Benjamin David Siegel

Grant Type

Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Institutional Affiliation

California, Berkeley, U. of

Grant number

Gr. 10348

Approve Date

April 13, 2022

Project Title

Siegel, Benjamin (Berkeley, U of California) "The Hydrological Legacy of Sugar Planting in St. Croix (USVI)"

BENJAMIN SIEGEL, then a graduate student at University of California, Berkeley, California, was awarded a grant in April 2022 to aid research on “The Hydrological Legacy of Sugar Planting in St. Croix (USVI),” supervised by Dr. William White. Funding supported fieldwork on St. Croix in Summer 2022, and lab work at UC Berkeley. Work consisted of shovel testing on Estate Little Princess (ELP), recordation of colonial era water management features, and interviews of local farmers about planting practices and connections between sugarcane and contemporary environmental conditions. 25 shovel tests were excavated examining soils across ELP. Colonial era cisterns, wells, water towers, rainwater jugs, and a dripstone were examined revealing the use of ad-hoc construction materials which allude towards planters’ recognition of limitations within their environment, and the adaptation of construction methods to local circumstances. Farmer interviews confirmed that planters kept cane trash on fields after harvesting, that sugarcane was rainfed (not irrigated), and that sugarcane was planted along contour lines. Interviews also revealed that farmers attribute water stress to insufficient management of water infrastructure rather than past sugarcane planting. Testing of soils yielded inconclusive pH results, but radiocarbon dates from northern and southern portions of ELP suggest stability and volatility of soils in those regions respectively. Synthesis of Loss on Ignition and Grain Size Analysis tests are still in progress. These results will be interpreted against ELP’s land use history to identify signatures of relative stability/instability in soils.