Photo: The main plaza in Yauyos. In the evening, the plaza is crowded with locals talking to each other and enjoying a small snack or coffee, Cardenas said.
Lorena Cardenas is a second-year Ph.D. student in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, studying human-environmental geography. Her research focuses on the impact of climate change on small villages in Peru and how people from varying backgrounds experience climate change differently.
Where were you?
The Peruvian Andes, specifically Yauyos and Tanta, which are rural communities located in the highlands near Lima.
What languages are spoken there?
Spanish and Quechua.
What was the focus of your work?
As a human-environmental geographer, I am trying to understand the local effects of climate change and their implications for livelihoods in Tanta and Yauyos, with special attention to the impacts across gender and intersecting forms of social differences.
I did preliminary fieldwork last summer to begin developing relationships and connections with local gatekeepers and researchers. I found that Tanta, a town of only 479 residents, is dealing with negative effects from melting glaciers and deteriorating pastures, which are essential for their livestock. On the other hand, Yauyos, with 1,481 residents, benefits from warmer temperatures that help them grow new crops, which can then be sold in cities.
Climate change is not gender-neutral, and its effects are not uniform within the population. As a researcher, I want to enhance the nexus between climate change and gender by providing evidence and opening opportunities to advocate on this topic with different actors at different levels for better decision-making.
It's hard to have a fixed schedule in rural Peru, Cardenas said; here, she and a colleague spent several hours walking between villages in the Andean highlands when their bus failed to appear.
When was your most recent trip?
In August 2024, I was in Peru for about a month and a half, including a week in Yauyos. This academic year, I am planning to visit the area between July-August to collect data using participatory methods.
Who are your closest local colleagues?
The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation at the national and subnational level provided me with contacts for the local authorities, then the local Agrarian Office facilitates coordination with traditional authorities. I had the support of one community member during the whole trip, Romel Segura, who was key to building trust-based relationships in the community. I am also collaborating with an ongoing research project in the area, “Adaptation and Resilience in Yauyos,” led by a local think tank and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru.
What’s the biggest challenge of working there?
Overcoming people’s past experiences with researchers who engaged in academic extractivism. This is a colonial practice based on using material from “here” to satisfy needs “over there,” subordinating the resources of the colonized and dominated to the needs of the colonizer and dominator.
In Yauyos, people feel that in the past there were some “experts” or “researchers” who just arrived, took the information and never came back, not even to share the results with the communities. Those bad experiences create a difficult beginning as an external actor; thus, building trust-based and horizontal relationships and implementing participatory methods to co-produce the knowledge with local people is key.
In the area around Yauyos, visitors can see the andenes, stair-like terraces cut into the mountainside to facilitate farming in steep terrain. Cardenas said the villages are struggling to find enough people who can still endure the backbreaking labor of climbing up and down the andenes to plant and harvest crops.
What’s the best food you had there?
I am Peruvian, so I will apply my whole bias to say that the food is amazing. Peruvian food is the best. Particularly in Yauyos, the avocado is great and cheap (one big avocado for $0.20 USD); then handmade cheese and bread. Ohhh and fried trout with native potatoes and yuca.
What’s the coolest thing a local showed you?
The Tunantada, which is a dance that represents the integrations of all social classes and diverse ethnic groups in the mountains of Peru. It is a traditional dance where dancers use funny masks.
What’s one thing from your experience that you’ll take back to Oregon with you?
How beautiful and diverse the world is, and how little we know about rural spaces. What I particularly like about being in these communities is the kindness of people. They are always open to help you and have a conversation sitting on the benches in the plaza.
What were you most surprised to learn?
This did not surprise me, but it is 100% real that the rural communities are getting older. There are not many young people that stay there. Thus, many of the traditional cultures and practices are in danger. There is a lack of opportunities that push the youth to go to the cities to find other options.
Besides family, what did you miss most from Oregon?
I can say that I was extremely happy there: I was in my country, doing my research and meeting amazing people. My family (my kids and husband) were also in Peru, but they stayed in Lima. Next time, they can probably join me.
What piece of advice would you give others who might travel there?
Be prepared for changes in plans; there are no schedules, and everything happens slowly. Enjoy the moment, the good company, the good stories, the incredible landscapes and the good food.
