"W
hat I love about my work is I get to interact with people from all different lifestyles, livelihoods and cultures,” said Brooke McWherter, a Ph.D. candidate in forestry and natural resources. “As much as I produce knowledge, I’m learning much more.”
Inspired by Jane Goodall, McWherter originally studied wildlife biology. McWherter earned an undergraduate degree at Missouri State University before joining the Peace Corps.
She spent two years as an environmental education and conservation specialist in Paraguay. There, McWherter studied how people’s decisions impact wildlife and wildlife habitats.
“It inspired my interests in more human-focused programs,” McWherter recalled. “I still wanted to conserve nature, but people’s livelihoods are embedded in these landscapes.”
After earning a master’s degree in environmental justice and conservation ecology at the University of Michigan, she moved to Indiana.
In 2017, McWherter began work at Purdue in the Human Dimensions Lab of Zhao Ma, professor of natural resource social science. There, she focuses on understanding human-wildlife and human-environment relationships to improve conservation strategies.
(Photos provided by Brooke McWherter)
McWherter’s dissertation has three distinct chapters. The first two involved a return to fieldwork in Bolivia where she studied how landowner participation in conservation programs influences trust in implementing organizations. She also examined how nongovernmental organizations and governments leverage shared risk and trust to collaborate in watershed conservation program design.
The third chapter brought McWherter back to Indiana to study how humans interact with –and livestock producers tolerate – black vultures based on cultural values, emotions and economic considerations.
McWherter is active with the Center for the Environment’s signature research area on Building Sustainability Communities and is the graduate student representative on the FNR Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Committee.
“Diversity always enhances a lab,” McWherter explained. “It means that we’re all learning something new and we are all bringing something to the table.”
In the spring, McWherter will teach an undergraduate course, FNR 375 Human Dimensions of Natural Resource Management. After completing her degree next summer, she hopes to land a postdoctoral position and join the faculty of an R1 institution.
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Beckett studied animal sciences as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech. She had little experience with cattle before college but answered an ad to work on a farm while a student. There, Beckett came to enjoy caring for the calves and milking the cows.
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Student’s research promotes healthier, more profitable cattle
“I study the liver of dairy cattle because metabolic disease can lead to the loss of millions of dollars for the dairy industry,” explained Linda Beckett, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Animal Sciences.
Beckett studied animal sciences as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech. She had little experience with cattle before college but answered an ad to work on a farm while a student. There, Beckett came to enjoy caring for the calves and milking the cows.
Read Full Story >>>
Student’s research aims to overcome antibiotic resistance
“My research keeps me awake at night,” said Trevor Boram. “But in a good way.”
Boram, a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry, began his collegiate career at Indiana University East. There, a faculty mentor who completed a postdoc at Purdue encouraged Boram to apply to graduate school in West Lafayette.
Read Full Story >>>
Student’s research looks for answers at Purdue to questions raised at home in Nigeria
Adebukola Dada grew up on a Nigerian farm where her father raised various plants and animals. “If our crops did not do well, I asked my dad to tell me why,” Dada recalled. “That’s up to you to figure out,” her father replied. Now a Ph.D. student in agronomy, Dada is on her way to finding the answers.
Read Full Story >>>