College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Hometown: Lansing, Michigan, USA

Advisor: Jenny Hodbod

I grew up on a small dairy farm in Cumberland, Wisconsin. The farm is over 100 years old and highly influenced my identity. Because we lived in the country, I had a lot of land to explore as a child. My parents and my grandparents encouraged me to always be curious. This trait has served me well my whole life and has led me to where I am today. I have a personal interest in improving the lives of farmers and ranchers. I have begun working to determine if there are substantial differences in wellbeing between managers who participate in adaptive multi-paddock grazing techniques (AMP) and those who graze continuously. There is some evidence that managing adaptively can benefit the soil and landscape because treating the operation as an integrated system instead of individual pieces allows for a more comprehensive understanding. I am working to discover the benefits for the producers managing these landscapes. The hypothesis is that managers grazing adaptively will report higher levels of happiness, social cohesion, and stewardship identities.