Communicating with farmers and potentially community members purchasing food from CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) and farmstands can be difficult for somebody who doesn't come from a US-background. Especially because I don't typically buy very traditionally western food products from supermarkets, I oftentimes cannot name vegetables correctly. There are 3 subspecies of kale grown here, for example, and I confuse them a lot, making my first few days very stressful when receiving orders from my farm host. I really look forward to the farmstand tomorrow, when I will help set-up the market and finally interact with community members for the very first time, selling them food that has been grown and picked by my hands. It's a proud moment! I am learning my ways through properly conducting irrigation, weeding, identifying plants and pests, and more farming basics. One of the hardest things is definitely maintaining physical health, as farming poses lots of stress on the lower back and knees, so taking water-breaks often is crucial (but I often forget!).
--- An example of biological pest control (rather than using chemical pesticides)
See the difference of the soil before weeding (on my left-hand side) v.s. after weeding (right-hand side)?
Hello! I'm Anna, an undergraduate student studying Climate System Science at Columbia University, ‘27. I was born and raised in Shanghai, China, currently living in New York.
I love exploring everything about climate and sustainability - from ocean geochemistry, to conservation and restoration, and to urban sustainability. In summer 2024, I’ll be doing geoscience and climate change research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia, investigating the impacts of ocean warming and acidification on regional carbon sequestration through a process known as biological pump.
In my spare time, you can find me snowboarding on the New England mountains, cycling in Central Park, and listening to classical music concerts at Carnegie Hall.
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Anna, your work in the field is seriously impressive. It’s not easy to step out of the lab and fully immerse yourself in the unpredictability of real environments, but that’s exactly where so much of the most meaningful learning happens. Being right there with the plants, seeing how they grow, respond, and interact with their true surroundings, must open up a completely different level of understanding. I can imagine this experience will reshape how you think about your research questions going forward. Excited to see where this leads you!
Wow your LiA seems super enriching and unique! I am pretty shocked to learn there are multiple species of kale...
This seems so immersive! I come from a community that's big on agriculture (Central Valley, CA) so it's really cool to see the biological pest control as a solution to pesticides. It seems like you're learning a lot and I can't wait to hear more about it