Tyler Swanson
Rural and Energy Geography Researcher
About Me
I grew up in Pecatonica, Illinois, a rural community of 2,000 people with an economic basis in agriculture and light industrial manufacturing. I realized upon graduating from Pecatonica High School in 2019 that rural communities like my own tend to lack opportunities that retain local youth. I felt that the lack of opportunity for rural youth presented a significant challenge to the long-term sustainability of rural communities, and I sought to dedicate my career to studying ways to strengthen rural communities with a particular eye toward leveraging the renewable energy transition for rural community benefits.
My work crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries to explore the impacts of the renewable energy transition on rural communities. I earned a B.S. in Agricultural & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Environmental Economics & Policy and minors in Urban Planning and Sustainability, Energy, and Environment from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May 2023. I am currently pursuing my M.A. in Geography at the University of Arizona with an expected graduation date of May 2025. In August 2025, I will begin pursuing my Ph.D. in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University.
Research Mission
My research is grounded in a desire to cultivate socially sustainable economic development in rural communities like my hometown. The current renewable energy transition creates intense social opposition that can hinder development, slowing the energy transition and withholding economic benefits for communities. Social opposition to renewable energy development reflects a development process that does not adequately incorporate community interests. As such, my research seeks to understand how social opposition to the renewable energy transition can be overcome by better aligning developer practices with community interests. I conduct my research using qualitative methodologies such as interviews, content analysis, and participant observation.
Core Values
Sustainability
I’m dedicated to finding solutions that work for today and tomorrow.
Community
I seek to become a supportive member of the communities where I conduct my research, not simply a scientist extracting data from a study area.
Collaboration
I always seek to work with experts and uplift junior researchers.
Midwest Nice
I seek to become a supportive member of the communities where I conduct my research, not simply a scientist extracting data from a study area.
Quality
I strive to ensure each of my research outputs is backed by sound theoretical and methodological frameworks.
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NEW ARTICLE
“Enough is enough, we like our farms”: The role of landscape ideology in shaping perceptions of solar energy and agrivoltaics in the rural American Southwest.
Authors: Tyler Swanson, Carrie Seay-Fleming, Andrea K. Gerlak, Greg A. Barron-Gafford
Abstract:
As efforts to develop solar energy increase across the US, so does local opposition in rural communities where residents view solar energy as incompatible with local landscapes and identities. Recognizing the growing public opposition to solar energy resulting from landscape conflicts, many scholars have recommended the adoption of agrivoltaics. This co-utilization practice allows for agricultural and solar energy production to take place on the same plot of land as a solution to improve public support for solar energy development. This study uses landscape ideologies of the Western United States to examine how solar energy fits into changing Western landscapes and investigates whether agrivoltaics can be used as a tool to better align solar energy development with local landscapes. The study focuses on Pinal County, Arizona, a historically rural agricultural community simultaneously experiencing exurbanization, a decline in agricultural production, and an increase in proposed utility-scale solar energy projects. Using semi-structured interviews with farmers, government officials, and local business interests in combination with participant observation of local meetings about solar energy development, we find that a divergence in landscape ideologies between farmers and government officials in Pinal County significantly shapes opposition to solar energy. Agrivoltaics is perceived positively by government officials as a solution to public opposition toward solar energy development, however, farmers’ insufficient knowledge about agrivoltaics and a lack of current interest by solar developers to engage in agrivoltaic practices present critical barriers to the use of agrivoltaics as a land-use solution in Pinal County. We conclude with recommendations for increasing farmer participation in agrivoltaic policy and project development.