University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Agriculture, without question, has dramatically changed the natural landscape of the world, in species diversity, soil, water, and air quality. The choices made in agricultural settings have a great impact on the larger ecosystem. Consequently, there is a great need and urgency for understanding how individuals interact with nature, especially within an agricultural ecosystem. Conservation thought in agriculture is more than preservation of land and ecosystems; it also involves individuals and communities. Therefore it is of utmost importance to understand how farmers value nature and how their lifeÕs work affects the natural environment. Agriculture involves individuals and communities and it is important to get both the farmer and non-farmer perspectives, especially in terms of understanding the environmental impact of agriculture, as well as interpreting and implementing farming policy.
I am exploring and comparing how individuals directly involved in agriculture (farmers) and individuals removed from agriculture (non-farmers) view their relationship with nature in agricultural landscapes. I hope to describe the environmental attitudes of farming and non-farming populations, using mixed methods including anthropocentric/ecocentric scales, along with open ended interviews about farming and connections with nature. By exploring this human/nature value relationship in an agricultural setting, I hope to understand if environmental value orientation is influencing, or not or to what extent, environmental behaviors in farming, and in non-farming perspectives.
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