31 Growing Rangeland Resilience

In this podcast, we talk with Miranda Meehan, NDSU Extension Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist. We chat with Miranda about a wide range of subjects that include environmental stewardship and livestock-environmental interactions including: range and riparian ecology, grazing management, integrated crop livestock systems, water quality, and reclamation. Miranda grew up in the agricultural community in North Dakota and brings a practical edge to her academic work, along with a sense of intellectual humility, a fabulous quality in any human being, but important for the work in which she is engaged. While Miranda is located and works in North Dakota, we believe that ranchers in South Dakota and other places can learn form this wonderful talk we had with her. Miranda earned B.S and M.S degrees in Animal and Range Science and a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Management, all from NDSU. Miranda’s Bio in her own words reads as follows: “I am the Extension Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist in the Animal Sciences Department at North Dakota State University. My appointment is 65% extension and 35% research. Extension responsibilities include development of statewide livestock environmental stewardship program materials, conduct meetings, offer training for livestock producers, extension personnel, and other professionals in the livestock industry. The objective of my research is to increase our understanding the ecology of rangeland ecosystems and assisting landowners in managing their resources in a profitable and sustainable manner. Some of my research interests include riparian ecology and management, grazing management, integrated crop livestock systems, and the influence of energy development on livestock production.” We include links to Miranda’s NDSU page, her research gate page (we discuss a number of her publications in the podcast, and they are available in the ResearchGate link), and her Twitter feed. NDSU Page: https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-home/directory/miranda-meehan ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miranda-Meehan Twitter: https://twitter.com/ndsu_ex_steward Check out free resources at the NRCS: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/sd/technical/landuse/pasture/