David Trimbach: Emerging Scholars Grant Report on “Sea-stonia: Exploring Estonians’ Sense of Place of the Baltic Sea and Seaside.”

AABS is pleased to congratulate David Trimbach for the completion of the Emerging Scholars Grant (awarded 2021) associated with his project “Sea-stonia: Exploring Estonians’ Sense of Place of the Baltic Sea and Seaside.”

The Impact of an Award: Report from David Trimbach

After the completion of his project, David Trimbach submitted a reflection to AABS.
We thank him for his permission to publish his thoughts, which have been lightly edited.

Summary

Dr. David J. Trimbach in close collaboration with Anu Printsmann (Research Fellow, Tallinn University, Centre for Landscape and Culture) co-produced and co-implemented a mixed-methods project focused on coastal (e.g., sea and seaside) sense of place among current Estonian residents. This project entailed extensive research and in-country fieldwork (March 2022). Research and fieldwork included the following activities: examination of relevant available literature and data, implementation of an electronic survey via Norstat (widely recognized survey firm in Estonia) in the 7 coastal counties of Estonia (n=405), and interviews with selected Estonian coastal experts (n=10). Overall, the initially planned project was a success (e.g., previously planned fieldwork completed, and data collected), and the AABS funds were crucial to that success; however, changes in 2022-2023 temporarily postponed the previously noted next steps of the project.

Since the last report submitted to AABS in 2022, Dr. Trimbach changed professional positions and institutions. He is no longer with Oregon State University (except in a courtesy faculty role) and is now with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. While in a similar research role, new professional responsibilities have taken precedence and have limited his ability to fully complete the previously noted next steps in the project, this notably includes the completion of peer-reviewed manuscripts stemming from the collected mixed-methods’ data. While a delay and limitations have impacted the project, Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann were awarded additional funds to continue this project from the UK-based Landscape Research Group (LRG). These additional funds would not have been possible without the initial funding from AABS for this project. The LRG funds allowed Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann to continue and expand their initially planned project to investigate the impacts of the illegal Soviet occupation and colonialism more fully on Estonian coastal communities and their connections to the coast. These LRG funds were directly used in March 2023 and allowed Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann to engage in another round of in-county fieldwork in coastal counties in Estonia through the implementation of 4 coastal community workshops (Saaremaa, Harjumaa, and Ida-Virumaa) (n=45) and in-person interviews (n=7).

Activities

Since being awarded the AABS 2021 Research Grants for Emerging Scholars, Dr. Trimbach engaged in numerous research project activities. Key project activities included: 1) further enhancing collaborative relationships with Anu Printsmann and other Centre for Landscape and Culture scholars; 2) applying for and being awarded two additional research awards from Tallinn University’s Centre for Excellence in Intercultural Studies and Landscape Research Group 3) conducting in-country fieldwork through the Centre for Landscape and Culture at Tallinn University in March 2022 and March 2023; 4) co-designing and implementing multi-lingual survey with Estonian coastal residents through Norstat (n=405) in March 2022; 5) conducting interviews with Estonian coastal experts (n=10) in March 2022; 6) creating presentations on preliminary project results; 7) submitting an abstract to a geography conference based on project results (unfortunately not accepted); 8) obtaining translations of all data collected in March 2022; 9) conducting 4 coastal community workshops (n=45) in March 2023; 10) conducting additional interviews (n=7) in March 2023; and 11) planning and writing (in process) manuscripts associated with project findings. Given the implementation of additional fieldwork in March 2023, Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann have updated their collaborative writing plans with the multi-year data largely contributing to Printsmann’s in-process dissertation focused on Estonian maritime culture and maritime cultural landscapes. Dr. Trimbach is currently completing the initial collaborative manuscript focused on coastal sense of place to be submitted to the Journal of Baltic Studies in 2023.

Limitations

Since the initial fieldwork in March 2022 and previous AAB report, Dr. Trimbach changed professional positions and this has limited the project’s progress; however, with the additional LRG project funds, Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann have reinvigorated the project and recently completed additional in-country fieldwork in March 2023. Given that Dr. Trimbach is currently completing the first manuscript and Printsmann will be using the project as part of their dissertation (consisting of 3 manuscripts) with Dr. Trimbach as co-author, the project is still moving forward with the hope of having all initially planned 3 (with an additional 1) manuscripts out for peer-review in 2023.

Next Steps

Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann have plans to ensure the proposed deliverables are completed and to further this project. With the completion of additional fieldwork in March 2023, now 4 peer-reviewed manuscripts are planned and/or are in process. Dr. Trimbach is currently completing the first manuscript for the Journal of Baltic Studies. Printsmann is planning on completing 3 additional manuscripts, with Dr. Trimbach as co-author, related to the other data collected in 2022 and 2023, with an emphasis on Estonian maritime culture, maritime cultural landscapes, and the Soviet occupation. These 3 manuscripts will likely be submitted in 2023 to human geography journals. Dr. Trimbach and Printsmann also plan to co-present on their results at a future conference, hopefully in 2024.

– David Trimbach, 2023

David Trimbach