Learn more about MU efforts directly linked to Missouri's places at the Agricultural Experiment Stations across the state.

Order SR 559, Science Rooted to Place —

By email:
extpubs@missouri.edu

By mail:
MU Extension Publications
2800 Maguire Blvd.
Columbia, MO 65211

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It was the advent of agriculture that marked our first devotion to place. It must have been quite a paradigm shift to give up the nomadic hunt and, instead, put down roots (literally and figuratively) for generations. With that change in lifestyle, we linked ourselves to the concept of place. Since, whole cultures have became known for their affinity for mountains or oceans, forests or grasslands, sandy or clay soils because the quality of their lives was ever linked to the quality of such places — and the fish, animals, fuel and crops that came from them.

Today, advances in science and technology have led to globalization, posing a new set of challenges to the value of place. Many of the jobs that once seemed so secure and tightly connected to the community (including farming) are now being "out-sourced" to competitors around the world. Advances in communications, transportation and even biology have largely been "place-less" and helped create this new, one-world community. Countries, towns and villages around the world are now asking new questions — what would Asia be with less rice?  What would Missouri be with more? 

Science helped create the global village and the good things that have come from that. Now, everywhere people are begging for more deliberate application of science to help enhance, and in some cases save, local places.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting several locales where our faculty members are turning the science upside-down, so to speak, and applying their disciplines to solve local problems and build local economies. Being successful at growing a place-based economy is, above all, inherently entrepreneurial. But I have also observed at least three other factors as key ingredients.

First, successful places must be distinguishable or easily differentiated from others. That’s easy if you have a mountain, but takes some thought and objective assessment if the distinction comes from culture, history, structures, products or occupations. 

Second, the differentiation must be genuine. Sure, there are examples of farms, businesses and communities "buying their identity," but few were able to maintain any degree of success.  Even Branson, Mo, which you might assume "bought" the country music business, relied at its core upon the genuine identity and culture of the Ozarks to make it happen. 

Third, what is distinguishable and genuine must also be something people want and value. All too often, I visit with rural and agricultural entrepreneurs with great ideas, but their focus remains on ideas that have little, or no, market potential. This only feeds the fatalism of all too many places — rural ones that slowly vanish and suburban ones that get paved over.

I find it quite exciting to think that we in the U.S. land-grant colleges of agriculture are at the forefront of applying the natural and social sciences needed not only to manage the global economy, but also to create a whole new definition of what a local economy is. Certainly, Missouri and its many communities large and small are counting on us to lead the teaching, research, extension and economic development effort that will move our state forward in this new world.  While Missouri may not have had the uniform geography or natural resources to make us a nation-leading commodity producer in the old era (like Iowa or Illinois), in the new world, I think our diversity is an invaluable asset that only a few other regions in the United States can match. 

Mizzou has many strengths that are truly global, truly place-less in application, such as our faculty members in the Life Sciences Center and collaborative labs across campus. Much of their work benefits society as a whole, with local impacts more likely seen with a patent than a practitioner. But we also have a legacy of place-based programs and faculty members, with the Agricultural Experiment Station centers and farms and MU Extension being the most prominent examples. Missouri most certainly stands to benefit from both, particularly if we do the best science possible and root what we can within the state. Our work has much to do with what Missouri will look like in the future.

Regards, John