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UToledo Student Awarded International Research Grant to
Study Black Urban Agricultural Experience
Special to The Truth
Brittany D. Jones, a Ph.D.
candidate in the UToledo Spatially Integrated Social Science
Doctoral Program in the College of Arts and Letters, is one
of four winners of a 2020 MAXQDA Research for Change Grant
from VERBI Software and the Global Nature Fund.
The grant will enable Jones to look at land use and barriers
to urban agriculture in Toledo and Dayton and how it impacts
African-American communities.
Her research project is
titled “Empowerment Through Consumption: Land Banks, Land
Ownership and Black Food Geographies.” Her co-advisors are
Neil Reid, PhD, and Sujata Shetty, PhD, professors in the
UToledo Department of Geography and Planning. |
Brittany D. Jones, Ph.D. |
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Jones will explore the urban
agricultural experience and Black foodways in Toledo and
Dayton, two Ohio cities that saw a large influx of African
Americans during the Great Migration. They are also legacy
cities, meaning they lost a significant amount of population
and economic viability after the decline of manufacturing in
the region.
In recognizing Jones as a
grant recipient, VERBI noted, “We were greatly impacted by
Mrs. Jones’ story and how her life history has inspired her
to pursue food system and sovereignty studies. With her
project, she aims to uncover racialized hypocrisies embedded
within both the local and global food system, which is now
as relevant as ever. Mrs. Jones is a first-generation Ph.D.
student in her family, and we are glad to be able to support
her.”
Jones said in her master’s
program, she began to fully understand the nutritional
problems of the world she grew up in were rooted in systemic
causes. In applying for the grant, Jones said she hopes her
work will not only suggest solutions, but improve research
methodology.
“Research for change means
more than just finding solutions to a complex problem, [it]
embodies the [grassroots] efforts of providing resources and
realistic methods that can be easily replicated and adapted,
all the while acknowledging cultural
differences/expectations, which is crucial to long-term
change,” Jones said.
Beth Schlemper, PhD,
associate professor in the UToledo Department of Geography
and Planning, said she believes Jones’ doctoral course work
helped her win the grant.
“It makes me happy because I
taught the Ph.D. students, who took advanced qualitative
methods for spatially integrated social science students,
how to use MAXQDA [research software], and she was inspired
to use the software in her research methods and apply for
this grant.”
Jones agreed: “The skills I
acquired through my degree program have allowed me to
confidently apply for opportunities best fit for my
research. It has taught me that, as a doctorate student, you
are the CEO of your degree and must stand in your truth as a
contributor to universal knowledge, especially as a scholar
of color.”
The $1,600 grant includes a
two-year student subscription to MAXQDA Analytics Pro
software, two online trainings with certified MAXQDA
trainers, a registration waiver to the MAXQDA International
Conference in Berlin, and full tech support. In addition,
Jones’ research will receive international exposure through
MAXQDA promotions.
“This software is highly
used to fully integrate qualitative data analysis into your
research and is especially popular with mixed methods
researchers,” said Jones, who is a graduate research
assistant in the University’s Jack Ford Urban Affairs Center
and president of the UToledo Graduate Student Association.
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