Kelpies in Scotland

Author: Grace Martin | Majors: Chemical Engineering, Food Science | Semester: May Intersession 2023

Crisp green fields. Sunlight filtering through a cloudy sky. Old stone buildings. These are images that come readily to mind when I think about Scotland and England after spending a semester studying abroad in Edinburgh last year. I selected this UK Agriculture Tour study experience, taught by Bumpers professor Jeff Miller, primarily to obtain credit for an agricultural communications elective, but also because I wanted to return to Edinburgh and visit friends and familiar streets. The two week tour was split in thirds— four days based in Edinburgh, four on the road through England, and four based in London (the other two days were for flights). Each day usually had one or two educational activities and either an excursion or free time. We were expected to write 5 blog posts and create 5 Instagram reels throughout the two weeks for homework, and attend reflection sessions every other night; the assignments weren’t designed to be difficult but to make you think about what you were learning.

I’m studying Food Science, not Agriculture or Communications, so I’m not very familiar with the lingo or common practices of farming. Fortunately, all the farmers, researchers, and journalists we spoke with were very friendly when answering my many questions, and I learned much more than I expected to from these visits. One farm we went to used robotic milkers that the cows were trained to pass through on their own; another dairy farm used CT-scanning to determine which cows had the most ideal fat/bone composition for a sire; the agricultural college we visited actually had one of these CT-scanners in a trailer on wheels so they could drive it to rural areas and provide the service to farmers. The technology integrated into farming blew my mind. One of the fears with technology and robots is that they will take away jobs, but these farmers were using the technology along with their knowledge and experience to make their business more efficient. It was fascinating.

Before leaving the US, I’d made several plans during our free evenings, especially in Edinburgh. I had a list of new things I really wanted to see, several of which, like the Kelpies statues and Stratford-upon-Avon, were already on our study tour itinerary. For others, like Roslyn Chapel, a West End musical, and the museums in London, I had to make separate plans. I also used several free evenings to meet up with friends from Edinburgh that I hadn’t seen in a year. We’d promised to stay in touch and visit, but none of us expected me to come back so soon— a surprising course of action I’m very thankful for.

This study tour was definitely the most structured study abroad I’ve participated in, but there was a nice mix of educational activities, fun activities, and sleeping on the bus. I loved getting to see more of the UK by road instead of by train or plane, and I met so many awesome people from the U of A that I never would have met in my classes. I also got to know Dr. Miller a bit better, and I can confidently say that any study tour that he’s organizing is sure to be a great one. I learned so much about agricultural, journalism, politics (did I mention we got a tour of Parliament from an MP Dr. Miller is friends with?), US influence (oh, we also visited the US Embassy), and the importance of communicating agricultural issues to the public. I’d recommend this study tour to anyone, and I hope future students are as impacted by the rich world of agriculture as I was this May.