SAEA Steering Council
The Steering Council is charged with overall governance of the Association, with oversight of the Association’s finances and management, and with ensuring that the membership is fairly represented in the committees and activities of the Association.
Chair
Julie Grossman || North Carolina State University
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Soil Science at North Carolina State University specializing in Soil Fertility Management of Organic Cropping Systems. I have been involved in the SAEA as a Transitional Steering Council member for 3 years and co-chair the Sustainable Agriculture Educational Materials digital library committee. I am passionate about teaching within the realm of soil agroecology, and teach both undergraduate and graduate level courses at NC State. Central to my teaching toolbox are pedagogical strategies such as service- and cooperative-learning, which I use to help my students learn to collectively address public needs while developing disciplinary competency and skills. My research program at NCSU explores the ways in which we can better manage plant-soil-microbe relationships to enhance soil fertility in low-input and organic farming systems (http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/lockers/Grossman_J/index.html for more information). As part of my role as a professor, I advise a great diversity of students and take pride in helping them build skills in sustainable agriculture technical research, teaching, and outreach, which in our interdisciplinary field are deeply intertwined. Skills I bring to the SAEA include my longstanding history with the organization, experience with the scholarship of teaching and learning, and my passion for creating a professional network of educators helping to train tomorrow’s leaders in sustainable agriculture. As Vice-Chair I will help to build the organization in terms of number of members, committee participation, and professional networking opportunities for educators to share resources and information on best teaching and learning practices in our field.
Vice-Chair
Kim Nielwony || Virginia Tech University
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education at Virginia Tech. My scholarly interests focus on the role adult and community education plays in the development of community-based food systems. I do this within the context of beginning farmer education; social movement learning; community-based participatory research; and adult learning theory from experiential, transformative, and sociocultural perspectives. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses by drawing upon critical pedagogy, experiential, and service learning frameworks. I currently sit on an interdisciplinary task force who is spearheading Virginia Tech’s undergraduate minor in Civic Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS). I received my Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Adult and Extension Education from Cornell University. I also hold a M.P.S degree in Community and Rural Development from Cornell and a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I welcome the opportunity to serve on the SAEA Steering Council in the role of Vice-Chair. My involvement with the SAEA began at the 2007 conference. I am currently the co-Chair of the Outreach and Membership Committee and a member representative of the Steering Council. Additionally I recently served on the 2011 conference committee that organized the 4th national SAEA conference in Kentucky. I am eager to continue supporting SAEA’s growth and vitality by engaging with a diversity of stakeholders that comprise the field of sustainable agriculture education. My particular goals include reaching out to students and practitioners and in the fields of community development and adult agricultural education.
Secretary
Julie Cotton || Michigan State University
I am the advisor and coordinator for Michigan State University’s multidisciplinary Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems undergraduate specialization and the Ecological Food and Farming Systems graduate specialization. In my current position I develop programmatic and curricular standards, advise and instruct students, market, and maintain websites for these two programs, which involve a spectrum of students interested in sustainable agriculture and food systems. I also am an advocate for community engagement in sustainability studies; food justice, environmental ethics and the political ecology of food hold equal weight in my courses. My education, experiences, and my current position at MSU inform my perspective on the role and challenges of land grant institutions. I earned my B.S. from Texas A&M, and M.S. from University of Michigan where I conducted ecological research in Detroit. My formal background includes plant pathology, entomology, urban and agro- ecology. I also served as a national congressional agriculture & natural resources policy intern, as the initial coordinator of an on-campus urban agriculture group, and a founding member of the graduate student Sustainable Agriculture Work Group. I also recently served as the secretary on my local food cooperative Board of Directors. I have served as an SAEA member representative for the last year, and as a planning committee member for the Ames, Iowa SAEA conference. I look forward to continuing my support of SAEA by serving as secretary for the Steering Council.
Treasurer
James (Sandy) Rikoon || Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security || University of Missouri
I have the (rather lofty and perhaps undeserved!) title of Curators Distinguished Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri and Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security. My training and much of my research is in the areas of political ecology, sustainable development and environmental sociology, and focuses on agriculture and environmental issues in the US Midwest and Eastern Europe. Following John Ikerd’s retirement, I directed the Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program from 2001-2009. In the mid-2000s, I led the effort that successfully established a major and minor in Sustainable Agriculture in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at Missouri. I have been involved with the SAEA since the outset and have participated in the writing of the organization’s bylaws and non-profit organization application, and in other activities. As much as I do not like to admit it, I seem to have acquired some organizational and administrative abilities over the years, and I believe totally in the goals and work of the SAEA.
Past Chair
Michelle Schroeder-Moreno || North Carolina State University
I am an Assistant Professor in the Crop Science Department and Director of Agroecology Programs at North Carolina State University. Although most of my education and training was focused in ecology, I have worked in agricultural systems in the tropics and more recently in the Southeastern US for over 13 years. I have used my experience in bridging disciplines and applying ecological concepts and ecosystem functioning to developing new Agroecology courses and programs from the ground up at NC State (http://www.cropsci.ncsu.edu/agroecology/). I am very passionate about curriculum development, teaching, advising students in agroecology and helping develop our future food system leaders. In addition to teaching the typical classroom-based agroecology courses, I also co-instruct a study abroad course in Costa Rica, Sustainability of Tropical Agroecosystems, teach on online agroecology course, direct the Sustainable Agriculture Summer Internship Program at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and serve as an advisor for the student-run NCSU Campus Farmers Market (www.campusfarmersmkt.wordpress.com). In all these efforts, I am repeatedly trying to engage students beyond the classroom, with the community around them and with the larger global context.
I have been involved in SAEA since its development after the meeting in California in 2006 serving both as the Secretary position and the Chair of the Nomination Committee. I am honored to serve as the Chair position for the SAEA and I look forward to working with fellow Steering Council members to continue our success as an association
Student Representative
Liz Carlisle || University of California, Berkeley
I am a PhD student in Geography at UC Berkeley and I coordinate our campus's new Center for Diversified Farming Systems. Before graduate school, I worked for United States Senator Jon Tester, an organic farmer from my home state of Montana, as Legislative Correspondent for agriculture and natural resources policy. I'll be returning to the region for my dissertation research, which focuses on diversified farming systems on the Northern Great Plains. I came to SAEA seeking a forum for developing field-based food systems courses that integrate the natural and social sciences, and I was really impressed with the open, constructive, non-hierarchical tone of the Lexington meeting. I came home with plenty of syllabi, ideas, and new friends that will help me in designing and improving my own classes. As a student representative, I'd like to contribute to the strength and staying power of our young organization, help to recruit new members, and think about ways in which we can broaden our purview (for example, I'd love to see some of my tribal college colleagues at our next meeting). My professional background includes extensive experience in events and communication, and I am happy to contribute those skills as they are useful.
Student Representative
Angel Cruz || North Carolina State University
Growing up in rural NC, watching families transition from tobacco and then working for several years in community gardens and agricultural education in rural El Salvador, I became passionate about sustainable agriculture education. Currently, I am Master’s student at NCSU where my research and work consist of two dynamic components. First, I am looking at how different farming systems impact mycorrhizae and rhizobia communities. Second, I am part of the leadership team with the Appalachian Foodshed Project (AFP), a USDA project that aims to enhance food security and economic viability through local and regional food system development in the Southern Appalachian region. I am particularly excited about my role with the AFP because I grew up in the Appalachia and know firsthand the challenges faced, being one of the first in the family to receive a college degree. These two unique research and work experiences will prepare me to work across disciplines and at multiple scales. I hope to not only learn how our agro-ecosystems function but also how to engage communities in conversations about making changes in the food system. Ironically, I went off to college to get away from the farm, and now, eight years later, I am studying sustainable agriculture with plans to take my education back to rural Appalachia. I think I will bring a unique voice to the group as a Student Representative of the SAEA Steering Council. I am not only an enthusiastic graduate student passionate about sustainable agriculture, but I also have the experience of growing up in an area where agricultural education was just part of “growing up.” Additionally, my experiences abroad have given me diverse perspectives of both education and agriculture. Lastly, it was great teachers that drew me back to a field that I had abandoned. Thus, I hope to one-day give the same gift to others.
Student Representative
Ethan Lewis || University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
I have a bachelor’s degree from Northland College in Naturalist Science. I am currently working on my Initial Licensure/M.Ed. in Agriculture Education at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. My involvement in sustainable agriculture started in 2007 when I started volunteering for Central Rivers Farmshed in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In 2009, I became an AmeriCorps Intern with this organization. In this position I became the sole events coordinator for the Stevens Point Farmer’s Market and Farmshed activities at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair. In this position, I had multiple duties, including Plover Wisconsin Farmer’s and Artisan’s Market Coordinator, preparation and delivery of public presentations about sustainable foods, an organic farm internship, and website development and management. This has led me to where I am now, with the goal of educating young people about sustainable ways through which to grow and raise our food. In the process I aim to reconnect people with the land and to promote a sustainable land use ethic in our society. I am a member of the North American Association for Environmental Education. Through this nationwide organization I have an improved ability to connect with professionals in sustainable agriculture and urban gardening. This in combination with being an Agriculture Education M.Ed. candidate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, provides me with access to current and future agriculture educators with which to network about SAEA.
Member Representative
Peggy Eppig || Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation
I serve as a state-wide agriculture education advocate and consultant through the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation, in this position since 2008. I coordinate agriculture curriculum projects in formal and non-formal education, from middle school through post-secondary and graduate level with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture and agroecology. In addition, I facilitate teacher training and professional development in sustainable agriculture and natural resources education throughout the year, providing curriculum and project guidance to over 200 Maryland schools, universities and farm-based programs. As a part-time professor of earth systems, climate change and agroecology at Antioch University and Keene State College in New Hampshire I maintain a dynamic perspective towards applied and theoretical agriculture and environmental change. Combining over twenty years of teaching experience with non-profit consultation, professional development and program assessment, I bring excellent communication and organizational skills to the position of Member Representative. As a long- time advocate of sustainable, practice-based agriculture education, I excel at promoting strategies that integrate agriculture, agriculture education and professionalism in teaching in a variety of venues and institutions, from urban settings to rural, in non-profit, industry and government organizations. I enthusiastically serve both the student and the teacher to foster an awareness and application of agriculture education across the educational and institutional spectrum!
Member Representative
Debbie Hanmer || University of North Carolina at Pembroke
I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology department at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. We are a small rural institution that is just starting a sustainable agriculture tract within the existing environmental science degree. We are reaching out to meet the needs of local students who are interested in agriculture but do not want to leave the area for school. I led the effort to get the program approved and will be teaching sustainable agriculture courses and coordinating the internships. I am a plant pathologist by training. My current area of research is around the effects of biochar as a soil amendment. I usually have one or two students doing undergraduate research projects on biochar. I also teach botany, plant physiology, mycology and lead a study abroad course in conservation to Costa Rica. I have been gardening organically for 40 years and have a long standing interest in environmental issues and nutrition. I am especially concerned about the role of organic pollutants in ecosystems and human health. I am actively involved in my community trying to raise awareness about sustainable food systems and creating partnerships between various organizations. I can represent the concerns of smaller schools and rural communities as we work to improve local food systems and consumer access with limited resources. I believe that the SAEA can play a significant role in promoting best practices in sustainable agriculture programs across the country.
Member Representative
Krista Jacobsen || University of Kentucky
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky, and teach a number of courses in our Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Degree Program. I am an agroecologist, with a research focus on nutrient cycling and plant productivity in organic farming systems. I use research approaches that integrate environmental and economic metrics to say something about the sustainability of organic and alternative farming systems. In my classes, I focus on facilitating students’ development of a nuanced, interdisciplinary perspective on issues in sustainable agriculture, and to apply these concepts in place-based, experiential environments in local fields, farms and farmer’s markets. I am passionate about experiential learning, and find my greatest teaching moments are when working with students on UK’s Organic Farming Unit. I have been involved with the SAEA as a member since the Cornell Conference. Having been inspired by this committed community of teachers and learners since that time, I was very pleased to work with colleagues at UK and Virginia Tech as co-Chair of the Conference Committee to host the 2011 National Conference. As a member representative, I would bring experience of building the capacity of a newly established sustainable agriculture program, conference organizational and fundraising skills, and a true passion for the teaching and learning of sustainable agriculture. I welcome the opportunity to work with the SAEA steering council to help grow this great organization in numbers, programs, and national recognition.
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