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MSU sociologist investigates community impacts of reduction of goose population

MSU sociologist investigates community impacts of reduction of goose population

Contact: Sarah Nicholas

Braden Leap (Photo by Russ Houston)

STARKVILLE, Miss. 鈥 A 幺力视频 sociologist鈥檚 upcoming book explores how one rural community is adapting as shifting climatological conditions have eliminated more than 100,000 geese from a traditional wintering ground.

Braden Leap, assistant professor of sociology, examines in his book, 鈥淕one Goose,鈥 how Sumner, Missouri residents 鈥渁dapted, reorganized and reinvented themselves in the wake of climate change, and how they continued to cultivate respect and belonging in their community.鈥

The book will be released by Temple University Press in December.

Near the Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri, Sumner鈥檚 102 residents proclaim it to be the 鈥渨ild goose capital of the world.鈥 To this day, the town is home to the world鈥檚 largest goose 鈥 鈥淢axie,鈥 a 40-foot tall fiberglass statue with a wingspan stretching more than 60 feet.

From the 1950s through the early 1990s, the eastern prairie population of Canadian geese utilized Sumner as their primary wintering grounds. Annually 鈥 beginning in September 鈥 geese arrived from their breeding grounds along the western Hudson Bay with numbers peaking at more than 100,000.

鈥淪ome years鈥 numbers even approached 200,000,鈥 Leap said. 鈥淩esidents recounted stories of the sky literally being blackened by geese. Beyond the geese, tens of thousands of people flocked to the area each fall to observe, research and hunt the geese.鈥

With geese-related activities adding millions of dollars yearly to the local economy, geese and goose hunting became centrally important to how individuals thought of themselves and arranged their relations with each other, Leap explained.

Gone Goose by Braden Leap book cover

Due to shifting climates and changes in land-use, the birds began to disappear. Losing the geese 鈥 and the activities following them 鈥 created a new and unfamiliar landscape for the residents of Sumner.聽

By 2013, geese numbers peaked at less than 2,000 in Sumner, Leap said. 鈥淔or a community whose economy, culture and identity largely revolved around geese and goose hunting, this was a dramatic change.鈥

Leap said little is currently known about how people manage to rearrange and sustain their communities in response to changing climatic conditions, noting it is a 鈥渄ramatic oversight鈥 because disruptions related to climate change 鈥渁ren鈥檛 likely to go away any time soon.鈥

鈥淐limate change has social consequences,鈥 said Leap, who spent 20 months talking and working with individuals in Sumner.聽鈥淚nstead of focusing solely on climate catastrophe, let鈥檚 start looking at how people are rearranging their lives 鈥 or not 鈥 so that we can hopefully sustain and maybe even improve our communities as they鈥檙e disrupted by climate change.鈥

Adele Crudden, interim head of the sociology department, said Leap鈥檚 work demonstrates how and why sociologists study relationships among people, systems and the environment.

鈥淭he Department of Sociology is fortunate to have a rising star like Dr. Leap, who is making substantial professional contributions that enhance our understanding of how changes in the environment are affecting our daily lives,鈥 Crudden said.

MSU鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.聽Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the physics department may be found at or . 聽

MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .听听