Meet the Researcher: Kristin Waldo, Eastern New Mexico University (continued)

By Catherine Ortega Klett, NM WRRI Program Manager

Since joining the ENMU faculty, Waldo is researching the relationship between water discourse and water use, focusing on systemic obstacles to sustainable water practices. Her current research, in collaboration with Dr. Marshall Swafford of ENMU, investigates water discourse in the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Research and Training (CAERT) curriculum for secondary agriculture education.

At NM WRRI’s 61st Annual New Mexico Water Conference held in Silver City in early October, Dr. Waldo presented a poster on a CAERT study that looks to determine how water, water use, and water management were addressed across a purposeful sample of the New Mexico CAERT Curriculum. Using qualitative content analysis, Dr. Waldo’s initial findings indicate that the curriculum content is thematically consistent with the empty world socio-ecological regime. “These findings are significant because the empty world regime is grounded in the assumption of resource abundance, an assumption that is inconsistent with resilience and adaptive responses to critical water issues,” indicated Dr. Waldo.