Research

Seed innovation systems

Seed systems – the seed savers, breeders, producers, companies, and agencies that are responsible for supplying our agricultural system with seeds – are complex networks that rely on coordination of information and resources across multiple stakeholders. Little is known about the systems-level interactions that support such a system, and the organic sector faces particular challenges with regards to research & development, intellectual property protections, and supply chain reliability. For this work, along with the Organic Seed Alliance, I conduct network analyses of organic seed systems to better understand opportunities for supporting transitions to a more sustainable seed system. We have released the 2022 State of Organic Seed Report, alongside an interactive data site to explore the survey and network data. We have also worked together to submit public comments regarding seed industry consolidation. This project is funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Relevant publications and reports:

Science in policy & policy in science

Science is not value-free. Instead, policy-makers often use science that speaks to their problem framing, and scientists ask and frame questions based on their positionality. To understand how policy-makers use science, I am working with a team to design computational tools for extracting and analyzing citations across a range of policy documents. My main case is the transportation sector, where agencies rely on a vast array of science and engineering inputs to design infrastructure, site and plan operations, and make policies. To understand how and where transportation and transit agencies use science, this project looks at scientific resources that state and regional transit agencies use for plans and projects. Transportation planning and project development processes generate large quantities of procedural documents – plans, project proposals, and environmental assessments, which we analyze to extract and assess the nature and sources of science that informs transportation governance.

Relevant publications and projects:

  • Wood, L & Scott, T.A. (2023) govscienceuseR: Tools for quantifying science in policy. Conference paper for Conference of Policy Process Research. Denver, CO.
  • Wood, L., Scott, T. (2022) Transportation agencies as consumers and producers of science: The case of state, regional, and county transportation agencies in California. Revise & resubmit in Transport Policy 128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.08.016.

Ag policy for environmental conservation

How policies affect farmer behavior in confronting environmental challenges has major implications for the sustainability of the food system. Policies such as voluntary incentives and certification, mandatory reporting, and sponsored research support are just some of the approaches utilized by the US government. My work in this area looks at programs like the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP), a California policy that mandates engagement with information-based tools. In the context of the ILRP, we evaluate farmers surveys to quantitatively assess the stages that farmers go through as they learn about nitrogen management and change behavior. A summary of our team’s research research can be found in this PDF presentation. We have also evaluated farmers’ opinions related to policies for California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Relevant publications and projects:

Graduate student strike action

During Fall term of 2022, University of California graduate and post-doctoral unions went on strike to demand higher wagers, stronger protections, and more comprehensive benefits. As a fifth-year graduate student at the time of the strike action, I felt that the claims coming from both the Union and the UC were opaque. In response, I dedicated much of my strike time to digging into the data behind the union’s and university’s claims throughout the striking and bargaining process.

My first initiative was an opinion on the UC strike action vote, which evaluated the current wages for graduate students across the US and put them in the context of cost of living the UC union’s demands. I also looked into the relationship between student and faculty salaries at the UC, largely in response to faculty resistance at graduate student demands. Following the UC’s first official communication since the start of the strike, I drafted a response to the Provost to point out the UC’s false claims regarding the wages it was offering. Finally, as the Union and the UC began making more compromising proposals, I developed an interactive pay estimator to help graduate students understand what these proposals meant for the salaries for the following academic year.