Ingrid Haeckel is a Master of Arts student in the Department of Geography and the Environment at The University of Texas at Austin and a 2007-2008 Harrington Master's Fellow. Her research focuses on the Latin American Tropics.
What is your current research project?
"Demography and Harvest Geography of the Ceremonial Bromeliad Tillandsia imperialis in Veracruz, Mexico" - MA thesis in Geography (in progress).
How did you come to be interested in this topic?
I did my undergraduate thesis in Environmental Biology in central Veracruz studying firewood use and harvesting practices and became interested in the remarkable floral religious adornments constructed in this area. The adornments (known locally as "arcos florales," or floral arches) are large frames erected at churches for Catholic feast days, and are decorated with many bromeliads and other species. It turned out that the ethnobotany of the custom had not been studied, so I submitted a proposal and was awarded Fulbright funding to research the topic in 2007-2007. Bromeliads are much more extensively harvested for floral arches than I think anyone had imagined, and there are some definite issues with sustainability of current practices. Local people involved are concerned, and I hope that my research will provide some biological and geographical data useful for management. The topic is so interesting that I'm continuing to develop the research for my Master's thesis!
Your work sounds like it must involve quite a bit of travel. How have your research travel experiences been? What insights have you developed about home research versus field research?
I've had a lot of luck traveling and working in Veracruz. It is a particularly interesting and beautiful part of Mexico, and the people are very friendly. With respect to religious festivities and floral arches, people have been particularly enthusiastic to share stories and information, since it is a source of great pride. I still think it is unusual that no one from Veracruz had examined this topic earlier, since these adornments are all over the place (and similar types of adornments are found elsewhere in Mexico). There are definite advantages and disadvantages to research abroad, but in my case, I think that I have been able to ask a lot of questions that a local researcher might have had a hard time getting answers for. In certain cases, I think people are more comfortable sharing information with an outside researcher (not always, though). On the other hand, as an outsider you have to be particularly sensitive to cultural differences, and it takes time to gain the trust of people. You want to avoid being oblivious to the obvious by learning as much about a place as fast as possible.
I am a big proponent of field research, at home or abroad. I think you can gain a multitude of insights from actually visiting a place that you could never find in a book, or in Geography, from a satellite image. Beyond visiting a place, I think it is extremely important to talk to people to understand local perceptions. I would like to do research in the US in the future, though.
What brought you to pursue graduate study at UT?
I met some friends in Veracruz who had both done graduate study at UT in Geography, and that's how I found out about the program. I was impressed by the breadth of resources for research in Latin America, and in particular in Mexico.
How do you finance your graduate education?
I have a Harrington Fellowship this year, and will be a TA in Geography next year.
What do you hope to accomplish with your graduate degree?
I am interested in pursuing an academic career in teaching and research, though I have thought about the possibility of research in NGO or governmental environmental sectors.
What advice do you have for people entering graduate school?
Read as much as possible, and stick your neck out there for funding! Follow whatever it is that you find fascinating.
Q & A by Elisabeth McKetta, May, 2008
