View Videos from the Soil Health Speaker Series — Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
Food Systems and Food Justice Speaker Series
Seeds of Change with Kannan Thiruvengadam
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Kannan Thiruvengadam is the Director of Eastie Farm, an eco-friendly urban farm in East Boston which brings neighbors together, promotes community resiliency and fosters food security and justice. He also hosts the Zumix youth-involved radio show, “What’s up Eastie?” about topics of interest in East Boston. As a Climate Ready Boston Leader, Kannan blends his broad background in technology, climate science, permaculture, regenerative and sustainable agriculture with his passion for community engagement and activism.
Kannan will present some of his work and discuss how to engage communities and solve problems together. This interactive session will be an opportunity to explore together how to identify opportunities in our own communities to integrate natural systems and biodiversity using just and inclusive practices to move our communities towards climate justice.
The talks are free but registration is required.
Soil health and carbon sequestration series
Beyond Stopping Emissions: How Healthy Soil and Plants Can Restore Climate Balance
Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape ~ Owen Wormser
September 1, 2020
In a world where lawns wreak havoc on our natural ecosystems, landscape designer Owen Wormser encourages another approach. Meadows create wildlife and pollinator habitat. They’re low maintenance and low cost. They have a built-in resilience that helps them weather climate extremes and they can sequester loads of carbon. They’re also really beautiful all year long. Owen will explain how to plant an organic meadow that’s right for your site, share advice and answer questions.
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 ~ Kate O’Connor Watch the recording
October 6, 2020
Presented by Kate O’Connor, 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 ~ Eric Toensmeier Watch the recording
December 1, 2020
An overview of agriculture as a source of emissions and its potential to reduce emissions and sequester carbon. Part of a “balanced breakfast” of climate change mitigation that includes transformation of transport, industry, electricity and other sectors. 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
~ Ralph Baker, Ph.D. Watch the recording
January 5, 2021
Soils are nature’s foundation – intricate and biologically rich; sustaining us if we treat them wisely! Unknown to many, the soils of our state vary greatly from place to place. This talk will provide an introduction to the range of soil types around us, and explain how soil characteristics affect its suitability for plant growth and other ecological services they provide.
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.
Changing the Climate: The Role of Some Widely Used Agrochemicals ~ Ed Stockman Watch the recording
February 2, 2021 – 7:00 – 8:30 pm
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.
Small Scale Practices for Soil Improvement and Carbon Sequestration ~ Sharon Gensler Watch the recording
March 30, 2021
Jointly presented by the Westhampton Public Libray, Climate Action Now and Grown in Westhampton
Maintaining living plant cover is one of the essential practices of building soil health. This talk will provide practical guidance on using cover crops in a small-scale, non-mechanized, no-till context to improve soil health both for growing more nutritious food and for sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil to help heal climate change.
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.
MICROORGANISMS: A Key Solution for Climate, Soil, Food, and Our Health ~ Ellen Moyer
April 13, 2021
We routinely kill beneficial microorganisms, with disastrous consequences for human and environmental health. Instead, we can promote beneficial microorganisms to help change dangerous trends that threaten our future. Through regenerative agriculture, the interconnected microbiomes of soil, food, and humans can help stabilize the climate, rebuild degraded soils, secure our food supply, and reverse and prevent chronic disease. One of the most effective actions a person can take to help the climate is to eat healthier food.
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
Past events on video
Kiss the Ground film
Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary (narrated by Woody Harrelson) that sheds light on regenerative agriculture which has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our water supplies and feed more people. This revolution in how we grow our food and care for the soil is the solution — right beneath our feet! — to many intractable problems threatening the very survival of civilization.
Mina Liang (AmherstINDY) reported on an October showing, “Amherst Residents See Solutions Beneath Their Feet At Outdoor Film Screenings Of ‘Kiss the Ground’” (10/16/20).