People & Nature with Sarah Lockhart

Hosted by UFAEC graduate student Emma Lauren Poole, this episode features Sarah Lockhart, a conservation social scientist exploring land trusts, landscape connectivity, and the human dimensions of conservation in Florida. Discover how collaboration, policy, and community-driven approaches can help protect biodiversity and shape the future of conservation across the state. 

UF Center for Landscape Conservation Planning: https://conservation.dcp.ufl.edu/

People & Nature Symposium: https://tbep.org/people-nature-symposium/

Transcript

Emma Poole

Welcome to Streaming Science, the People and Nature podcast series. I'm Emma Lauren Poole with the University of Florida's Department of Agricultural Education and Communication. In this series, we explore how people interact with nature and the environment around them. We attended the first ever People in Nature Symposium at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Austin Carey Forest Campus, where we got to interview leaders, innovators, and visionaries in conservation social science, and we're excited to share with you what they had to say. Today we're joined by Sarah Lockhart, a conservation social scientist whose inspiring work with the University of Florida's Center for Landscape Conservation Planning and research on land trusts through her PhD program shows us a perfect example of how you can make your life's passion your life's work. Now let's hear from Sarah.

Emma Poole

Hi, Sarah. Thank you so much for being here with me today. I'm super excited to get to talk to you about your work and your experiences with environmental social science and how you got involved with the People in Nature Symposium. Thank you so much for joining me. I know we had to reschedule this, but I am so glad that we were able to find a time to make this work.

Sarah Lockhart

Yes, same. Thank you for your patience with my schedule. I'm happy to be here.

Emma Poole

So let's just dive right in. I am so excited to get your expertise as someone who, you know, is a communicator of science and nature in the environment. What made you passionate about this particular line of work, just to start off?

Sarah Lockhart

I love the environment. So that was a little girl. I was the one under the tree in the backyard, slipping over rocks and looking for bugs. And I had this beautiful advice from my mother that said, don't go find a job to make money and then do what you love on the side. Make sure that you find a way to keep doing what you love, and hopefully you can find a way to support yourself with that. And she just set the foundation. And then just working with people and continuing to build this love land in me here at UF.

Emma Poole

Yes, I think I have a similar experience. My mom and dad obviously both grew up around and in agriculture and in a rural area. And they taught me, but especially my dad taught me being outside and just loving the environment around me. So I love what you said about that. I think it is super important to discover what we love. and not being afraid to insert ourselves into that space. Tell me, based on that, a little bit of how you got into your current role and how that led you to be connected with the people in Nature Symposium.

Sarah Lockhart

Yeah, so I did a master's of environmental management at Duke, and I remember graduating and looking at that piece of paper and feeling like, gosh, I worked really hard for this, and I loved what I had done, but I didn't feel like I quite not sure the environment, right? What does that even mean? And I went on the soul searching and ended up working at a little organic farm for a few years. And when I was at the farm, there started to be a bunch of rezoning around the area where I was working. And I got really involved in community organizing. And I like at one point went to the commission with this, all my bullet went to my master's thinking, okay, we need wildlife corridors. And This can't be destroyed because it connects to this. And I had all the talking points from the neighbors who had seen the different critters in their yards. And I felt really empowered about it. And I got this commissioner said, it's a great idea, but how would we actually do this, even if what you're saying is the right approach? And I had no answer. I had no idea. I just had my one page of talking points about why it mattered. So that was really the impetus. It was the community organizing. And we did, we won those rezones. So there was a point of pride and seeing that this kind of work matters. And then that big question of how do you actually make this larger vision start coming true? And so I had that question. And then I ended up at a conference where my now current PhD advisor, so I'm A networking and communications analyst with the center, but I'm also working on my doctorate. And I saw him speaking and just And I knew that he was the one who might have some of those answers. And I fortunately got in touch with him and he took me on.

Emma Poole

That's just awesome. You never know where a connection like that will lead. It has led you to a career. And that is really, I think, will be encouraging for a lot of the students that will listen to the podcast because a lot of us have so many questions about how we can incorporate what we love into a career and how that may lead us to professional opportunities. So thank you for sharing about that. And I love hearing about your goals for conservation and some of the things that you think would make that work in Florida. What is the how? I'm curious, what kind of support or programs do you think need to be created or do you think need to be promoted more or supported more in order to reach your personal goals, not just for your job or your role, but for conservation and for nature and for wildlife in Florida?

Sarah Lockhart

Yeah, what a big beautiful question. I know there are a lot of houses, a lot of pieces of that puzzle. So my work is directly tied to the Florida Ecological Greenways Network, which is this science foundation that informs the Florida Wildlife Corridor. And the Corridor Act, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act, was passed in 2021, is unanimous. And it's really about this vision of a connected network of both private and public conservation lands. across the state that cannot just protect the movement of species like panthers or black bears or smaller, really important critters like red-cockaded woodpeckers, but also about water storage and different ecosystem services for Florida as a whole. And so the big vision is really getting that network connected and protected, and it's a huge issue now. And one of the primary mechanism for that is actually Florida Forever. And that's been on the chopping block, there is a rural and family lands protection program that has been getting a lot of funding from the state to do protection of agricultural easements, which are also very important. And a lot of land within the corridor is agricultural. But to get those really important wild lands protected, the Florida Forever funding is critical. So program-wise, to continue to beat that drum, we'll fully funding Florida Forever, but the vision really behind that is to get this phenomenal network of interconnected land across our state for the species inhabiting as well as for our benefit. And I guess my work ties in more in the human dimension. I understand that conserving connected landscapes requires an understanding of obviously what species and what resources are where, but also how conservation organizations and the different actors themselves are connected and are collaborating. That's where I hone in with my work.

Emma Poole

That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. I kind of relate. My master's project is basically it's like a digital scrapbook of some of the wildlife that relies on agricultural and conservation lands and preserves. And I get to go and visit the families and take photos and videos of their land that has been protected by easements or the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. So I'm familiar with that. And it's amazing the role that those type of lands do play in conserving and preserving Florida, agricultural and non-agricultural, and also the way that some of Florida's farmers and ranchers have took on the role of, have taken on the role of environmental stewards as well. And I think there's a lot of work to be done with that, but I've gotten to see firsthand just how much some of these people care about that. And I think what makes what you're involved with, and I think what we all care about super unique is that this is a bipartisan issue. This is beyond one group is advocating for this or another group is advocating for this. This is something that everyone should care about. And I think it's super powerful that was passed unanimously and that everyone does support that. But as we both know, There probably are some things that people don't think about or don't agree about as much within this field. What do you think is an aspect of conservation and environmental social science that makes Florida unique, but that maybe people don't think about?

Sarah Lockhart

What comes to mind first is that we are the fastest growing state in the nation. So I think we are unique in terms of the amount of immigration from different states around the U.S. coming to Florida annually. In addition to the fact that we are sitting on a really interesting, the coastal plains biodiversity hunt. spot. And we have, I don't know, we're third or fourth in the nation for the biodiversity we have here. So that really powerful combination of huge influx of humans, lots of growth, lots of development, and lots of really rare ancient species that have been here. We didn't have an ice age in Florida. So there's some stuff that's been here for thousands and thousands of years, just ancient lineages that we're working to protect. And I think that's a really important piece that we sometimes forget.

Emma Poole

I think about the horseshoe crab and how long it has been since that creature changed in any way. I always see videos on social media and stuff, and it's like the most perfect creation, needed the least change, needed the least adaptation, the horseshoe crab. And I know there's so many species like that, but that's the one that I think of because I literally just saw a video of someone saying that today. But I completely agree. People don't think about biodiversity and uniqueness when they think of Florida. And along with that, all of the many different habitats within the state of Florida, people think about the beaches sometimes. And They don't think about our scrubs and they don't think about the mid-Florida ridge. They don't think about how different the panhandle is, even coming down to things like soil types and such. And they don't think about the Gainesville area and how that sometimes it's like forests and hammocks. People don't really think about that a lot. So I completely agree with you that it would be super important for people to start thinking about that more. Speaking of Gainesville, the People in Nature Symposium I want to touch on that. I want to talk a little bit about how your experience was there. I want to talk about what you did at the symposium and kind of some takeaways. I got to talk with Blake too. And so in my own brain, I want to compare and contrast like differing experiences a little bit. If you would like to talk about how that was, how you got involved, what you did there, any reflections or thoughts.

Sarah Lockhart

Yeah. Oh, what a fabulous symposium. I thought it was such a cool experience. I actually had three pre-dance US professors who were involved in it. And then when I got there, I ran into an undergraduate professor that I had my senior year, who actually was one of the women who had written a letter of recommendation for my master's. And I hadn't seen her in pretty much 15 years. And she ended up sitting in the row behind me and recognized me. So I had a little connection with her. It was special. So what a cool group of humans that came together. And I liked how they did

Emma Poole

a bunch of short talks.

Sarah Lockhart

So they're like the five-minute lightning round of presenters. And I thought that kept it really engaging and they grouped themes really well so that the talks followed a narrative or they're included in an interesting way. And then the workshops on the second day were pretty powerful. I was actually in a breakout with Blake and we had wonderful conversations around mental health and well-being in relationship to people in nature. And Let's see what I did there. Actually, I presented a poster. So my dissertation research is, again, looking at some of the human dimensions of connectivity conservation. And I presented on my work regarding land trusts and how they collaborate with each other and how they use conservation-related data in their decision making.

Emma Poole

So awesome. I was in a small group that morning too, and we talked about the early trust building in communities and connecting with them and acknowledging historical legacies and all of that and just how we learn to respect people and connect with people. So there were a ton of good conversations there. And your work sounds amazing. I know that you're in the midst of it right now, but just curious for the listeners, because I'm sure they'll want to know more and I want to know more as well. What are you finding? Anything that sticks out to you, anything that you think would be a good takeaway for people who are interested in this topic, anything that could be valuable to people who are interested in human dimensions within nature and the environment?

Sarah Lockhart

Yeah, so a little grimer and land trusts, my work is really focused on land trusts and how they're networked and how they use data because Land trusts play such a central role in conserving these connected landscapes, right? They work between all these different jurisdictional boundaries. They work with federal money and state money and local groups. And they also work across the state, right? So I was mapping out in part of the survey where their actual working areas are because there's just shy of 30 land trusts in the state, but we don't have any really clear maps or understandings of where there's overlap or other counties that are getting a lot of attention, where there's a lot of land trust presence and action and survey or bridging between these big funding programs and landowners. And then other areas where there's no land trust presence or very little land trust presence. And I'm finding that there's both. So that'll be really interesting. And then another part was looking at the mission and actions of these different trusts and just seeing the huge amount of work they do covering everything from like agricultural farmland easements to doing public access on trails to bringing recreation and local groups out to really trying to protect micro habitats. It's a huge span of work that's covered by this kind of broad umbrella term of land trusts. And I've been having a lot of fun. I just got my data back, all my surveys back, and I've been going through the results. And yeah, it'll be neat to see what all comes out of it. Also just the fact that the size of them ranges so much, right? You have huge trucks that are international or national working in Florida, like the Nature Conservancy. But you also have multi-regional ones like Alachua Conservation Trust is in many counties across the state, but based here in Alachua County. And then you have some that are tiny and that are completely volunteer-based and only work on a really specific strip like Pine Island. So the diversity of what it means to be a land trust has been really interesting to me to learn more about.

Emma Poole

That's awesome and so exciting getting your data back. I feel like that's such an opportunity for the networking that happened at the symposium, too. Like, I know that there would be so many people invested in that and invested in your findings. So thank you for sharing a little bit about that. Just to wrap up here, because I know we are running short on time, but I'm just Curious as a takeaway, what do you see the group that came together at the symposium, a group that may not have ever been in the same room at the same time and may not have ever, may not will ever be in the same room again? What do you see that group being able to do to benefit conservation in nature and to help each other as a whole going into the future, future symposiums or just each of your individual future as well? I'm curious.

Sarah Lockhart

That's a good question. I know directly leaving the symposium, that small group that I was a part of that was looking at mental health in nature, there were four of us in that breakout group. And LEAD kept in touch and actually added another member and are starting to pull together resources to talk about next directions of things that we could study or how we could use each other's work that we've already created and sending book recommendations. So there's already been a direct kind of next step for the now five of us in that. kind of email exchange that's happened since the symposium. And I would love to continue to participate moving forward. I hope that it happens again next year and I want to be there. Just bringing us together is such a powerful and important thing to remember that we're not in our silos and that we have so much overlap. And just the humanity and the compassion and like the beauty of all the different people that came together. I think being able to see us all in one state leaves this kind of reverberation of power and recognition of this larger whole that definitely moving forward with me. Yeah.

Emma Poole

It was a beautiful group. I can definitely agree with you there. It seemed like a lot of people who had tons of genuine care and concern for the environment and also concern for each other as well and care for each other and compassion, like you said, so. I was so grateful to be a part of it and grateful to continue that for me by getting to talk with you today. So thank you so much for doing this. Again, it has been an honor and I was so excited to be able to hear about your research. And I know that our listeners will love hearing about that as well.

Sarah Lockhart

Thank you, Ditto. I look forward to hearing more about your interviews. So thank you. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me.

Emma Poole

Thank you for listening to Streaming Science, the People in Nature series. A special thanks goes out to our guest, Sarah Lockhart, who gave us some insight on what conservation social science means to her and how her work is helping to make the world a better place. For more information on Sarah and the UF Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, please visit conservation.dcp.ufl.edu. Thanks so much for listening.