Brooke is a Mitacs Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies. As a natural resource social scientist, Brooke has collaborated with agricultural and conservation-oriented organizations to evaluate program impacts and examine producer perceptions related to BMP practices around the world. She is currently partnering with the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) and Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) to evaluate adoption in the Farmer Resilience Mentorship program as well as working with the New Brunswick Living Labs to understand producer motivations and engagement in the living labs.
Effectively assessing best management practice adoption requires a dual approach that assesses both performance and practice-based metrics. Leveraging insights from social sciences, we can develop metrics that gauge BMP adoption through farmer practices while pinpointing adoption process challenges for program managers to address. Brooke’s presentation at the CFGA conference will delve into this subject more thoroughly.