What does scientific literature have to say about agroecology in California?
Team members : Crystele Leauthaud, Timothy Bowles, Amelie Gaudin, Stacy Philpott, Sonja Brodt, Ryan Galt
Background context
Agroecology is often summarized as a practice, a movement and a science. The scientific concept of agroecology emerged in California with lead scholars from UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, before coming widespread globally. Yet, today, it is difficult to describe what agroecology means in California. As a piece of a puzzle to assemble, this activity aims to analyze the scientific literature associated with agroecology in California, describing the types of publications as well as the institutional network behind the publications.
Methods for a general audience
We mobilize published scientific literature through a bibliometric study and analyze both the use of the term agroecology, the structure of the academic network in which it is used and the publication content in relation to agroecological principles. We combine this with a personal analysis of the situation by the authors.
Current state & tentative timeline
A bibliometric analysis has been undertaken and is currently under discussion with the different team members. We plan to finalize the study in 2026.
Proposed deliverables
A published commentary paper.
How will the project address policy and/or be policy-informed?
The general objective of this work is to formulate a “call to action” to scholars to strengthen our collaborations and to encourage a more systematic use of the agroecology framework. As such, the results can be used at the institutional level (UC) to discuss ways of encouraging the use of the term.
How, and with whom, will educational integration take place?
Results can be used in classrooms and within UC ANR to question each other’s use of the term agroecology in the academic arena.