View the replays of Soil Regen Summit speakers!
Join us for Day 2 of this year’s Soil Regen Summit to hear presenters talk about Solutions Offered by Regenerative Practices. Resilience to extreme weather events, protection of biodiversity, and improvements to human health: these are just a few of the potential solutions that Regenerative Practices can offer. Presenters on Day 2 will share their approaches and experiences!
Robert J. Long is the Featured Artist for Soil Regen Summit 2022.
There are 11 speakers on Day 2, here’s the full lineup:
John D. Liu, Filmmaker, Ecologist, founder of Ecosystem Restoration Camps
John’s talk title is TBA. John D. Liu started as a journalist before he decided to become a filmmaker. When a film took him to the desertified Loess Plateau in north-central China, John recognized the potential to regreen our deserts and engage people in the process. Over the years, John has been involved in several large-scale ecosystem restoration projects and has documented many of these, producing a number of inspiring videos.
Dr. David R. Montgomery, Author, Geologist, cofounder of Dig2Grow
David’s presentation, “Growing A Revolution and What Your Food Ate,” will address how when ancient wisdom is combined with modern science, regenerative practices can be good for farmers and the environment. David R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. An author of award-winning popular-science books (Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, The Hidden Half of Nature, and Growing a Revolution), he has been featured in documentary films, network and cable news, and on a wide variety of TV and radio programs.
Top row: Dr. Usman Ali Lawan, Anne Biklé, Courtney P. Brown, Minni Jain, Dr. David R. Montgomery. Bottom row: Dr. Dilafruz Williams, Dr. Elaine Ingham, Colin Andrews, John D. Liu, and Nono Sekhoto.
Dr. Elaine Ingham, Soil Biology Pioneer, Soil Food Web School Founder
On Day 2, Dr. Elaine’s talk will cover “The Seven Benefits of the Soil Food Web.” For over four decades, Dr. Elaine Ingham has advanced our knowledge of the Soil Food Web. An internationally-recognized leader in soil microbiology, Dr. Ingham has collaborated with other scientists and with farmers around the world to further our understanding of how soil organisms work together and with plants.
Dr. Usman Ali Lawan, founder of Farmer in Suit
Usman is based in Nigeria and he will present on “Social Entrepreneurship: A panacea to building sustainable and profitable agribusiness ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Smallholder farmers in Africa contribute up to 70 percent of the food supply on the continent. These farmers suffer from several challenges including unpredictable climate, land overuse, lack of access to extension support, and post-harvest losses. However, smallholder farmers can increase their productivity and improve their livelihood by adopting sustainable farming practices through networks of geo-cooperatives and aggregator models that provide them with input credits, training, and links to markets.
Anne Biklé, MLA, Author, Biologist, cofounder of Dig2Grow
Anne’s presentation is entitled “Eating From the Hidden Half of Nature.” Agricultural practices profoundly influence levels of phytochemicals, nutrients, and other compounds in crops and livestock. When we feed the grand symbiotic partnership between a plant and the soil microbiome, it ripples through to the human diet—and our own bodies—in profound ways. The reality is that our well-being depends on what the microbiomes in the soil and the gut eat. And this calls for re-thinking the practices that currently underpin two of humanity’s greatest endeavors—agriculture and medicine.
Courtney P. Brown, Strategic Consultant and founder of AGSPOSURE
Courtney will speak about “Making the Connection: African American Agriculture & Regenerative Solutions.” For generations, African Americans have made significant contributions to the world of agriculture but there are currently less than 50,000 African American farmers in the United States. This challenge paired with the current disparities of this community in the areas of wealth, health, food access, and land ownership leaves much reason for concern. As it is an exciting time for the regenerative agriculture movement, it is critically important that we develop regenerative agricultural solutions that would help combat many of the issues plaguing the African American community. In this session, Courtney will highlight several areas that support the push of using agriculture for social change.
Chef Nephi Craig, founder of the Native American Culinary Association, creator of Café Gozhóó
Nephi’s talk “Psychology of Indigenous Food, Landscape and Eating,” will present an Indigenous paradigm on food, landscape and public health. Chef Craig will discuss practitioner pathways toward ethical practices in relationship building, standards of care and cultural resurgence. His presentation will include both a lecture session and cooking demonstration!
Minni Jain, Educator, Operations Director of The Flow Partnership
Minni’s talk, entitled “The Link between Water and Regeneration” will focus on how community-driven water restoration practices across the world are achieving phenomenal change in bringing back health and diversity to our landscapes and lives. For over 25 years, Minni Jain has been working with communities to regenerate their landscapes and their members’ lives. As Operations Director of The Flow Partnership, she works on community-led management of floods and droughts using simple, low-cost traditional methods.
Ms. Nono Sekhoto, Commercial Farmer, Youth-in-Agriculture Advocate
Nono is based in South Africa, and she will present “Supporting Youth to Take Up Regenerative Agriculture.” She will outline the importance of including regenerative practices throughout the agriculture education that youth receive in order to ensure the sustainability of agriculture and food systems for the future. Nono Sekhoto is a commercial farmer, an entrepreneur, and an award-winning youth-in-agriculture advocate working in South Africa and the region. Nono’s work in agriculture leverages her 8 years background in financial services, 10-year commercial mixed farming experience, and a global network of agricultural stakeholders built over the years.
Dr. Dilafruz Williams, Author, Garden-based Educator
Dilafruz will present “Living Soil as Poetic and Critical Text: Pedagogy Underground for Regenerative Hope,” highlighting that via the thousands of learning gardens that have sprouted up on school grounds across countries and continents, soil provides an exquisite pedagogical entry point for poetic and critical text in nurturing students’ connection with the more-than-human world. Normally out-of-sight and out-of-mind, direct hands-on interaction with living soil in gardens provides children and youth with regenerative hope beyond gloom and doom of environmental issues.
Colin Andrews, Chair of The Tiyeni Fund
Tiyeni is our favorite charity and we are proud to be supporting them at this year’s Soil Regen Summit. Colin joined the team of Tiyeni in 2013. On Day 2 of the Summit, Colin will present on the topic of “Ending African Hunger.” Colin explains in some detail, the basket of technologies available to farmers who adopt Deep Bed Farming. He explains how ‘one size fits all’ can never work, how farmers are inventive, do not want handouts, but benefit from collaborative training and cross-fertilization of methods. He explains how the problems and solutions that apply to Malawi also apply to many of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. He leaves us with a way forward that is already raising the hopes of thousands of Farmers, both in and out of Malawi.
Here are the Panels for Day 2:
- Live Panel Discussion 1: Colin Andrews, Dr. Usman Ali Lawan, Ms. Nono Sekhoto, Minni Jain, and John D. Liu. Hosted by Adam Cobb, PhD.
This discussion session will be followed by Meet-n-Greet sessions where each panelist will move into a breakout room for a moderated Q&A with audience members. - Live Panel Discussion 2: Dr. David Montgomery, Anne Biklé, Dr. Dilafruz Williams, Chef Nephi Craig, and Courtney P. Brown. Hosted by Dr. Adrienne Godschalx.
This discussion session will be followed by Meet-n-Greet sessions where each panelist will move into a breakout room for a moderated Q&A with audience members.
We hope you’ll join us for this great lineup on Day 2 – we look forward to learning with you!
View replays of Soil Regen Summit 2022: Farming for the Future!
We’d also like to remind you that this entire event is in support of Tiyeni.org. You can learn more about their work here and make a donation to support their efforts here.
