Join us in Shiprock, New Mexico, for a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to assess and improve your soil health using simple, low-cost methods — no special tools or lab testing needed!

Bring a soil sample from your area and discover how land management practices can impact soil quality. If you aren’t able to bring your own soil, let us know and we can provide an extra sample.

Workshop facilitators will guide participants through simple, do-it-yourself soil assessment techniques using their senses and common household items. Participants will learn ways to look at things like soil pH, moisture, and overall soil condition, while building skills they can use to better understand changes on their own land. The goal is to give farmers, ranchers, and land stewards practical tools for assessing soil health themselves without always needing specialized equipment or laboratory testing.

Workshop Facilitators

Anna Clare Monlezun, Ph.D.
The Rangeland Living Laboratory

Rebecca Baldwin-Kordick, M.S.
Red Dog Soils

Lexi Firth, Ph.D.
Colorado State University

Friday, November 6, 2026
9:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m. MT
Shiprock, New Mexico

Dr. Anna Clare Monlezun
Dr. Anna Clare Monlezun is a rangeland ecosystem scientist, synthesizer, and collaborative facilitator. She considers herself a life-long student of nature who thrives in interdisciplinary work environments, assisting stakeholders at the interface of ranching and conservation. She offers state-of-the-science knowledge and practical engagement in agroecology, grazing management, rangeland science, agrivoltaics, and ecosystem services valuation.

A Colorado rancher herself, she is the founder of Graze LLC and CEO of the Rangeland Living Laboratory Inc. Through these organizations, she works with partners including Cultivo Land, The Nature Conservancy, Quivira Coalition, Grazewell Regenerative Ranching, Silicon Ranch, the U.S. Department of Energy, and land-grant universities. A published writer, musician, and poet, Anna Clare enjoys bridging science, art, and land stewardship.

Rebecca Baldwin-Kordick, M.S.
Rebecca is a soil scientist and educator who has helped passionate farmers and ranchers improve their soil health and crop/pasture quality since 2016. Her soil health coaching and consulting business, Red Dog Soils, is based in Denver, Colorado, and provides practical guidance and customized recommendations to address agricultural production challenges.

Rebecca earned her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and her M.S. in Soil Science from Iowa State University, where she researched soil health in conventional and alternative cropping systems. She has also completed rigorous agroecology training through the Integrity Soils CREATE Program. When she is not talking about soil health, she enjoys fly fishing, gardening, and hiking.

Dr. Lexi Firth

Dr. Lexi Firth is a soil ecologist and agricultural systems scientist at Colorado State University whose work focuses on soil health, soil carbon, and soil-water relationships across working lands. She leads CSU’s Discovery Farms & Ranches initiative, a network of producer-engaged, on-farm and on-ranch research sites designed to evaluate agricultural practices under real-world conditions. Her work combines field experiments, environmental monitoring, soil health and carbon data, and producer knowledge to understand how management decisions affect soils, water, agricultural production, and ecosystem resilience. She is passionate about turning complex data into practical information that supports realistic decision-making and helps land stewards respond to changing environmental and operational conditions.