When amateurs are the experts: Amateur mycologists and wild mushroom politics in the Pacific Northwest, USA

McLain, Rebecca J.; Christensen, Harriet H.; Shannon, M. A.

doi:10.1080/08941929809381106

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Numerous studies suggest ways that indigenous and local knowledge of wildlife, habitats, and landscapes can aid conventional management and/or science (Gasteyer and Flora, 2000;Gilchrist and Robertson, 2000;Jansson and Hammer, 1999;Mallory et al, 2003;McLain et al, 1998;Nabhan, 2000;Olsson and Folke, 2001;Usher, 2000). Programs integrating local and conventional scientific knowledge are now described in the literature, including the obstacles and challenges as well as ways that local knowledge enhanced the research or management practices (Calheiros et al, 2000;Davis and Wagner, 2003;Huntington, 2000;Mackinson, 2001;Pattengill-Semmens and Semmens, 2003;Stevenson, 1996;Usher, 2000).…”

Section: Local Ecological Knowledge In Conventional Science and Researchmentioning

confidence: 95%

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Ballard

Huntsinger

2006

Hum Ecol

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Despite growing interest in traditional and local ecological knowledge for conservation and resource management, the role of migrant resource users is largely unexplored. Challenging many assumptions about what constitutes "local knowledge," migrant and immigrant harvesters of non-timber forest products on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington possess useful ecological knowledge of overstory-understory relationships and how forestry practices affect understory biological and commercial production. Harvesters of salal (Gaultheria shallon), a shrub used in the multi-million dollar floral greens industry, were interviewed in Mason County, Washington in 2001-2003. Interviews revealed that harvesters possess different kinds of resource management knowledge depending on whether they are experienced harvesters or more recent newcomers to the area. These differences may also correlate with differences in their harvesting practices. Understanding how resource management knowledge differs between experienced and newcomer harvesters can inform forest managers in their efforts to develop effective management and permitting policies for floral greens and other non-timber forest resources in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

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Section: Local Ecological Knowledge In Conventional Science and Researchmentioning

confidence: 95%

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Ballard

Huntsinger

2006

Hum Ecol

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“…Anderson (2003: 303), for example, argues that meteorology in the nineteenth century was "a science of elite observatories or a science of seamen and shepherd", the former being associated with observatories, precision instruments and the accumulation of data, the latter with weather lore and prophecy. Amateurs and professionals thus developed new scientific identities and while professionals represented expert knowledge, the "amateurs stood for careful and persistent observing" (Lankford 1981: 22), upholding what would become pervasive distinctions between who can and cannot interpret science (Gieryn 1983;Jasanoff 1987) Amateur weather enthusiasts, societies and meteorological networks are thought to have been pivotal to the shaping of professional, scientific and meteorological endeavour (Naylor 2006;Finnegan 2005) and also in the generation of popular support for investigative meteorological science (McLain et al 1998). With the institutionalisation of the amateur, however, also came a public service role.…”

Section: Amateurs Professionalism and The Meteorological Traditionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…2 According to Stebbins, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the modern amateur is the near universal presence of such publics and the fact that the s/he is not simply self serving. It is the attention given to this aspect of modern amateurism that leads us to adopt Stebbins' work within the broader body of literature on amateur scientists, which tends to focus on their relationships with policy actors and professional scientists Waterton 2004, 2005;Lawrence and Turnhout 2010;McLain et al 1998) rather than the full range of amateurs' publics. COL's publics are identified as both popular and professional communities, including other COL members, family, local communities, private organisations and professional meteorologists.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the role of the amateur in the production and circulation of meteorological knowledge

Endfield

Morris

2012

Climatic Change

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There is a growing scholarship on the role of the amateur, and amateur societies, in the production and circulation of weather and climate knowledge in the past. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to the actual and potential contribution of contemporary amateur meteorologists in this respect. In this paper we first examine the importance of the amateur historically in the production of local weather knowledge and also in the emergence of professional meteorology. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with members of one contemporary UK based amateur meteorological organisation-the Climatological Observers Link (COL)-we then investigate the nature and extent of contemporary amateur meteorologists' contributions to a wide range of different 'publics' today, which include both popular and professional communities. Finally, we interrogate our interview data to identify whether COL members themselves recognise a wider role for their expertise at a time of increasing popular and scientific interest in weather and climate and in an era when the inclusion of non-certified experts in policy decision making processes is being advocated.

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“…The influx of new pickers, together with the realization that wild mushrooms had substantial economic value, prompted demands for the Forest Service and other federal and state agencies to limit or prohibit commercial harvesting on public lands (McLain, Christensen, and Shannon 1998). By the end of the 20th century, a web of federal and state regulations shaped when, where, and how people could harvest mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing a Wild Mushroom Panopticon: The Extension of Nation-State Control over the Forest Understory in Oregon, USA

McLain

2008

Econ Bot

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Constructing a Wild Mushroom Panopticon: The Extension of Nation-State Control over the Forest Understory in Oregon, USA. For most of the 20 th century, wild mushrooms on national forests in the United States fell under a de facto open-access management regime. As consumer demand for wild mushrooms increased, a nation-state wild mushroom management regime based on the use of disciplinary power emerged on many national forests in the Pacific Northwest region. Data from an ethnographic study conducted during the late 1990s illustrate how the simultaneous application of three core surveillance technologies-categorization, monitoring, and tracking, and the creation of a panopticon surveillance system-enabled the Forest Service to enforce nation-state claims to wild mushrooms. The data indicate that many pickers are unsupportive of the new regulatory system because it has transformed what was once their living space into a working place. Pickers also point out that the system does little to protect or enhance the growth of wild mushrooms. The study supports conclusions from previous studies that disciplinary power techniques play a critical role in the capacity of modern states to extend their control over mobile populations and natural resources.

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When amateurs are the experts: Amateur mycologists and wild mushroom politics in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Cited by 28 publications

References 9 publications

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Exploring the role of the amateur in the production and circulation of meteorological knowledge

Constructing a Wild Mushroom Panopticon: The Extension of Nation-State Control over the Forest Understory in Oregon, USA

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