My world started on two farms separated by about 8 miles (13 km). The X's mark the half sections that belonged to my grandparents and great-grandparents.
This was my world for most of the first 6 years of my life.
For those who do not know, this is a section of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, with a bit of Colorado and New Mexico. Amarillo, TX is at the intersection of I-27 and I-40, while Lubbock, TX is at the south end of I-27.
This was the practical extent of my world through early high school.
I was fortunate to travel through some of the areas about which I had studied between my sophomore and junior years, and so began to develop a national perspective.
My understanding and awareness of the world grew dramatically. Each time my perspectives were broadened and my horizons widened, the scale of what I had previously known changed. What I once knew seemed small relative to the newly acquired perspective, just as the changing scale of these maps represents.
But that does not prevent my mind from wandering (and wondering) around the world, considering questions about political and social conditions. But I am a soil scientist, and so I more often consider questions related to ecosystems and how sustainable agricultural systems could be developed in many parts of the world.
Visits with more than 150 scientists from more than 30 countries have colored my understanding of the world and its agroecosystems.
The world is a system of interconnected and interdependent parts. A minimal list of elements of this system includes: ecological/environmental (including air/soil/water/plants/animal), economical, and sociological components.
