GREENFIELD, Mass. – Over the top of her computer screen, Addie Rose Holland eyes a stainless steel assembly line, where shredded pickled carrots get scooped from buckets and packed tightly into 15-ounce Mason jars.
Three years ago, Holland looked out on a vastly different view – the frozen surface of Siberia's Lake El'gygytgyn. She was there as a paleoclimatologist, probing lake sediment for clues on how past climate changes impacted the Arctic.
The research and panoramas were eye-opening. But the world of science ultimately proved too remote and abstract. Driven by a desire to spur change in her own backyard, Holland swapped her parka for a hairnet: She's incorporating her world of science into her world of pickles.
"We're not solving global warming by making pickles," said Holland, 33, who today co-owns Real Pickles, a Greenfield-based organic food company.
But her company can, she hopes, help nudge the corporate world toward a more sustainable, healthier, less energy-intensive model. "We're contributing to a global warming solution by helping to reorient our food system," she said.
Off the academic track
Holland isn't done with science. She holds a part-time position as interim program manager for the Interior Department's Northeast Climate Science Center, based at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she organizes a speaker series on climate impacts and solutions. The center provides tools and information to help land managers plan for and adapt to climate impacts.
While Holland's career path may be unique, her attempt to balance a life of research science with a desire for more concrete impact is not.
At virtually every stage in the geosciences, women drop out of the academic track faster than men. One 2008 study found that, while approximately 45 percent of all students in geoscience masters degree programs are female, the percentage drops to 34 percent in doctoral programs.
Subtle gender biases, grueling hours and a paucity of female role models play a role, according to Mary Anne Holmes, a mineralogist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and former president for the Association for Women Geoscientists. "These small, almost imperceptible hurdles add up," she said.
Holland didn't perceive a gender bias. What frustrated her, however, was how quickly chats about her research could go sour. Holland thrives on the positive vibes she gets as customers make the connections among her pickles, local farms and benefits to their community. Talks about the implications of climate change proved far more frustrating.
"Conversations about climate change often turn either to denial or guilt or depression," she said. "But pickle conversations are full of laughter and hope."
Those climate conversations, she added, are extremely important, and the challenge of connecting that information to the public is a big part of what keeps her in science. If she can get to climate through pickles, she said, the conversations are "invariably much lighter."
"But you can't always get to climate conversations through pickles." And the desire to bridge that gap is why her work communicating climate science remains a big part of her life.
Someone else's mess
Holland's path into science started at a Connecticut state prison where she used soil microbes to help clean up groundwater contamination from dry-cleaning solvents.
She took a job with a Connecticut-based engineering company, Fuss & O'Neill, that focused on cleaning up environmental messes created by industry. The work required a lot of soil and groundwater testing, which she enjoyed. But she found it hard always being the one showing up to clean someone else's mess. "The relationship with the client was always negative. I wanted my life to be full of positives," she said.
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8 Comments
Add CommentWhat the heck? What, exactly, was the point of this article? It's just food for trolls.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you start talking to lots of people about making changes in their life to reduce waste and pollution you start to hit nerves.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPickles are a tool to sneak up on (trolls) and make a tiny point about the climate and environment in a positive way.
Another example, is the fact that we are NOT sure, how much or where the oil we have is, but still, some fools want to drill everywhere, even though so many of the drills produce no oil, and cost us all more to clean up the pollution. Is that smart?
I honestly don't think there's a whole lot of oil left to be wasted in a grandiose fashion. Some people will say anything without commonsense and facts behind them.
We are in this mess because of Not-smart actions by many foolish people.
People are obsessed about the debt...what about having energy and natural resources for the future generations.
"""I honestly don't think there's a whole lot of oil left to be wasted in a grandiose fashion. """
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt the current rate of use, it runs out in 2031.
"""Some people will say anything without commonsense and facts behind them. """
True.
An interesting article to deconstruct.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere's an underlying assumption here that by not working for the profit motive, not importing/trading, and working as essentially a "craft" or boutique operation we have moved towards earth friendliness (or more recently "sustainability").
Although this is superficially attractive, it does fly in the face of the basic economic principle that trading benefits all parties, and that regions specializing in industries they are particularly efficient at again benefits all.
As I recall, one of the key characteristics of the "dark ages" was self-sufficiency at the local village level.
Recently SciAM published a big "why don't people trust scientists" article. I would put forward that this article among others would suggest to an unbiased observer that a significant portion of the community has an agenda that is not necessarily "science" based.
Just something for the publishers to think about if they are interested in the reputation of science.
I like this article because it illustrates that Addie 'gets it'. I believe this based on the fact that they are converting the business to a worker owned coop. The section about gender bias in the sci world seems oddly out of sync with the rest of the article. And this quote: "Climate benefits from the local-food approach remain unclear, said Michael Hamm, professor of sustainable agriculture at the University of Michigan. There's no conclusive or easy way to show that the carbon footprint of, say, a jar of locally picked and processed pickles is less than a mass-produced package shipped from several states over." is sheer baloney propaganda. Mr. Hamm is a real ham, and Scientific American and the author ought to be ashamed of promoting such a blatant obfuscation of a simple truth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAwww... another comment censored. I guess I'll say it again, as it was not offensive, except maybe to Alarmists:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"It's nice to read an article about an Alarmist doing something useful.
I don't often speak with Alarmists, but when I do, I say "Could you put extra foam on my latte?".
If you SCAIM Alarmist Editors find this offensive you need get out more.
You are unworthy of the attention of any rational person (technically including me).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSciAm, please delete Shoshin. We are all tired of his irrational rants.
I can't resist quoting one of L. Frank Baum's Oz books:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Your math is like a jar of mixed pickles-- the more you fish for what you want, the less likely you are to get it."