2018 Speakers

Kelsey Ducheneaux is the 4th generation of The DX Ranch on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. She is the owner of DX Beef, which offers locally raised beef for direct sale…

Regi is the principal architect of the innovative poultry-centered regenerative agriculture model that is at the heart of Main Street Project’s work…

Serafina Lombardi is the director of Education and Outreach at the New Mexico Acequia Association, and assists with the implementation of their Sembradores Farmer Training Program…

Jeremy has lived and worked in Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon helping to conserve wildlife and working landscapes. Since 2002, he has worked for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service as a wildlife biologist and ecologist…

Nathan W. Seward is a Wildlife Conservation Biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Gunnison, Colorado. He holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University (2000) and a M.S. in Conservation Biology…

Bill McDorman is Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA), a grassroots, seed conservation non-profit created to to assure a diverse supply of local seeds through community-based seed stewardship…

Finian Makepeace is the Co-Founder of Kiss the Ground, a recording artist, and an activist. His passion for changing the world brought him…

Lee-Ann holds a MA in Cultural Ecology from Prescott College where she studied traditional land management with an eye on food systems. After conducting research in New Mexico…

Greg Gunthorp, along with his wife and three kids, own and operates a pasture based livestock operation in North East Indiana. Greg’s family has raised pigs on pasture for at least four generations…

Katie is the Co-Founder of EPIC, a company specializing in creating nutrient dense meat based superfoods. EPIC is the first consumer packaged goods company to successfully scale a “nose to tail” approach…

Rebecca develops educational content related to local and regional meat processing issues and coordinates outreach and educational activities for NMPAN…

Don Davis Find this speaker online Don ranches in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and owns and operates Grassfed Livestock Alliance, LLC (GLA), an alliance of Grassfed producers. GLA currently supplies local Grassfed beef to Whole Foods Market locations in Texas,...

Don Hijar Find this speaker online Don grew up on an irrigated farm in the Arkansas Valley of Southeastern Colorado. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science from CSU Fort Collins, but started his career in the Soil Conservation Service where he ended up...

Growing food in the Middle Rio Grande Valley for almost a decade, Casey is dedicated to building community resiliency through sustainable agriculture…

Sallie owns and manages the Paicines Ranch in central California. She is also an impact investor, activist, and philanthropic funder in regenerative agriculture…

Kelly Sidoryk ranches with her family near Lloydminster, Sask./Alta. Over 25 years ago they were introduced to Holistic Resource Management (as it was known at the time). The process had a significant impact on their operation as it transitioned to be a forage based, livestock enterprise…

Meredith is a Lending Manager at RSF Social Finance, a San Francisco-based financial services nonprofit dedicated to revolutionizing how people relate to money…

Jennie L. Stephens has served as Executive Director of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation since its inception in 2005. She has worked more than 25 years in the nonprofit field in a number of positions. Most recently, Jennie had the pleasure of being a speaker at TedXCharleston with a talk titled, “Heirs Discover Money Does Grow on Trees”…

Richard Teague is Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Texas A&M University. The purpose of his research is to conduct a ranch-scale, multi-county assessment that addresses objectives in the context of improving Soil Health and ecosystem services in grazing ecosystems…

Gina Asoudegan is Vice President of Mission and Innovation Strategy at Applegate where she leads the company’s Powered By Applegate initiative, an incubator team charged with creating new products from regional supply chains that employ regenerative agriculture practices…

Peter Byck is director, producer and writer of “Carbon Nation” and Professor of Practice at ASU, in the Schools of Sustainability & Journalism. Byck is now focusing on soil health – via short films: “Soil Carbon Cowboys” and in…

Esther is the CEO of Cienega Capital, an investment firm utilizing an integrated capital approach to systemic change in the areas of soil health, regenerative agriculture, and local food systems. Cienega Capital is also part of the No Regrets Initiative, a regenerative asset strategy focused on…

Kathy has taught, presented, consulted, and written about agricultural land access, tenure and transfer for over 30 years. Over this time she has also focused on educating and advocating for beginning farmers in New England and beyond…

Deborah Clark and her husband, Emry Birdwell ranch outside of Henrietta, Texas. They moved to the ranch in 2004. Emry believed that using stockers was the most efficient and expedient way to restore the tall native grassland prairie…

Betsy Ross is a CEO of Sustainable Growth Texas, LLC and Co-Owner/Founder of Betsy Ross Grass Fed Beef. She began her soil remediation work at her cattle operation outside of Granger, TX. The grass-fed business started in 1992 after hearing Sally Fallon speak in Dallas…

Alan navigates government affairs and food and agriculture policy for Natural Grocers, a health food store founded in 1955 with 145 stores in 19 states. At the federal, state and local level, Alan engages on food, agriculture, nutrition…

Christine is the CEO and co-founder of PastureMap, a technology company helping ranchers increase profits on healthy grasslands. Christine has worked on farms and ranches in 4 continents….

Jonathan Cobb is a fourth generation steward of his family’s land in the Blackland Prairie of central Texas. After earning his business degree and spending several years away from the farm, he and his wife, Kaylyn, decided to leave the urban life and continue the farming tradition…

Dan Waldvogle is an active agrarian in the high desert mountain valley of the Upper Arkansas.  He is the Director of Colorado Land Link which is a program that is administered by Guidestone Colorado.  In this role, he works across his state…

Nicole Masters, is an independent agroecologist, systems thinker and educator. She has a formal background in ecology, soil science and organizational learning.

Will owns and operates White Oak Pastures.  It is the 150-year-old diversified and integrated farm where his family has earned their living for 6 generations. In the last 25 years, Will has evolved the farm from a commoditized, industrialized, centralized, monoculture cattle operation to a…