Soil Speaker Series Fall 2020 – Spring 2021

The Magic & the Mysteries of Climate, Soil, Plants & Trees  How soil and plants help create our amazing climate and how we can help them restore it ~ October 6, 2020

Kate O’Connor is a long-time homesteader, educator, musician & member of Climate Action Now. Kate has a passionate interest in getting people excited and hopeful about the potential for helping heal climate change by removing damaging atmospheric climate gasses and storing them in plants and healthy soils.

Agricultural Climate Change Mitigation: An overview of agriculture as a source of emissions and its potential to reduce emissions and sequester carbon ~ December 1, 2020

Eric Toensmeier is the Director of the Perennial Agriculture Institute, Senior Fellow with Global Evergreening Alliance, former Senior Fellow with Project Drawdown, author of The Carbon Farming Solution.

Getting to Know the Soils of Massachusetts and Why It Matters with Ralph Baker, Ph.D. ~ January 5, 2021

Ralph Baker worked for 26 years investigating and cleaning up toxic organic chemicals in soil and groundwater before co-founding TerraTherm, Inc., a hazardous waste remediation firm. Now retired, Dr. Baker serves as Board Secretary for the Nashua River Watershed Association, and chairs its Climate Impact Committee. He chairs the Fitchburg Trails Committee, serves on the Fitchburg Conservation Commission and as Clerk of the Fitchburg Greenway Committee.

Link to Dr. Baker’s references

Changing the Climate: The Role of Some Widely Used Agrochemicals with Ed Stockman. ~ February 2, 2021

Ed Stockman is a biologist, 4th generation farmer, and co-founder and education director of Regeneration Massachusetts. He was the NOFA/Mass Organic Extension Educator and served in Ecuador as a volunteer and trainer. His on-farm project—Organic Agrosystems Research—conducts applied agricultural research in Plainfield, Massachusetts. Ed co-founded Mass Right to Know GMOs and served as the education director. Ed is a grandfather concerned with a changing climate.

Ed Stockman’s slides

Small Scale Practices for Soil Improvement and Carbon Sequestration with Sharon Gensler. ~ March 30, 2021

Sharon Gensler is a homesteader/organic grower/educator. For more than 38 years she has used no-till & cover crop soil building practices on a small scale. She does workshops and writes the Homestead Reflections column in the Northeast Organic Farming Association Massachusetts Chapter (NOFA/MA) newsletter.

Jointly presented by the Westhampton Public Library, Climate Action Now and Grown in Westhampton

Sharon Gensler’s slides

MICROORGANISMS: A Key Solution for Climate, Soil, Food, and Our Health ~ Ellen Moyer ~ April 13, 2021

Ellen Moyer, PhD, PE, LEED, is an independent environmental engineer and author of the award-winning book, Our Earth, Our Species, Our Selves: How to Thrive While Creating a Sustainable World. Dr. Moyer helps government agencies and Fortune 500 companies clean up hazardous waste sites, protect environmental resources, analyze impacts, and provide educational outreach. She has worked with microorganisms to remediate soil and groundwater contaminants at waste sites throughout the US. www.ellenmoyerphd.com

Ellen Moyer’s slides

Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape September 1, 2020

Note: This talk is not available for viewing at this time.

Owen Wormser was born and raised off the grid in rural Maine, surrounded by the presence of the natural world. That connection inspired Owen to pursue a career working with plants and design. He received a landscape architecture degree in 1998 and since then, he has been designing and building landscapes with a focus on sustainability, regeneration, and beauty. Owen’s work is rooted in perspective and expertise drawn from landscape architecture, horticulture, permaculture, organic agriculture and ecology. Based in Western Massachusetts, his company, Abound Design provides design, consulting and installation services.