Biochar in the Southwest Webinar

Let’s talk biochar.

The concept of place-based biochar is inspired by Indigenous management practices that shaped the landscapes of the American West before the arrival of European settlers. One hallmark of these practices was frequent landscape burning that cleared the forest understory, leaving biochar as a byproduct. This created a forest ecosystem that was more resistant to extreme wildfire. As the current drought and wildfire risk persist and increase, we hope to increase awareness of biochar’s potential benefits across Southwestern landscapes- for contributing to soil health, particularly drought resilience, and for mitigating the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

Join us for a discussion with Kelpie Wilson of Wilson Biochar on making and using biochar everywhere from gardens to forests.

Contact CJ Ames, cj.ames@quiviracoalition.org, with any questions.

Kelpie Wilson

Kelpie Wilson is a mechanical engineer, nature lover and biochar consultant. Throughout the 1990s, she was a forest protection advocate with the Siskiyou Regional Education Project. After learning about biochar in 2007, she worked as a project develop for the International Biochar Initiative, where she managed the multi-stakeholder process to create the first set of standards and testing guidelines for biochar. Since 2012, she has been a consultant helping biochar companies, NGOs and government agencies understand biochar markets and production technologies. She pioneered development of the Flame Cap Kiln biochar technology for use by forestry contractors, arborists and farmers, and presents many workshops each year bringing this technology to end users. She is a founding board member of the US Biochar Initiative, and she lives in rural Oregon, where she makes biochar compost and grows a large organic vegetable garden.