Bridging the gap between the science and practice of agroecological stewardship
I study multi-use rangeland ecosystems to seek to discover sustainable pathways for relationships between people and nature, for food production, recreation, renewable energy and natural resource management. The principles that guide my work are a synchronization of conservationism, altruism and stewardship.
Across a long and winding trek through academia, I carried these principles. I intended to apply scientific research where it mattered most — on the ground, on working lands, where humans had to collaborate with each other, while balancing the objectives of conservation and food production. I chose to focus my graduate research on collaborative grazing management on public lands.
What I didn’t expect was the challenge of finding and recruiting willing ranchers to my study. Eventually I got the job done, but I was surprised how much resistance and skepticism there was from the farming and ranching side, including concerns over data privacy and the potential for self-incrimination.
As a student, this was not only disheartening but an unnecessary struggle in the process of learning, which I believed could be avoided. In my mind, there shouldn’t have been a gap between where science happens and where it is applied, between research and practice, and between the curiosity behind institutional learning (“academia”) and experiential learning (“ranching/farming”). Why couldn’t we all use our unique knowledge sources to elevate our collective learning, our collective objectives? Why did barriers to working together appear to exist? Why couldn’t the classroom be a working ranch and the working ranch a classroom? And the more I talked with other graduate students and established university faculty, the more I realized this was a widespread issue, a dilemma that everyone experienced but never addressed directly.
I realized that two things I hold side-by-side in my own heart, science and ranching, were not typically held side-by-side — neither in academia nor in practice. I know there are exceptions to this, and there are plenty of ranchers and farmers who value and welcome research, and these are truly my champions. However, this is not the status quo.
Being both a rancher and a budding scientist was a fortuitous combination. I found that being able to speak both the language of science and the language of practice was hugely beneficial and tore down barriers to collaboration. To this day, I often consider myself a translator between these worlds.
Another lament that I’ve heard time and time again from veteran and seasoned U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Natural Resource Conservation Service professionals is that early-career university graduates are applying for jobs in rangeland management, agriculture, wildlife and natural resource divisions with limited to no hands-on experience on the land or in communicating with landowners. “They just aren’t hirable due to lack of experience,” is a phrase I’ve heard in various iterations too many times. Additionally, the summer internships and seasonal positions with these organizations that intend to provide such experiential learning are limited and highly competitive.
With time, these issues formed the bed from which the Rangeland Living Laboratory was rooted and born. The Rangeland Living Laboratory is a non-profit organization with the mission to support working lands stewardship through partnerships in agroecology facilitation, education and translation. Therefore, in 2022, during the months I spent writing my dissertation, I formed a Board of Directors, incorporated the entity with the State of Colorado and applied for a 501(c)3 status with the Internal Revenue Service. Now entering our third year of establishment, we have launched a website, are growing a network of supporters, have one project off the ground, and have more funded programs in the queue.
For example, we are working with a landowner in Boulder County, Colorado, who had the opportunity to re-integrate previously fragmented farmland into a whole agroecological operation, complete with grazing and vegetable farming partnerships, land health monitoring, community engagement, and supporting wildlife and pollinator habitat. The Rangeland Living Laboratory is providing oversight and guidance toward the landowner’s objectives, creating and maintaining those collaborations with partnering local stakeholders, and engaging university students to complete ecological monitoring and data synthesis. We are also developing a curriculum for a field day for school kids where they will visit the farm and learn how agriculture and natural resource conservation go hand-in-hand, witnessing different people with different backgrounds work together for a common purpose.
This summer, we are excited to pilot a summer internship program, hopefully the first of many. The internship is geared toward providing opportunities for university students at the undergraduate or graduate level to get hands-on experience on working farms and ranches. These internships are paid for through the generosity of donor funds, so they come at no expense to the rancher or farmer. Funds for extra (non-experienced) labor can be a huge barrier for farmers and ranchers, when cash-flow is already positioned within narrow margins. The Rangeland Living Laboratory can sponsor paid internships to dually support student learning and working lands operations while relieving the burden of cost to the provider of the learning environment — the landowner. We will be piloting this internship program on my own family ranch, La Dolce Vita Ranch, in Guffey, Colorado, and will be seeking more supportive funds to expand the opportunity to other willing ranchers and farmers. There is definitely no lack of students interested in such opportunities.
At the Rangeland Living Laboratory we are committed to supporting and stewarding the cycling of private funds and donorships, as opposed to government funding. There is an intentionality to the monies that come from families, foundations, donors and giving funds. It’s not an empty exercise like the money accumulated from taxpayers’ pockets. Instead, when we take on private funding, we are carrying on and extending the mission and vision of others, their shared values, their own altruism. We are dedicated to conserving rangeland ecosystems through integrated management and collaborative support, and this is accomplished by cycling charitable funds intentionally and in the spirit of giving, thereby relieving the burden of cost to the landowner.
The Rangeland Living Laboratory is an evolving, living entity, shaped and carved by our experiences, the people who cross our path, the opportunities we put out into the world, and the opportunities the world brings to us. With a solid mission at our core, the sky is truly a limitless veil to what we may accomplish, the impact we may have, and the lands, animals and people we may serve.
Conservation, altruism and stewardship are tightly braided into the Rangeland Living Laboratory. Healthy, abundant natural landscapes are a benefit to all of society. We also call these gifts of nature “ecosystem services.” I believe it is our responsibility, as members of society, to contribute to the health and function of ecosystem services. All of us can do this through our choices as food consumers, food growers or charitable givers.
Learn more at https://rangelandlivinglaboratory.org.
Anna Clare Monlezun is a Colorado rancher and is the CEO of Rangeland Living Laboratory (rangelandlivinglaboratory.org). She has a Ph.D. in ecosystem science and sustainability.
