Alumni Profile Series: Amy Trauger

Geographer Continues Her Dissertation Research and Activist Work

November 30, 2005

Amy Trauger works in the Rural Sociology and Agricultural Economics Department at Penn State. This position was created especially for Amy so that she could continue her dissertation research and activist work with women farmers in Pennsylvania.

Amy received her B.S. degree in geography and environmental studies from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She then received her M.S. from Penn State in geography and her Ph.D. in geography and women's studies.

Maps have always interested Amy, but it was not until college that her love for places and spaces began to guide her career path. She went through six different majors before deciding upon geography. Amy was particularly attracted to the interaction between the human, physical, and scientific aspects of geography.

As she continued her career, Amy decided to focus on women within geography. Growing up on a farm, Amy saw her mother's role change drastically depending on the type of farm they were living on. Starting on a small-scale, sustainable farm, Amy's mother made more of the decisions about the farm as opposed to when they moved to an industrial farm, where her role as a farmer on the land disappeared. This became the background to Amy's study of the social and environmental reasons for the role changes.

The research began in her master's work, where she interviewed many different women farmers in the area. As she went through the interviews, she began to realize that these women didn't have any connection to the nearby women farmers. For the farmers, this isolation was the largest drawback to an otherwise very fulfilling livelihood. This negative aspect became a problem that Amy focused on trying to alleviate with her PhD research. In 2003, Amy, along with local farmers and faculty and staff at Penn State began the Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network, an organization of farmers. Penn State students and faculty where also involved along with other organizations, that helps women farmers network with one another to learn about farming, mentor each other and solve problems. Amy conducts research through the organization as a way to take an active part in helping women in farming. Faculty in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, using Amy's dissertation research applied for and obtained two grants from the USDA. These grants will enable her to conduct research over the next three years.

"Through focus groups, interview and needs assessments we are trying to identify the educational and technical training needs of women farmers, whether they are about production, business management, or marketing," Amy says. She is also investigating the optimal settings for learning about these aspects of farming. "We have discovered that female farmers prefer hands-on, intensive learning environments where they can learn from each other."

The faculty involved with the research also hopes to create a documentary of twenty interviews with women farmers; she plans to conduct these interviews during the growing season of the coming year. Due to the amount of work involved in her research, Amy doesn't have a lot of free time. "I love my job. It is gratifying to identify the needs of these women and respond to them with programming that addresses their needs," she says. "I have a different take on the outcomes of my research. I am able to turn research results into something that makes a difference in people's lives almost immediately." When she does have time, however, Amy enjoys digging in her garden and cooking. She also enjoys traveling and outdoor activities with her husband Ryan. She also spends a lot of time with her horse. Amy says "I spend a lot of my spare time with my horse, and try to ride him five days a week. We compete in dressage at some small local shows in the summer, but I hope someday we can move up in competition. It just takes a lot of time and energy. Horses have always been an important part of my life and I am really lucky to have this very talented and beautiful animal in my life."

The Department of Geography would like to congratulate Amy on her continued success.