Oral Histories: an alternative approach to environmental investigation in Science

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Oral Histories an alternative approach to
environmental investigation in Science Peter
Berney PLC Armidale, NSW
Image courtesy of the Brunswick Valley Historical
Society
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• Story line
• 1. Oral histories connection with ecological
  research
• 2. Criticisms and protocols ensuring validity
  and reliability
• 3. Types of data gathered using oral histories
  tales from the field
• Applications of oral history to science
  investigations in schools more than just a good
  story

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• Oral histories
• memories recorded by an investigator who
  deliberately solicits recollections of a
  particular past event or events and collates them
  around a theme or themes (Roberts and Sainty
  19972)

Photo courtesy of Clarrie Morrow
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• Oral histories
• memories recorded by an investigator who
  deliberately solicits recollections of a
  particular past event or events and collates them
  around a theme or themes (Roberts and Sainty
  19972)
• Oral record un-interpreted transcription
• Oral history synthesis and interpretation
• Investigative strategy to record history from
  below
• (includes environmental narrative)

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• Oral histories
• memories recorded by an investigator who
  deliberately solicits recollections of a
  particular past event or events and collates them
  around a theme or themes (Roberts and Sainty
  19972)
• Oral record un-interpreted transcription
• Oral history synthesis and interpretation
• Investigative strategy to record history from
  below
• (includes environmental narrative)
• Main strength - provides data when written
  records are scant or absent

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• History of the connection between oral history
  and ecological research
• Traditional research concerned with biophysical
  phenomena and was technical in nature, limited in
  spatial scale and often relatively recent
• In natural resource management the data was
  expert-centred and difficult for community
  members to understand. Modern management focuses
  on engaging the community

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• History of the connection between oral history
  and ecological research
• Traditional research concerned with biophysical
  phenomena and was technical in nature, limited in
  spatial scale and often relatively recent
• In natural resource management the data was
  expert-centred and difficult for community
  members to understand. Modern management focuses
  on engaging the community
• Oral history was trialled as a means of engaging
  the community in scientific research
• Listening to the Lachlan an oral ecological
  history of the Lachlan River by Drs Jane Roberts
  and Geoff Sainty 1996

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• Criticisms and Protocols
• But critics claim .
• Questionable reliability, local myths and
  selective memory

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• Criticisms and Protocols
• But critics claim .
• Questionable reliability, local myths and
  selective memory
• Led to techniques of triangulation being
  employed to ensure the accuracy of the data being
  collected (validity)
• - cross check with other interviews
• - corroborate against other sources (photos and
  newspapers)

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• Criticisms and Protocols
• But critics claim .
• Questionable reliability, local myths and
  selective memory
• Led to techniques of triangulation being
  employed to ensure the accuracy of the data being
  collected (validity)
• - cross check with other interviews
• - corroborate against other sources (photos and
  newspapers)
• Use of structured questions and mechanical
  recording of interviews (reliability)

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• Data collected by oral histories tales from the
  field
• Criteria developed by Roberts and Sainty (1997)
• Time-specific can the information be pinned
  down to a particular time?
• Spatially explicit can the information be tied
  to a particular place?

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• Data collected by oral histories tales from the
  field
• Criteria developed by Roberts and Sainty (1997)
• Time-specific can the information be pinned
  down to a particular time?
• Spatially explicit can the information be tied
  to a particular place?
• Type of information are the data qualitative or
  quantitative?
• Validity is the information accurate?

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• Data collected by oral histories tales from the
  field
• Criteria developed by Roberts and Sainty (1997)
• Time-specific can the information be pinned
  down to a particular time?
• Spatially explicit can the information be tied
  to a particular place?
• Type of information are the data qualitative or
  quantitative?
• Validity is the information accurate?
• Availability is the information readily
  available from other sources?
• Novelty does the information contribute to
  science or ecology?
• Time-effective could the information be
  obtained in other ways?

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Listening to the Lachlan
Lachlan River catchment
Roberts Sainty, 1996
0 km 200
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• Listening to the Lachlan
• Data consisted of quotes taken from interviews
  which was used to convey an outline of the
  ecological changes under five headings
• - Water plants
• - Fish
• - River life
• - River channels
• - Water quality

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Listening to the Lachlan River channels the
main impact has been siltation Pre 1970 In those
times, the only time the water was muddy was
after a sudden downfall of rain in the red
country. The silt would wash in but within a week
to 10 days it would go back as clear as rainwater
again. The water in the river was just like
rainwater, you could go down into it with your
eyes open and look around (Roberts and Sainty
19969)
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Listening to the Lachlan River channels the
main impact has been siltation Pre 1970 In those
times, the only time the water was muddy was
after a sudden downfall of rain in the red
country. The silt would wash in but within a week
to 10 days it would go back as clear as rainwater
again. The water in the river was just like
rainwater, you could go down into it with your
eyes open and look around (Roberts and Sainty
19969) 1974 coincided with an explosion in carp
numbers 1990s For changes to river channels one
resident described the river as now having
vertical sides and a fairly level bed of slimy
ooze across the bottom of the river (Roberts
and Sainty 199650)
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Listening to the Lachlan
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The Gwydir Fish everywhere
Gwydir River Catchment
Copeland et al., 2003
0 km 200
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• The Gwydir Fish everywhere
• A regulated river where stored water is used for
  irrigation of cotton
• Native fish numbers have decreased significantly
  since the 1970s

I remember when I was a kid itd be nothing to
catch like in an hour, 40 to 50 catfish, no
worries at all, youd pull a wheatbag
full Dick Bell, Gwydir
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The Gwydir Fish everywhere Reasons put forward
for the decline in fish numbers Overfishing
-And we took that night a lot of fish just for
the heck of it, you know. I mean, I know it
shouldnt be doneeveryone else was doing it too
and it was a darn shame really. Sylvia
Macey, Gwydir
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The Gwydir Fish everywhere Reasons put forward
for the decline in fish numbers Dams and weirs
if that water is coming out of the dam with
as much pressure as I see, theres no possible
way of their getting up there, not unless theyve
got a jetboat up their anus. Steve
Goodworth, Gwydir in Copeland et al. 2003
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The Gwydir Fish everywhere Reasons put forward
for the decline in fish numbers Cold water
pollution Its the number one destroyer of
our ecology in the water Richard King Pee,
Gwydir the water temperature is far too cold
for the fish to breedthats why they close the
cod season for September to November because
thats their spawning season. But thats also
the time they let the water go for the
cotton Chris Faulkner, Gwydir Which
can be corroborated with other data
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Cold water pollution
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Horton River
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25
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Water temperature (oC)
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Gwydir River
10
5
Copeton Dam
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Distance from the source (km)
Data from Rob McCosker collected after irrigation
release in 1996, plotted in Copeland et al.
(2003).
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Optimum Fish Spawning Temperatures
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Horton River
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Catfish
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Silver Perch
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Murray Cod
Water temperature (oC)
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Gwydir River
10
5
Copeton Dam
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Distance from the source (km)
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The Brunswick Stepping twice into the same
river
Berney, 2001
Brunswick River catchment
0 km 200
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The Brunswick Stepping twice into the same
river Unanimous agreement on changes to the
riparian zone
Camphor Laurel Its devastatingIt just takes
over the country and if youre too lazy to dig
them out or poison them, they kill everything
else thats there. (Ray Musgrave)
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The Brunswick Stepping twice into the same
river And the disagreements Sedimentation
the case for In the top end of the river, a lot
of the gravel that is there has been washed off
Council roads, right, to the extent where say
within 200m of the end of the tidal extremity
its practically impossible to get even a small
craft up there over these gravel beds that have
formed there. So we can put that down to human
reasons why we have so much gravel up
there. Bruce Hibbard, Ocean Shores in Berney 2001
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The Brunswick Stepping twice into the same
river And the disagreements Sedimentation the
case against
I have a photo here of two bullock teams
crossing the river with the water not over the
tyres on the wagons andI dont notice any
difference between the water level as per that
photograph and that was about 1900 to what it is
now, so I dont think there is any siltation in
the river at all actually Russ Maslin
Photo courtesy of Russ Maslin
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Landscape Change in the Tumut Region
Tumut Region
Lane 1997
0 km 200
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• Landscape Change in the Tumut Region
• A small study with 5 people interviewed
• Farming land which is being converted to softwood
  forestry

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• Landscape Change in the Tumut Region
• A small study with 5 people interviewed
• Farming land which is being converted to softwood
  forestry
• Data were reliable for explaining landscape
  change such as reasons for stream incision and
  timing of introduction of environmental weeds
  such as blackberry, together with reasons for why
  they were planted

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• Landscape Change in the Tumut Region
• A small study with 5 people interviewed
• Farming land which is being converted to softwood
  forestry
• Data were reliable for explaining landscape
  change such as reasons for stream incision and
  timing of introduction of environmental weeds
  such as blackberry, together with reasons for why
  they were planted
• Data were unreliable for climatic change
• It doesnt snow like it used to
• The 1960s were an aberration in snowfall
  patterns and old folks dont spend as much time
  outside now.
• Beware of local myths over-reliance on oral
  data alone can be misleading

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• Summary of Data that can be gathered using Oral
  History
• Data is usually qualitative
• Data can be collected over a longer temporal
  scale
• Oral histories can provide information on changes
  in landscapes over time
• Oral histories can give insights into factors
  that may be causing changes

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• Summary of Data that can be gathered using Oral
  History
• Data is usually qualitative
• Data can be collected over a longer temporal
  scale
• Oral histories can provide information on changes
  in landscapes over time
• Oral histories can give insights into factors
  that may be causing changes
• Researchers need to be aware of the problems of
  local myths and selective memory
• If data is to be used it is important to
  corroborate data with other sources such as
  photos or newspapers or with other interviews

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• Using oral history for ecological studies with
  school students
• Oral ecological histories provide a range of
  opportunities to enhance ecological studies
• by supplementing traditional measures of biotic
  and abiotic components of an ecosystem by
  providing information on seasonal variations,
  presence of cryptic or migratory species

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• Using oral history for ecological studies with
  school students
• Oral ecological histories provide a range of
  opportunities to enhance ecological studies
• by supplementing traditional measures of biotic
  and abiotic components of an ecosystem by
  providing information on seasonal variations,
  presence of cryptic or migratory species
• by allowing comparison of before and after events
  e.g. road construction, environmental flows in
  rivers, impact of feral pests

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• Using oral history for ecological studies with
  school students
• Oral ecological histories provide a range of
  opportunities to enhance ecological studies
• by supplementing traditional measures of biotic
  and abiotic components of an ecosystem by
  providing information on seasonal variations,
  presence of cryptic or migratory species
• by allowing comparison of before and after events
  e.g. road construction, environmental flows in
  rivers, impact of feral pests
• through provision of a means to interacting with
  members of the indigenous community or elderly
  members of the community

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• Using oral history for ecological studies with
  school students
• Oral ecological histories provide a range of
  opportunities to enhance ecological studies
• by supplementing traditional measures of biotic
  and abiotic components of an ecosystem by
  providing information on seasonal variations,
  presence of cryptic or migratory species
• by allowing comparison of before and after events
  e.g. road construction, environmental flows in
  rivers, impact of feral pests
• through provision of a means to interacting with
  members of the indigenous community
• By allowing students to develop timelines for the
  arrival of feral animals or environmental weeds

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• Using oral history for ecological studies with
  school students
• Oral histories may be well suited to extended
  projects such as
• CSIRO Crest Awards
• Science Teacher Association Research
  Competitions
• Or
• Integrated study projects where students work on
  a single topic in a range of Key Learning Areas

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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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Oral ecological histories can play a role in
developing research skills
NSW Preliminary Biology Skills Outcomes
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• Oral history more than just a good story
• An increasingly accepted form of scientific
  research in aquatic ecology and natural resource
  management
• Values community knowledge
• Provides opportunities to gather a wider range of
  data, particularly temporal data
• Provides a range of challenges for students to
  address in first-hand research tasks

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