Current Research
My research agenda centers on agricultural knowledge, science, and technology in the United States and developing world. I am interested in the sources of agricultural knowledge—from non-governmental organizations that share organic farming information with smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa to seed dealers who promote the latest agricultural biotechnology to farmers who actively engage in on-farm experimentation. I am also interested in the adoption, rejection, re-invention, and de-adoption of agricultural technologies, as well as the ways in which agricultural beliefs, choices, and practices affect community well-being, sustainability, rural quality of life, food security, and the environment.
My research approach draws on a diversity of investigative methods. I use qualitative techniques (e.g., interviews, participant observation, and focus groups), both mail and web-based surveys, collection of secondary data, and extensive quantitative analysis.
My current (and recent) research projects include:
- Gender, Diversity, and Alternative Agrifood Systems in the Pacific Northwest
- Wheat Production in Washington State
- Land-Grant Agricultural Science in Transition
- Non-Governmental Organizations and Organic Agriculture in Kenya
- Genetically-Modified (GM) Crop Production in the Upper Midwest
Gender, Diversity, and Alternative Agrifood Systems in the Pacific Northwest
European-American men have historically controlled agricultural land, labor, capital, decision-making, and research, resulting in highly skewed power distributions that marginalize women and minorities. However, today, women and minorities make up a growing proportion of the country’s farm operators and non-farm agrifood practitioners. These populations are more likely than their European-American male counterparts to engage in “alternative” agrifood practices, such as organic farming, community supported agriculture, value-added production, and direct marketing. This research explores the question of whether these alternative agrifood activities, given the diversity of participants, are more socially equitable, less patriarchal, and more democratic than conventional agrifood systems. To begin to answer this question, I am conducting surveys and interviews with individuals engaged in alternative agrifood activities in the Pacific Northwest.
For more information:
Jessica Goldberger. (2008)." Summary Report: Certified Organic Production: The Experiences and Perspectives of Washington Farmers." CRS Information Series No. 1-08. Department of Community and Rural Sociology, Washington State University. Pullman, WA. http://crs.wsu.edu/facstaff/goldberger/organicsurvey/index.html
Jessica Goldberger. (2008). "Gender and Certified Organic Production in Washington State." Poster presentation. Washington State University Academic Showcase, Pullman, WA. http://crs.wsu.edu/facstaff/goldberger/jg2008AcademicShowPoster.pdf
Wheat Production in Washington State
Coordinated by a team of researchers in Washington State University's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and Department of Community and Rural Sociology, this project seeks to understand growers' perspectives on wheat production in Washington. A mail survey was conducted in January–March 2006 to collect information on growers' experiences with WSU representatives, concerns regarding growing wheat in Washington, and opinions about the future direction for wheat breeding research at WSU. Of particular interest are the predictors of growers’ interest in participatory wheat breeding.
For more information:
Julie Dawson and Jessica Goldberger. (2008). "Assessing Farmer Interest in Participatory Plant Breeding: Who Wants to Work with Scientists?" Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 23(3).
Stephen Jones, Kimberlee Kidwell, Julie Dawson, Ray Jussaume, Jessica Goldberger, Rose Krebill-Prather, and Leland Glenna. (2006). "Wheat Production in Washington: Summary Report." CRS Information Series No. 1-06. Department of Community and Rural Sociology, Washington State University. http://www.crs.wsu.edu/wheatproduction/
Land-Grant Agricultural Science in Transition
This research focuses on why land-grant scientists do what they do. What and whom do agricultural researchers perceive as their primary influences in this current era of diverse research orientations within the land-grant system? Specifically, in collaboration with faculty in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have been tracking changes in funding sources, university-industry linkages, research productivity, patenting activity, research collaboration, university reward systems, and scientists' opinions about important issues facing land-grant universities. I am especially interested in gender differences within the agricultural science professoriate at land-grant institutions.
For more information:
Jessica Goldberger, Jeremy Foltz, Bradford Barham, and Timo Goeschl. (2005). "Summary Report: Modern Agricultural Science in Transition: A Survey of U.S. Land-Grant Agricultural and Life Scientists." PATS Research Report No. 14. Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. http://www.pats.wisc.edu/publist.htm
Frederick Buttel and Jessica Goldberger. (2002). "Gender and Agricultural Science: Evidence from Two Surveys of Land-Grant Scientists." Rural Sociology. 67(1): 24–43.
Jessica Goldberger and Frederick Buttel. (2001). "Sustainable Agriculture and the Land-Grant System: A Replication." Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 18(2/3): 91–104.
Jessica Goldberger. (2001). "Research Orientations and Sources of Influence: Agricultural Scientists in the U.S. Land-Grant System." Rural Sociology. 66(1): 69–92.
Jessica Goldberger (1998). Research Orientations and Sources of Influence: Agricultural Scientists in the U.S. Land-Grant System. M.S. Thesis. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Non-Governmental Organizations and Organic Agriculture in Kenya
This research examines how negotiation, communication, and coordination across multiple social worlds, agricultural knowledge domains, and geographic scales has resulted in the diffusion and adoption of informal (i.e., non-certified) organic agriculture practices among Kenyan farmers.
For more information:
Jessica Goldberger. (2008 ). "Non-Governmental Organizations, Strategic Bridge Building, and the ‘Scientization’ of Organic Agriculture in Kenya."Agriculture and Human Values. 25(2):271-289.
Jessica Goldberger. (2008). "Diffusion and Adoption of Non-Certified Organic Agriculture: A Case Study from Semi-Arid Makueni District, Kenya." Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 32(3).
Jessica Goldberger. (2005). Farming on the Boundary: Organic Agriculture in Semi-Arid Kenya. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Genetically-Modified (GM) Crop Production in the Upper Midwest
Coordinated by a team of agricultural economists, entomologists, and rural sociologists, this research seeks to (a) determine how farmer assessments and socioeconomic factors affect the adoption/rejection of genetically-modified (GM) corn, (b) develop a farm-level understanding of how the adoption/rejection of GM corn shapes the use of insecticides and herbicides, and (c) measure compliance with insect resistance management guidelines mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information:
Jessica Goldberger, Jeanne Merrill, and Terrance Hurley. (2005). "Bt Corn Farmer Compliance with Insect Resistance Management Requirements in Minnesota and Wisconsin." AgBioForum. 8(2/3): 151–160. http://www.agbioforum.org/v8n23/v8n23a12-hurley.pdf
Jeanne Merrill, Jessica Goldberger, and Jeremy Foltz. (2005). "The Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crop Varieties in Wisconsin." PATS Research Report No. 13. Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. http://www.pats.wisc.edu/publist.htm
Frederick Buttel, Jeanne Merrill, Lucy Chen, Jessica Goldberger, and Terrance Hurley. (2005). "Bt Corn Farmer Compliance with Insect Resistance Management Requirements: Results from the 2002 Minnesota and Wisconsin Farm Polls." Staff Paper Series P05-6. Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota. http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/mn/p05-06.pdf