Climate Resilience Through Regeneration: Healthy Soils from Coast to Valley

As we build a more climate-resilient California, it’s important we look at the solutions living beneath our feet. Healthy soils lay the groundwork for sustainable agriculture, thriving ecosystems, and resilient communities. By championing practices and policies that nurture soil health and promote regenerative outcomes, we pave the way for a stronger, more sustainable future.
Speakers:
Amy Siliznoff: Executive Director, Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation District. Amy has been serving as the Executive Director of the Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation District for the last 3 years. She has over 10 years in project management and coordination experience. Her passion for environmental work and connection to the farming industry is what led her to her current role as the ED for the Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation District. She is looking to bring the RCD to be a local go-to-hub for innovative solutions for producers to comply with SGMA, and provide technical support and education around conservation and regenerative agriculture practices.
Karen Lowell, Ph.D., CCA: Agronomist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Karen is an Agronomist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. She is based in Salinas and her service area covers 15 counties in CA, including the Central Coast, the Bay Delta region and Modesto and Stockton in the Central Valley.
Karen provides Agronomy support for NRCS staff and works with individual farmers, as well as a wide range of public and private partners supporting farmers as they manage conservation challenges in a complex production, market and regulatory climate. She is focused specifically on creating user-friendly decision support tools for growers and conservation professionals to facilitate best management outcomes on working lands.
Karen was an Agriculture Extension Agent in Sierra Leone West Africa with the Peace Corps, has a MS degree in Agronomy from University of Maryland and a PhD in Soil, Crop and Atmospheric Science/minor Horticulture from Cornell University.
Prior to her work with NRCS Karen taught at UC Santa Cruz, teaching Food Safety and Environmental Quality: The Complexities of a Safe Salad, and Ethics and Emerging Technologies. She also worked as an independent contractor with L&L Consulting, which specializes in multi-disciplinary approaches to complex agricultural and environmental issues.
Moderated by Ryan Flaherty: Senior Director of Circular Economies, Sustainable Conservation
Working out of our Modesto office, Ryan will lead the organization’s efforts to promote strategies for San Joaquin Valley dairies for managing animal waste in ways that benefit clean air and water. Ryan comes to us from Business for Social Responsibility, a non-profit that works with business to ensure a just and sustainable world, where he was a manager of advisory services working with the food, beverage and agricultural industries. Ryan has more than 15 years of experience in business strategy, supply chain management, sustainable agriculture, water stewardship and stakeholder engagement. He has an MBA from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelors of Arts from Tulane University.

[@infocat13]

My earthworms are slowly decomposing cat poop & shredded junk mail on my porch:)