Tara Miller Places Research within a Larger Context

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“Let every [person] make known what kind of government would command [their] respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.” Henry David Thoreau in Resistance to Civil Government.

 

 

In a recent post on the Journal of Ecology blog, Tara Miller, a graduate of the Primack lab, described the connections between scientific research and environmental policy.

Here is some of what she had to say:

“My work history has woven back and forth through science and policy. I am drawn to the intersection of the two – the nerdy, intellectual itch to dive deep into data and analyze problems, and the passionate, action-driven urge to find solutions and make the environment and society better for people.”

 

Photo 1: Tara Miller reflects on connections between scientific research and policy.

 

“Through the past decade, I kept a foot in community organizing and policy, sometimes as a job, but more often as volunteer work. This work has kept me grounded in the challenges facing many communities and fueled my motivation to improve people’s lives and the environment.”

Photo 2: Native wildflowers, such as these Dutchman’s Breeches, are not keeping pace with trees as they advance their leaf-out with warming temperatures ^{(© Andrew Cannizzaro and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons License CC-BY-2.0)}

“Our study highlights the impact that climate change may have by leading to mismatches between different groups of plants. We provided suggestions for land managers and wildflower enthusiasts, who may consider steps such as thinning overhead tree and shrub canopy, removing non-native species, and planting rare wildflowers further north to conserve native wildflower populations.”

“I am currently working as a policy researcher with the University of Virginia’s Repair Lab. I am supporting community partners in developing policy solutions to coal dust pollution in environmental justice communities. The breadth of my scientific background helps me understand complex scientific and industry documents across fields like air quality science, mitigation infrastructure, and public health, and my community organizing background helps me communicate this information to community members and integrate it into the policy process.”

Here is the full blog post: LINK