Key Milestones
🌟 Key milestones
May 2023: Our journey began
Our team embarked on a mission to address the growing challenges of climate stress and grief faced by agricultural producers. Supported by a $10,000 mini-grant from the Western Region Agriculture Stress Assistance Program, we designed a 30-minute curriculum specifically for producers and agricultural professionals to navigate these emotional challenges.
🌱 October 2023: Program Pilot
- We successfully piloted our program four times.
- 89% of participants expressed interest in more in-depth learning about climate stress and grief.
December 2023: Sharing our findings
We presented our initial results at prestigious conferences:
- OSU Extension Annual Conference
- USDA SARE Building Partnerships for Agricultural Sustainability Summit
- National Risk Management Education National Conference
April to September 2024: Data collection
We conducted a survey, interviews and focus group discussions to gather more data from agricultural producers
- 51 farmers and ranchers participated in the survey
- 46 agricultural producers participated in the interview and focus group discussion
October 2024: More data dissemination
We were invited to speak as a keynote speaker:
- Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
April 1, 2026: More data dissemination
Mary was invited as keynote speaker: Cultivating Resilience for Climate Grief and Anxiety: Helping Natural Resource Managers and Supporting Conservationists.
💡 New grants and funding
- OSU’s 2025 Transdisciplinary Research Seed Fund Proposal
- Hoecker Innovation Grant
- Western Center for Risk Management Exploration Grant
- OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences
- WSARE Professional Development Project Grant
These grants will allow us to continue developing additional training and expand our research beyond 2023-24.
🌍 Looking ahead
We are committed to advancing knowledge in climate stress management for agricultural communities, providing tools for resilience, and ensuring long-term sustainability in the field. Stay tuned for more updates as we expand our research and training programs!