Mariana Castro Azpíroz and Linda Shenk publish digital StoryMap

Mariana Castro Azpíroz, graduate student in the Creative Writing and Environment MFA program in the Department of English, and Linda Shenk, professor in the Department of English, have published a digital StoryMap entitled “Stories of the Seasons.”

Stories of the Seasons is a multi-year collaboration between the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN), American Farmland Trust’s Women for the Land national initiative, Iowa State University, and 13 Iowa land caretakers. The project began in the fall of 2023 to observe and reflect upon phenological and agricultural relationships. Research included observing and tracking changes in local environments across Iowa, comparing seasonal markers like bird migrations, bloom times, and more. These observations were published in an ecological calendar that explores the interconnectedness between weather, human experience, flora, and fauna. 

Piper Wood, from WFAN, and Mariana Castro Azpíroz put together these observations along with multimedia, climate data, and narrative in the digital StoryMap.