. In the tutorial, students will present group poster presentations on the case studies of the beekeeping and maple syrup industries in Maine and areas for future research. Finally, students will write a final Center for Undergraduate Research proposal on addressing either maple syrup production or beekeeping in Maine to answer a research question of interest related to their respective discipline. We anticipate 16 students in Bees & Society, 12 in Reflections on Cultural Aspects of Maine Agriculture. From these coures, we will recruit four undergraduate SFSRC Fellows for Summer 2019. Extension: Our expert on small business and rural development collaborator will begin working with 5 maple producers and 5 beekeepers to develop a business plan and assist with active scale management decisions. Students and other project team members will partner with stakeholders on a variety of outreach outputs ranging from events to fact sheets to websites.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In year one, we made significant strides toward the primary education objective of the project: to enhance, expand, and create a transferable model of the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative (SFSRC) fellows program. The SFSRC was first launched at the University of Maine in 2015 to expand the number of undergraduate training opportunities at the University of Maine Honors College, with a specific focus on the interdisciplinary area of sustainable food systems. The USDA-AFRI grant has provided funding to continue the program at UM for three additional years and expand the collaborative by launching a joint program at College of the Atlantic, which was launched in year one. During the spring, the SFSRC was enhanced at the University of Maine and officially launched at College of the Atlantic. An application process was established and two undergraduate SFSRC fellows (one from each institution) were hired for the spring and summer. The program is training undergraduate fellows, the next generation of scientists and farmers, in knowledge-to-action models so that they become better at creating, using, and sharing of actionable knowledge that benefits small and medium-sized producers. The two fellows worked closely with the project post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Sara Velardi, and the Co-PIs to: develop research questions related to small- and medium-scale maple syrup and honey production; research and write a literature review; develop a research design; write a research proposal; collect data; and collaborate with a mentor in either the beekeeping or maple syrup industry. The first summer of the joint collaborative was highly successful. One fellow, Marianna Mead, developed a project on the rearing of northern queen honey bees. She completed this work and it is our hope that one of the 2019 SFSRC fellows will continue on with this project. The second fellow, Skye Siladi, developed a project on social capital among multi- and first-generation farmers, which will be the basis for her Honors thesis. She will continue to work on this project through May 2019. Our offered courses created several accomplishments. In Exploring Maine's Changing Foodscape, a UMaine Honors College Tutorial, two students decided to include knowledge-to-action methods and outputs in their Honors Theses; four students led the Sweet Spot Module in the Honors Tutorial. They developed an interview instrument that served as a foundation for researchers' interviews with industry stakeholders; students then conducted interviews with beekeeping and maple production industry experts, Jennifer Lund, Maine State Apiarist, and Kathy Hopkins, Extension Professor, to develop and improve the interview instrument for Sweet Spot project stakeholders and research participants; Students also presented at the University of Maine Student Symposium. In Bees & Society at the College of the Atlantic, students hosted a beekeeping/pollination workshop for 6th graders and participated in fieldwork with a number of folks central to Maine's beekeeping industry, including: Peter Cowin (Master beekeeper), Jen Lund (State Apiarist), Frank Drummond (Extension Specialist and Professor of Entomology), Erin Forbes (Master Beekeepers and EAS President). The course also served as an opportunity for one SFSRC fellow, Marianna Mead, to mentor other students and served as a recruiting platform for 2019 SFSRC fellows. We also made advances toward meeting our research objectives. Informational interviews were conducted to understand baseline conditions withthe Landowner Outreach Forester and Natural Science Educator for the Maine Forest Service on maple syrup production outreach needs in Maine,the maple syrup Extension Educator for University of Maine Cooperative Extension on current context and history of maple syrup production in Maine, theState Apiarist on current context of beekeeping in Maine, and thePresident of Maine Maple Producers Association on background of maple syrup production in Maine and member characteristics of the association. In terms of extension, Mark Hews has begun work on the business consultation design which will include creating an overview of supply chain and market channels, and a business plan template designed to address scale management issues for small scale beekeeping and maple syrup producers. This design work is anticipated to be completed by November 2018, and we will then transition into producer site visits and business plan development. We also attended and/or participated in the following events:Knox-Lincoln Beekeeping Workshop on Preventing Swarms, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME; Swan's Honey Open Field Day, Albion, ME; Maine Maple Mania, Greenville, ME; Cooper Charolais Farm and Apiary Open Hive Day, Windham, ME; andOpen Farm Day at Royer Valley Farm, Brooks, ME.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Doak, S., Gorney, E., Labbe, D. and Overturf, K. 2018. Interview Questions to Determine Business and Resource Issues Facing Maple Syrup Producers and Beekeepers in the State of Maine. Poster Presentation at the University of Maine 2018 Student Symposium. Bangor, ME, April 2018.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Velardi, S., J. McGuire, M. Ladenheim, K. Collum, and J. Leahy. 2018. Finding the Sweet Spot for Knowledge-to-Action Undergraduate Research Experiences. Poster Presentation at the Maine Center for Research in STEM Education Teaching Symposium: Strategies for Engaged Student Learning in Undergraduate STEM Courses. Orono, ME, June 2018.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Leahy, J., Velardi, S., Collum, K., McGuire, J. and Ladenheim, M. 2018. A Case Study in Engaged Undergraduate Research on Small- and Medium-Scale Non-Timber Forest Product Production. Oral Presentation at the Society of American Foresters National Meeting. Portland, OR, October 2018.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Overturf, K. and McGuire, J. 2018. Finding the Sweet Spot: Solutions Through Knowledge-to-Action Education. Poster Presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference. Boston, MA, November 2018.
|
|