Abigail Schaus
Guerrilla Gardening: Cultivation as Resistance
Abigail Schaus, Environmental Studies, 2024
Thesis advisor: Professor Caroline Lee
How and when did you select your advisor and the thesis committee members?
I first had a conversation about working with my thesis advisor the spring of my junior year. It was very informal, but I found it to be a good time to get the ball rolling and have some very preliminary thoughts about topics and structure. I waited to extend invitations to my two additional committee members until the fall of senior year, after I had a better idea of my topic and which professors might be well-positioned to offer feedback and support, as well as to ensure that they had a clear idea of their capacity and would be able to answer honestly about their ability to participate. Since Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary major (and a relatively small department), I had some flexibility in selecting my primary advisor as multiple professors can be in or out of department. I wanted to work closely with someone that I knew had a deep knowledge of the subject but who also emphasized that I was a person before I was a student. I then selected my committee members for their overlapping material interests as well as my personal relationships with them. Even though I only had one class (total) across all three committee members/advisors, my previous involvement and connections with them enabled me to develop a productive and supportive group.
When did you start thinking about your thesis? How did you select your topic? How did you develop your research question?
Funnily enough, my First Year Seminar (FYS) professor told me that I should do a thesis, but I didn’t really know anything about that process nor did I have any clue what I would be studying (I was a declared Math major at that time, so some things definitely changed). After I returned from my junior-year study abroad program—a cross-cultural study of food systems in three different countries—I more seriously considered the possibility of embarking on a year-long, independently motivated, extensive writing and research project. I felt really drawn to food systems and how historic, land-based examples of resistance have shaped alternative ways of accessing food, yet I noticed there were not many academic opportunities/classes tailored to this concept. As such, I chose to pursue a thesis where I could fully immerse myself in guerilla gardening and cultivation as resistance. The summer between my junior and senior year I conducted a decent amount of preliminary research (which meant LOTS of reading and note-taking) on things related to food systems/policy and community resistance as I saw myself landing somewhere in that realm, but wasn’t quite sure both what literature existed and exactly where I would feel drawn to. The majority of August and September I had lengthy conversations with my advisor about what I had found and what interested me before settling on a topic and research question, which my advisor (and committee) was integral to developing as they were able to point out themes I kept coming back to, like land-access and alternative forms of change, which helped me solidify guerrilla gardening as a topic.
How did you start tackling your thesis project at the very beginning?
I’ll be the first to admit that the beginning was a VERY rocky experience. I didn’t have a lot of structure and I felt relatively unsure of what was expected of me. This was my first long-term independent project that didn’t come with a rubric or rigid schedule to follow. It took me a couple of months, but I developed a weekly memo system that helped me organize my thoughts, research, and next steps. Each memo, which I would share with my advisor the morning of our weekly meeting times, would have a “What I Did This Week”, “What I’m Planning for Next Week”, “Questions I Have”, “What I Read This Week”, and “Appendix” section. It allowed me to share updates, even if they weren’t things that wouldn’t show up in my final thesis project, clearly synthesize what I was up to, define an agenda for my advisor meeting, house my random questions, and set up next steps. The “Appendix” section let me copy any concrete writing I had worked on that I wanted my advisor to review. Early on in the process, I spent a lot of time with folks at the library finding any and all materials related to guerrilla gardening/relevant policy, in-depth reading of peer-reviewed and publicly compiled sources, brain dumping of ideas, and research question revision. I wouldn’t say I felt solid in my project, research question, or trajectory until around Thanksgiving Break when I was producing more concrete memos and progressing through early writing stages. I found that I simply needed to have things written—I had a document titled “Just Writing 🤷♀️🤷♀️” that I would try to write something on every day. I would write the date, hit enter, and then spew whatever thoughts I had. Sometimes it was bulleted lists of questions or ideas, other times it was stream-of-conscious writing about an article I had read, sometimes it was a paragraph of all questions, and still there were days that it was five paragraphs about nothing related to my thesis. But the writing was important— I had something to come back to, to spark future ideas, and to track my progress. I never shared this document with my advisor or anyone else, but it was a place that I came back to regularly and ended up housing many of my key arguments/ideas.
Did your advisor explain the structure of a thesis project to you?
Honestly, no. My experience was relatively unstructured and, while I came to greatly appreciate the opportunity to create my own formatting, structure, and style, had me feeling frustrated early on.
Did you have to do a literature review? Had you ever done one before?
The way that my thesis was structured, I did not have a formal literature review but spent the majority of my first chapter exploring existing materials (both peer-reviewed and more publicly available) on my topic and how they have shaped the form of guerrilla gardening that I talk about in the rest of my chapters.
Do you remember receiving correspondence from the library about your honors thesis?
Yes! I received helpful emails with links, information, and other resources that we, as honor thesis studies, could utilize during the year. The constant correspondence from the incredible library team was so helpful (especially zotero trainings, purchasing relevant books, and 1:1 meetings to look for materials).
What did you find most challenging about your thesis project?
Many times, I found this process incredibly lonely. While there were plenty of other students doing theses, each one was so different in timeline, expectation, and structure that I couldn’t necessarily check in with them to see how they were doing or get a feel for where I was at; there wasn’t a group chat where we could all say “oh, I haven’t started that either”. Overall, I found the first semester to be more challenging than the second as there were many moments of confusion and frustration—the process of determining a topic and research question was not linear and, before I had a well-developed argument, I did a lot of wandering in thought and writing.
What did you find most rewarding about your thesis project?
I found my final thesis defense to be an incredibly rewarding experience: I was able to present my work and passion to a room full of people that made it all possible. There were community members, local farmers, dear friends, trusted professors, and my advisor. Having the opportunity to share my research, convey my deep knowledge of the subject, and credit many of the people (and other-than-human life) that shaped my ideas was an inspiring culmination of a year’s worth of frustration, hard work, joy, and everything in between.
What assistance did your advisor/department offer you throughout the course of the year?
Weekly meetings, especially early on, were a great support as I worked to get my feed solidly under me (and this project). Reminders that I would, come April, mourn what I was envisioning in August, allowed to fully embrace and celebrate my final thesis, instead of feeling disappointed about what it didn’t include. I’ll also say that positive reinforcement that I was on track and producing good writing kept my motivation up. Even if it was just a comment on a Google Doc or a line at the end of an email, my advisor’s encouragement was pivotal.
Did you meet with librarians in the course of conducting your research? How many times and at what stages of your research?
Most definitely. Early on I was attending Zotero trainings, and then I had a handful of 1:1 research sessions, a couple in September/October to help me find potential sources for my topic while it was still very broad, and then again later when I was narrowing in on my argument and scope and needed very specific research advice and expertise. I am grateful for the many trusted librarian friends I’ve developed throughout all of my four years at Lafayette, many of whom were great advisors at every stage of my research and writing.
What other kind of support did you rely on throughout the year to accomplish your thesis (parents, friends, etc.)?
The land and other-than-human life were (and still are) my biggest supporters. I thank the land first in my acknowledgements because, without the life-affirming power of the soil, I’m not sure I could have produced a thesis, let alone one that I was proud of and that felt reflective of the community (including land) I wrote about. Additionally, I am so grateful to everyone who lended a listening ear, offered suggestions, or sat with me while I wrote. A large theme of my thesis was discussing and highlighting the importance of reciprocal relationships—ones that are not based on economic language that commodifies transactions and value, but rather prioritizes intentional, mutually liberating relationships. The community members and others from Easton’s food and farm scene were integral in shaping my argument and what an alternative framework, which I introduce in my third chapter, might look like. Dear friends who graduated a couple of years ago offered sage advice that kept me grounded in my work and reminded me of the larger world that exists outside of the Lafayette bubble. Other professors who were not on my committee but that I still had trusting, supportive relationships with offered their wisdom and direction throughout the process. While this thesis is my own work, I am merely a product of everyone and everything that has shaped my understanding of the material and ability to produce a thesis.
Were you able to get access to all of the research materials you wanted for your project?
YES! The library was incredibly pivotal in helping me access all the materials that I needed, particularly when I was interested in tracking down a non-academic source (that, often, were in online archives). The staff, especially Terese (who is dearly missed) and Lijuan were more than willing to have the library purchase a book for me that I would need for my thesis.
Would you do anything differently if you went through the process again?
I’m wary of lingering too long on “what ifs” or things I might have done differently, because I want to celebrate the outcome and focus on what I was able to do (and what might come next), despite every road block or unexpected situation. Nonetheless, I think I would have wanted to, earlier on, create systems to stay on track and set clear expectations with my advisor that minimized ambiguity, complicated feelings, or mismatched outcomes. There will always be drama of some sort during this process, and recognizing that from the beginning can help navigate tricky situations, even if it can’t prevent them.
What advice would you offer other honors thesis students, especially in your department?
I would encourage other students to pursue a topic that is deeply interesting to them, especially in environmental studies (EVST) where theses are not always a product of multi-year lab projects. In EVST there is such a range of topics and structures, and I am grateful that I can say I overall enjoyed my thesis which is a direct result of having a focus that overlapped with so much of my non-academic life and interests. Don’t settle for something because one professor said it would make an interesting project or because it’s something you think other people want to read about—choose something for YOU! Additionally, I recommend setting aside time on your calendar (I’m a huge fan of Google Calendar) to work on your thesis. Even if it’s just three one-hour blocks during the week, having regularly scheduled time helped me stay on track and make steady progress throughout the entire process. Furthermore, I offered this piece of advice during a thesis panel for interested students, but I’ll echo it here: you can say no (respectfully and intentionally) to your advisor! I acknowledge that it can be challenging, scary, or everything in between to not follow the advice of a trusted professor, especially when much of our academic experience involves taking feedback from professors in order to adhere to rubrics or assignment guidelines, but at the end of the day this is YOUR thesis, and you can value and invite their suggestions and critiques, but you only have to include what feels like it makes the most sense for you and your project. As a part of this, I encourage other thesis students to select advisors and committee members who support them as people AND students, who are willing to proactively let you know that you only need to take the feedback that feels most relevant, and that this is your thesis. There are moments that it can feel difficult to remember that you are more than this thesis or any other academic work, but compassionate advisors are so crucial in grounding you and reminding you to take care of yourself along the way.