What is Social Science? | Ag and STEM Video Learning Series

What is social science? Ag and STEM Video Learning Series

Cami Ryan and her ‘cowboy’ husband left behind grown children, family, and friends and relocated to work at Monsanto headquarters in 2014. They have settled on a picturesque little farm outside of St. Louis along with a few horses and two dogs, Reba and Dolly.

Cami is energized by everything ag.  She is not a farmer (but comes from a farming family). She is not a scientist (at least not in the traditional sense). She is a social scientist, studying relationships between people and their social environment. This interdisciplinary area of exploration includes economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, linguistics, rhetoric, and aspects of psychology and history.

For over 25 years, Cami has worked in agriculture and ag sciences, much of that time as a public sector researcher. She is currently Social Sciences Lead with Bayer Crop Science. In her position with Regulatory Scientific Affairs (RSA) she is responsible for strengthening relationships and engaging with social, behavioral, and political scientists. Cami leverages an expanding scientific network in North America and around the world to more closely examine and understand policy, regulations, consumer behavior, and acceptance of agricultural innovations. She is also a Professional Affiliate with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the Scientific Industry Advisory Committee for Genome Canada.

Cami holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a B. Commerce from Edwards School of Business (U of S). Cami has authored two books: Evaluating Performance of Research Networks (2008) and Innovation in Agri-Food Clusters (2013), and has published several articles for books, academic journals and mainstream media pieces (The Western Producer, The Winnipeg Free Press, Huffington Post, Scientific American, and Discover Mag blog, among others). Cami was named a Top 20 Influencer in the Seed Industry by Germination Magazine in 2018, was awarded the Grassroots Award for Stakeholder Engagement by CropLife Canada in 2017, and was identified as one of 100 Voices in Science Communication by Science Borealis in 2016. 

Discussion Questions: 

What is social network analysis? How can we use it to study agricultural relationships?

How does social media impact public opinion and perceptions about agriculture?

How can you help with disinformation?

View the rest of the Ag and STEM Video Leaning series by clicking HERE.