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Home > About Us > Our groups > Land & Environment > Socio-ecological Systems

Socio-ecological Systems

Farm stream and herd of cattle

The Socio-ecological Systems team provides an understanding of the context in which people live, learn, make decisions and act. By doing so it identifies the drivers of human actions to develop alternative strategies and practices to improve outcomes for pastoral agriculture.

Agriculture is a human activity and without farmers agricultural production would not exist.  However, farmers do not work in a vacuum and are connected to the world around them in a huge variety of different ways.  Of particular interest to the team is farmer decision-making processes in the context of their social, economic and bio-physical environments; how they learn about and respond to new technologies and systems; how they manage social wellbeing on farms; and the construction and implementation of innovation systems that encourage the use of new knowledge.

The team is based at Ruakura, Grasslands, Lincoln and Invermay.
 

 People

 

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Bewsell, DeniseScientistLincoln
Blackett, Dr PaulaPolicy ResearcherRuakura
Botha, Dr NeelsSenior ScientistRuakura
Paragahawewa, Dr UpanandaScientistRuakura
Payne, TracyResearcherRuakura
Peoples, Dr SueScientistInvermay
Small, BruceSenior ScientistRuakura
Walcroft, JillResearch AssociateGrasslands
White, ToniResearch AssociateRuakura
 

 Capabilities

 
  • Social research
  • Extension / adoption / tech transfer
  • Adult learning
  • Economics
  • Psychology.
 

 Current research

 

A sample of the research that focuses on the people in agriculture is profiled here. 

Much of the research addressing the “people” aspects of agriculture science is embedded in other science projects.

  • Increasing farmer understanding of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions
  • Coastal adaptation to climate change
  • Agricultural Innovation Systems
  • Integrated Assessment
  • e-Learning for farmers
  • Dairying & Communities
  • Resilient Communities
  • Farmer Wellness
  • Deliberative approaches to policy formation.
 

 Contact

 
Alasdair Craig
Team Leader
Email Alasdair