Fame and Fortune

Who knew that out of getting a Watson Fellowship, there would be some fame to accompany the fortune... errr... just kidding? The Oberlin webpage wrote a little story, followed by an article by the Oberlin Review. There was something in today's Oregonian and then another article in the Oregonian which spotlighted me. For the Review article I got a little over-zealous with my answering in our e-mail interview and gave more information than the writer likely wanted, presented below:

You're a history and comparative american studies major (and politics, according to the joys of facebook) - what drew you to looking at an essentially environmental topic?

1) Well, if facebook were to allow the nuance, it would show that I was a history major with minors in Comparative American Studies and Politics. If I had it to do all over again I would probably have been a Politics major with minors in economics, CAS, and Environmental Studies. I transferred to Oberlin from Deep Springs College (a tiny, eccentric, two-year ranch-school in California - ) and had to be rushed into choosing a major. It turns out I didn't chose the ideal... though majors don't really matter anyways.

Though I didn't major in sciency things, I really like sciencey things. My project is an attempt to look at the social and cultural effects of scientific changes in plant genetics. I hope to make use of some of my politics and CAS to figure out how practical changes are effecting culture and theory as well as real live people.

What questions are you going into looking at 'The Green Revolution'? What do you envision as your methodology for study?

2) The Green Revolution saved more lives in the twentieth century than most anything except the discovery of penicillin. Literally hundreds of millions of people who were starving were saved by it - yet most people don't even know what it was. The biggest question I am going to try to solve is just figuring out what exactly the green revolution was... and if it was what we think we thought it was. With the hindsight of a couple of decades there have been major revelations that we didn't do nearly as much good as we thought we did - and without time or effort to reconsider past mistakes people we are already rushing towards the new magic bullet of biotechnology. All the mistakes which were made during the conventionally bred changes in plant genetics from the green revolution are only going to be amplified with the advent of genetic engineering and right now is the time to start asking questions.

The big trouble is that there is a complete lack of information. Go to a book store and try to find even a cursory explanation of what the green revolution is and you'll only come back with a handful of things. Even OBIS only has seven books which are under the subject of the "green revolution." It's insanely tough to figure out just what happened even though (or because?) it was a global movement. I want to talk with small farmers, big business, and NGOs and get them all to tell me their side of the story. Then I want to figure out what actually happened.

The nice thing about the Watson is I don't need a 'methodology.' As long as I get to eat a lot and talk to a bunch of people about their food, I'll be happy. I will likely spend time working on farms, helping in some labs, and working in bakeries and kitchens. I am a big note taking person, so I am likely going to write a lot. If I'm lucky, I'll have enough information to have a decent thesis on something by the time I return.

Why did you choose France, India, and Mexico as your locations for study? I'm particularly curious about France, which seems counterintuitive.

3) Mexico and India are the easy ones to explain. France, granted, is a bit tougher.

Mexico was the place where the green revolution began. The term was coined largely referring to the process of American-Japanese dwarf hybrid wheat being introduced to Mexico as a form of humanitarian aid starting in the '50s. Mexico transformed its agricultural economy, boosting its wheat production by many times over to the point where it is now a major exporter of the staple grain. I will start off by spending time with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) learning some of the basics about what they did - and are still doing today. There's a big disconnect by NGOs like CIMMYT because they spearheaded this first push for the good of humanity and now biotech is coming in for profits, and on top of that NAFTA is screwing everything up. Additionally, I want to see how wheat has entered the Mexican diet. I want to see how agricultural imperialism has changed long standing farming techniques and cooking.

India was sort-of the second hot spot for improvements in wheat. In the 60s, millions were on the brink of starvation because of drought - and science stepped in and saved the day. But sadly, the miracle seed wasn't all it cracked up to be and after a little bit it increased need for fertilizers and began destroying previously arable land. Old seed stocks were lost for indigenous stains of wheat and farmers became dependent on multinational corporations to let them keep growing. Over the past five years there have been a rash of suicides in India due to the desperation of the situation. I want to get a more complete picture of what is happening with Indian farmers.

France is important because it is by far, the largest producer of wheat in Europe. Through political wrangling, French politicians have been able to save French farmers from the fate that most growers have faced in the industrialized world - a routine of assimilate or die. The French still have vibrant local farming communities thanks to protectionist legislation. The improvements in grain stock designed for the third world, have allowed the French to garner similar increases in their crop yields but without nearly as many of the catastrophic consequences. I would like to see how the French have managed it, what they are doing with it, and what (if anything) they have been doing to help developing nations. I think it will be important in my research to be able to contrast industrialized and developing nations.

Does your Watson Fellowship in some way tie into your career plans? Or not?

4) I hope this ties into my career plans. I love people, agriculture, baking, and politics. This is something which combines a lot of the things which I feel the most passionate about. I don't know what I am going to do with my life - I could see myself going into law, government, lobbying, writing, research, or non-profits - and I think all the wandering I am about to do will likely help push me in the right direction - whatever that may be.

What would you like to get out of your Watson Fellowship?
5) I want to find understanding. And eat a lot.

Questions you didn't ask, but I didn't get to answer in the above rambling:

Q) What have you been doing since graduation?

A) I graduated in December after two and a half years at Oberlin. I moved back to my home in Portland, Oregon and take French (my fifth year) and Spanish (my first year) classes in preparation for my travels.

Q) What did you do at Oberlin?

A) I was really involved in the co-ops generally and founded the Culinary Program House during my last year at Oberlin. I also spent time playing intramural basketball, intramural soccer, and I performed with the Sunshine Scouts.

Q) Experience in any of this stuff?

A) I have worked on farms and ranches all over and have loved gardening for a long time, but most of my experience comes from my time at Deep Springs. I spent time there as the Farm Team manager in charge of 160 acres of organic alfalfa. I have been baking artisan bread for a little past five years and cooking for as long as I was allowed in the kitchen.

Technology and Travel

I am back home from a short tour of the east coast and have begun really delving into planning. While I certainly do need to figure out where I am going and what I am doing, getting all that figured out is much more complicated. The easier question is, what sort of technology am I going to have with me? My parents were shocked to hear that I had no desire to bring a laptop with me on my travels. My friend Ryan has been trying to sell me on getting a big fancy camera for the past couple of months. People keep telling me that I will need to have a cell phone wherever I go. I wonder how much exactly I really need... and what sorts of things would just end up being a burden.

Computer: I have a Toshiba Satellite, which has dutifully served me well for the past year and a half, but would be a pain to have with me on travels abroad. It's big and it's heavy. Having it would just place a "rob me" sign on my back. I will spend enough time in rural areas and backpacking that anything that I can't throw in a bag and take with me would be a pain to have.

Yet, I would like to have some way of processing my thoughts. There are internet cafes everywhere these days in big cities, but in small towns they will likely be few and far between. Though the Watson Foundation requires relatively little in terms of my actual text output, I would go a bit nuts if I am not working on some sort of concrete output. I may not write the Great American Novel or a grand treatise about the growth of agriculture, but I will write something. While writing things by hand is an option, it's slow, and a bit burdensome. I would eventually need to transcribe anything good I produced. Digital would be the preference.

So, in enters the idea of getting a PDA. They're small, stuffable in a pocket or a bag, cheap, and they can store a fair amount of information. Add on a foldable keyboard and you have an efficient little device for writing and more. The trouble is finding anything out about the things. I spent much of yesterday on the internet and going to several computer stores in hopes of getting more information, but no one seems to carry them or know anything about them. It is plain to see that it is a dying technology. Smartphones and laptops have encroached enough that they no longer have a solid enough corner on the market for portable multimedia. Employees at these stores seem to know nothing... I just need to find a user and ask about how they work and such... we will see.

Camera: I have a Canon Elph. A nice, pocket sized camera from two years back. It works well enough, but is getting up there in its years (as far as technology goes, sigh). It is really good for snap shots, but if I would like to take nicer photos, I would be a bit out of luck. Over the past five years between my two Canon Elphs, I have taken over 15,000 photographs, but for the most part they have been snapshots. I am limited by my technology and wouldn't mind taking a step into the next level of a nicer piece of equipment. The trouble is size as much as cost. The Nikon D40 is a nice camera, but still weighs in at a pound, and more importantly takes a fair bit of space in a bag, and a fair amount of stress in my mind. While I can slip my current camera into a pocket for taking around with me, a camera with lenses would need to be in a bag all of the time. I am going to be out and about for fourteen months and I have a lot of trouble thinking about carrying a bag with me every moment for that entire time... but then again, I might likely be doing that anyhow. With a passport, purified water, guidebooks, maps, and a notebook/palm pilot with me anyhow, how much more is a little ol' camera?

Phone: I waited until just last year to finally get a cell phone in the US. I had done just fine without one, but I anticipated that with applying to jobs and moving about it would be a good thing to have. Though I rarely use even a third of my minutes, it has been a good thing to have, overall. But would I need one in another country? Talking to people overseas with them would be silly expensive, so I would go to a call center for that anyhow. It would more likely be for planning things in the country... which could be quite convenient. And in an emergency? I guess it would be nice.

Oy.