Hannah Stewart is a first year master's student in Rural Sociology. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in May, 2020 with a double major in Environmental and Resource Economics and Environmental Conservation and Sustainability. Hannah's background is in remote sensing where she worked in the Basic and Applied Spatial Analysis Lab (BASAL) modeling and assessing the health and stability agricultural properties and forests in New Hampshire. During her senior year, Hannah wrote her thesis on the application of UAS to solve ecological based problems and their social and physiological impact on the surrounding environment. Hannah also had the opportunity to work with the New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Community and Development Team to emphasize the importance of promoting ecotourism and natural capital in the state. Hannah's interest include local food distribution, sustainable agriculture, and environmental justice. She is passionate in advocating for the importance of local food distribution and the communication of sustainable agricultural practices for farmers and the general public alike. She is pursuit of her Rural Sociology Masters at Auburn University under the advisory of Dr. Michelle Worosz. It is here that she is analyzing co-development of knowledge and physiological factors in which farmers use to absorb info about climate change and sustainable farming practices like cover cropping and smart irrigation. Hannah is originally from Victor, New York. 

"I am super excited to be apart of this program because it will allow me to expand my communication skills in a portion of the country I have never lived before. With the experience I gain from the NRT program I hope to move out west and help educate farmers and ranchers about sustainable agriculture as well as help with climate change resiliency and sustainable food distribution."

Check out Hannah's 3min Research Video