Industry Experts
Meet our 2024 Speakers
Jessica Chiartas
Dr. Jessica Chiartas received her PhD in Soils & Biogeochemistry from the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on the long-term impacts of agricultural management on soil carbon, soil health and the provision of ecosystem services. Following her PhD, she served as a Postdoctoral fellow and Project Scientist also at UC Davis, where she developed a practice and outcomes-based scoring framework for regenerative agriculture. She is currently Research Manager of the Center for Sustainable Food Systems at University of British Columbia and President/Lead Scientist for RegenScore.
Over the last five years, Jessica has supported businesses, brands, non-profits, and NGOs in developing bespoke monitoring programs to track the environmental, agronomic, and economic impacts of regenerative management; including Ben & Jerry’s, Simple Mills, Daily Harvest, Citizens of Humanity, Community Alliance with Family Farms, Fibershed, and Moonshot Snacks. She is President and Lead Scientist at RegenScore, an evidence-backed, place-based, scoring framework for assessing regenerative agriculture. Jessica is a technical advisor for the North Coast Soil Health Hub, LandCore USA, PlanetFwd, and Crop/Range-C; and served on the Soil Health Advisory Committee for Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). She is a member of the ASA-CSA-SSSA Science Policy Committee and represents UC Davis in the California Farm Demonstration Network. She is also founder/creator of Soil Life, a website and series of short videos and educational resources that inspire, empower, and engage young people in the many solutions to global challenges that lie right beneath their feet.
Troy Daniell
Mr. Daniell has served as the State Conservationist for Minnesota since 2018 and enjoys the opportunity to help agricultural producers meet conservation and production challenges.
Troy began his NRCS career as a Range Conservationist in Louisiana in 1996. He later became a District Conservationist in Oklahoma for 6 years; then served as an Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in Illinois for 7 years. Troy has also worked at National Headquarters serving2 years as National Initiatives Team Coordinator and as Acting Branch Chief for EQIP.
In 2011, he moved to his home State of Texas where he worked as the State Administrative Officer, State Financial Assistance Programs Manager and Acting Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in just prior to accepting the State Conservationist position in Minnesota. Troy went back to National Headquarters in 2023 to work as the Acting Branch Chief for Projects.
Mr. Daniell serves as a member of the Chiefs Advisory Committee and as the Chair of the Soil Health Advisory Board. He has worked on multiple process improvement projects to support agency improvement over his career. Mr. Daniell comes from a multi-generational family agricultural operation. He maintains a role in his families farming and ranching activities in Texas. He has a passion for ensuring support for a sustainable American agriculture system for future generations.
Kristin Weeks Duncanson
Kristin Duncanson is an owner and partner at Highland Family Farms located in Mapleton, MN.
Kristin and husband of 30 plus years, Pat, raise corn, soybeans, rye, oats, specialty corn and hogs with a commitment to a triple bottom line approach: economic profitability, environmental improvement and community engagement.
Kristin is an advisor at the Meridian Institute’s AGree project, former chair and current board member of the MN AgriGrowth Council. Past Chair of the Non-Profit Feeding Our Communities Partners, past chair of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, former board member of the American Soybean Growers, a member of AAPEX, Moving Forward Advisory Council and several commodity groups.
In 2017, she became a Board Member of the Mankato Area Foundation and served as the Foundation’s Board chair until 2.023 In June 2018 at she became a Trustee for the Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
In 2024 Kristin will serve as a Walton Family Foundation Fellow and chair of the Taylor Family Farms Foundation Board.
In 2001-2002, Kristin attended the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute where she was a Policy Fellow. She is a 1981 graduate of Luther College with a degree in Political Science and Communications and a 2012 graduate of TEPAP at Texas A&M.
Kristin started her professional career on Capitol Hill in the office of Senator Rudy Boschwitz as a legislative aide before moving back to Minnesota to work at Hubbard Milling Company as territory manager and specialty feed marketing manager. Kristin served as the Director of the Mapleton Child Center from 2000 to 2002.
The Duncanson’s attend St John’s Lutheran Church in Mapleton where Kristin served as the council president for six years and still provides supply ministry. She also mentor’s seminary student who are planning to engage in rural ministry for the ELCA.
She is a Masterpiece Art Instructor, an activity which is near and dear to her heart.
Pat and Kristin are parents to four young adult children, have five grandchildren and enjoy traveling the world where they are not always comfortable.
Malique Fowler
Meet Malique Fowler, an Environmental Science and Technology major from Montego Bay, Jamaica, now studying at the University of Maryland - College Park. Driven by a passion for sustainable development, Malique is committed to making a real difference in environmental practices through innovative legal strategies. As an aspiring environmental lawyer, he actively engages with organizations like AFA to advance sustainable agricultural techniques that are both effective and equitable. Join him at the AG Sustainability Summit in Minneapolis, MN, this November 20-21, where he’ll discuss how legal frameworks can catalyze lasting environmental change. Be part of the movement toward a more sustainable future with Malique!
Janssen Hang
Janssen Hang is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Hmong American Farmers Association. Janssen grew up growing, harvesting and selling vegetables for the local food economy and currently runs his family-owned value-added business making spring rolls and egg rolls at the downtown Saint Paul Farmers Market.
A 2001 Saint Olaf graduate in Biology and Asian Studies, Janssen has over 20 years of experience in agriculture, 12 years in small business management, and 7 years as a licensed-real estate agent. Janssen is also one among just a few certified Hmong Mekongs (cultural broker).
John Hanselman
John Hanselman is passionate about recycling organics, once considered waste, into renewable energy and low-carbon fertilizer. His focus is developing organic waste and decarbonization solutions for food and beverage manufacturers, corporations, and food retailers and enhancing regenerative agriculture practices alongside Vanguard’s farm partners. Mr. Hanselman has over thirty years of experience leading renewable energy, environmental, and mission-driven companies. He is a well-known speaker at energy, waste, and sustainability conferences.
Wayne Honeycutt
Dr. Wayne Honeycutt is President and CEO of the nonprofit Soil Health Institute, where he leads the Institute’s programs to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soils. He previously served for 5 years as the Deputy Chief for Science and Technology with USDA-NRCS in Washington, DC, where he led programs to ensure NRCS conservation practices reflect the latest scientific advances for conserving the nation’s soil, water, air, plant, animal, and energy resources. He served as a Research Soil Scientist for 14 years and a Research Leader for 11 years with the USDA-ARS New England Plant, Soil, and Water Laboratory, where he led and conducted interdisciplinary research on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling and sustainable cropping systems development. In those roles he led national research teams for predicting nutrient availability, developed procedures adopted by ARS for coordinating research nationally, published over 90 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and 9 book chapters, and received regional and national awards for technology transfer. He served on assignments to the USDA-ARS National Program Staff and to the United States Senate.
Wayne’s commitment to agriculture is rooted in his experiences with raising tobacco, corn, and other crops on his family’s 120-acre farm in Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Forestry and Master's degree in Soil Science from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in Soil Genesis from Colorado State University. He is a graduate of the Mastering the Art of Public Leadership executive development program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC; and the Performance Excellence and Knowledge executive development program of USDA. He was the 2018 recipient of the Hugh Hammond Bennett Award, the highest honor bestowed on an individual by the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and the 2023 recipient of the Soil Science Industry and Professional Leadership Award from the Soil Science Society of America.
Macie McPeak
Macie McPeak is serving as a Student Advisor along with 9 other team members for Agriculture Future of America. Originally from the Central Valley of California, Macie now calls Oklahoma State University her home while pursuing a dual degree in Plant and Soil Science and Agribusiness. With a strong foundation in agricultural research, student industry experience, and leadership, Macie has worked as an OSU Undergraduate Research Lab Manager, BASF Technical Service Intern, and Ambassador for Agriculture Future of America. Finishing up her last year in undergraduate school, Macie looks forward to exploring her options to get involved in the industry.
Barbara O'Brien
Barbara O’Brien has more than 20 years of experience working on behalf of America’s 31,000 dairy farmers and dairy importers, and delivering results globally, nationally and locally. O’Brien is the President & CEO of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), the domestic dairy checkoff program that drives trust and sales of dairy products. In this capacity, she oversees the work of the National Dairy Council, the U.S. Dairy Export Council and GENYOUth Foundation, which raises funds and resources to support youth wellness programming, most notably through its flagship in-school program, Fuel Up to Play 60.
She also serves as President & CEO of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, a pre-competitive forum that advances collaboration among dairy companies, farmers and others in the dairy community to help ensure a socially responsible and economically viable industry in the future.
In her role as President & CEO of the Innovation Center, she has brought together the leadership of 27 dairy companies and organizations to advance pre-competitive efforts and action within key areas like animal welfare, environmental sustainability, hunger and community impact. Under her leadership, 34 companies representing 75% of the U.S. milk supply have signed the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment – dairy’s social responsibility pledge to customers and consumers. That Commitment also helped lay the groundwork for the announcement of U.S. Dairy’s 2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals.
O’Brien leads with a results-driven mentality to deliver tangible impacts for farmers from field to fork and positively position U.S. dairy in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Through an evolution of the checkoff business plan, O’Brien created stronger integration and category strategies that have grown the market for America’s dairy farmers, as well as driven increases in positive consumer perceptions around dairy and dairy farming. She is also focused on building a bench of next generation leadership among staff and dairy farmers to ensure the checkoff’s long-term success on behalf of the dairy industry.
Prior to joining DMI, O’Brien directed Burson Marsteller’s Chicago-based healthcare consultancy. During her tenure, she provided executive-level counsel for Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical clients including Procter & Gamble, Dow Corning, Quaker Oats and Abbott Labs, establishing new business strategies for growing clients’ market share. She went on to co-found a healthcare consultancy that served the business and marketing planning needs of Chicago-area hospitals and health systems as well as companies in the medical device, pharmaceutical, food and nutrition segments.
O’Brien is a proud mother of two children and resides in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Mark.
Keith Olander
Keith Olander is the Executive Director of AgCentric, Minnesota State Northern Agricultural Center of Excellence. He also oversees strategic agricultural partnerships at Central Lakes College as Dean of Agricultural Studies.
As Executive Director of AgCentric, Keith’s major responsibilities are to augment the capacity and enrollment in comprehensive agricultural education from K-12, through post-secondary to fill industry needs. Workforce development includes building partnerships, developing seamless educational pathways, and informing audiences of the agricultural web that surrounds every person who enjoys a good meal and an environment that is sustainable. Directing the work of Minnesota Farm Business Management is also a major part of his role for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities with 62 faculty at 7 colleges with nearly 3,000 students (farmers). Key components of this program is farmer well-being (financially & mentally) and rural mental health.
Keith is married with 3 children and they reside in rural Staples. Keith owns and operates a crop farm consisting predominantly of a corn and soybean rotation. Faith, family, and his passion for agriculture consume his schedule.
Cory Peter
Cory Peter has led Nutrition 101 for over 20 years. His education in agricultural engineering, business, and finance allowed Nutrition 101 to grow into a leading provider of eco-friendly, waste management services for food processors and retailers. The company has become a go-to partner for regional, national, and global food manufacturers seeking end-to-end waste management solutions that reflect their own sustainability goals. 101’s service offering involves the repurposing of food residuals from manufacturers and retailers into nutritious livestock feed, compost, and green energy products like bio-gas – reducing waste, landfill usage, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Jack Scott
Jack Scott serves as Nestlé Purina’s Vice President of Sustainable Sourcing where his team is focused on ensuring the sustainable and responsible sourcing of ingredients across several ingredient categories including meat, poultry, cereals, soy, and seafood. Additionally, Jack leads regenerative agriculture efforts working closely with the agricultural community as part of Nestle’s climate commitment.
Jack joined the Nestle Family in 2003 and worked 10 years in consumer brand marketing at Nestle Purina U.S. and Nestle China Ltd. Since 2013, Jack has led sustainable sourcing efforts for Nestle and Purina working within domestic and international supply chains, including leading operation teams in China and Thailand. His experiences and knowledge of supply chains from the origin of materials and processing of ingredients to consumer branded products brings a unique and comprehensive perspective of value chain creation for sustainability.
As a final note, Jack is a vocal advocate for farmer families and ranchers recognizing their pivotal role in leading the sustainable changes we all wish to see. He is highly engaged in multiple collaborations with farmers, supply chain partners, NGOs, and other stakeholder organizations and sits on multiple Board of Directors including the American Farm Bureau Foundation, Field to Market, and the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs.
Rod Snyder
Rod Snyder servedin the Biden-Harris Administration from October 2021 through August 2024 asSenior Advisor for Agriculture to the Administrator of the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA). In March 2024, he was named as the director of EPA’s newlyestablished Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Snyder isrecognized for more than two decades of leadership at the intersection ofagricultural and environmental policy. From 2014-2021, he served as presidentof Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, which is thelargest multi-stakeholder initiative working to advance the sustainability ofcommodity crop farming in the United States. In this role, he forgedscience-based consensus among diverse stakeholders across the food andagriculture value chain on complex issues such as climate change, waterquality, biodiversity, and pest management. In 2015, Snyder co-founded theSustainable Agriculture Summit, which has grown to be the largest and mostprominent annual sustainable agriculture conference in North America.
Prior to histime at Field to Market, Snyder held positions as Public Policy Director forthe National Corn Growers Association and Government Affairs Leader forCropLife America. He has been a longtime champion of agricultural solutions toclimate change and has on two occasions organized farmer delegations toparticipate in UN Climate Summits in Paris and Copenhagen.
Snyder holdsa B.A. in Political Science from Eastern University in St. Davids,Pennsylvania. He resides on his family farm in Shenandoah Junction, WestVirginia.
Maia Woodard
Maia Woodard is the 2024-2025 Region IV Graduate Student Vice-President for MANRRS. A proud “Rattler”, she is a two time alumnus of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. She received her Bachelor's degree in Agronomy from Florida A&M University in 2022; and her Masters degree in Agricultural Science with a concentration in soil and water in 2024. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Louisiana State University in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. In her free time, Maia enjoys gardening, reading, and hiking.
Industry Experts
Meet our 2022 Speakers
Sarah Stokes Alexander
Sarah Stokes Alexander serves as Vice President of Programs for Keystone Policy Center. She started at Keystone in 1994, and her early projects focused on the environmental restoration of federal facilities facing closure throughout the nation, balancing shrinking budgets and effective consultation with local communities, states, tribes and the environmental justice community. She led the formation of a multi-stakeholder organization focused on sustainability for commodity crops in the US which is now Field to Market, its own 501(c)3. She has worked on many other strategic efforts in the sustainable agriculture space to connect efforts and farmers on the ground with the supply chain, policymakers and others, including the formation of Keystone’s Monarch Collaborative.
Sarah’s other work at Keystone has focused on developing transportation solutions to challenging corridors, bringing leaders together to focus on how to invest in water at the state level, as well as several leadership training programs that focus on collaboration and sustainability. She graduated from Middlebury College with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University.
Tammy Baker
Tammy Baker is the General Manager for Dairy Management West. She manages the planning and implementation of programming reaching over 7 million people in Arizona and 3 million in Nevada. This encompasses marketing, merchandising, industry relations, communication and nutrition education. Tammy also sits on the Global Positioning Committee of Dairy Management Inc. (the national dairy checkoff), which focuses on the industry’s collective environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts.
Tammy started her career with the dairy industry over 20 years ago as the registered dietitian on staff. During that time, she also served as a Media Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for 9 years. In addition, she has served as president, Media Representative and Public Relations Chairman for the Arizona Dietetic Association. She received the recognized Young Dietitian of the Year award for Arizona, as well as Arizona’s Outstanding Dietitian of the Year award. She currently serves on the Diamondback Foundation Executive Council, which focuses on raising money for charitable causes in Arizona.
Tammy and her husband, Steve, have two daughters and in their spare time they enjoy riding their three horses, playing with their two rescue dogs and regular target practice at the Scottsdale Gun Club.
Tammy earned her master’s degree in nutritional science from the University of Arizona and bachelor’s degree in dietetics and dietetic internship from Loma Linda University.
Dan Basse
AgResource Co. is a domestic and international agricultural research firm located in Chicago.
Mr. Basse is an economist that has been in the commodity business since 1979. Raised on a dairy/grain farm in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Mr. Basse has a keen sense of production agriculture. Mr. Basse graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has worked with Professional Farmers of America, Brock Associates and the ag research division of GNP Commodities in Chicago.
In 1987, Mr. Basse founded AgResource Company to serve the market research needs of the world agricultural community. Mr. Basse holds global conferences on agriculture in Canada, Switzerland and Brazil and is Vice Chairman of Farm Foundation.
Cornelius Blanding
Cornelius Blanding began his career in development work as an economic development intern for the City of Miami Beach and since then has gained a broad experience base including rural, international and cooperative economic development.
His experiences include business and project development, management and marketing. He has worked as a small business development & management consultant, manager of a multi-million dollar revolving loan fund, domestic and international project director, Director of Field Operations & Special Projects, Deputy Director and is now presently serving as the Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund.
Cornelius has also served and continues to serve on various boards and committees, including the National Cooperative Business Association, Agricultural Safety & Health Council of America, Southeast Climate Consortium and the Presbyterian Committee on the Self Development of People.
Robert Bonnie
Jim Boyle, Jr.
Jim Boyle is a fourth generation Arizonan and owner-manager of his family's dairy and integrated crop farm in Casa Grande, Arizona. The 1500 acre farm in central Arizona grows a variety of forage crops to feed the dairy’s 3500 milking cows and 2500 heifers.
Jim sits on the Executive Board of the United Dairymen of Arizona, a farmer-owned cooperative that markets 80% of the milk produced in Arizona. He also leads the Western States Dairy Producers Association, a group that brings together state dairy associations to strategize on legislative and regulatory matters that impact dairy farmers in the Western US.
He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from New York University. He lives in Chandler with his wife and three children.
Lori Captain
Lori Captain is Executive Vice President, Global Sustainability, Science and Industry Relations at Dairy Management Inc.(DMI). In this role Lori is responsible for advancing US dairy’s vision, guiding environmental science and proof building and enabling and aligning broad industry support and execution to meet the industry 2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals.
With more than 25 years working in agriculture, Lori led policy, communication and sustainability work at Corteva and its predecessor DuPont, most recently as chief of staff, External Affairs and counsel to the CEO. She previously led corporate communication for Syngenta in the Americas region. Her experience spans corporate communications, executive and stakeholder engagement, policy sustainability disciplines.
Kelly Garrett
The Arion, Iowa farmer runs a 6,000 acre no-till operation of corn, soybean, and winter wheat. He also manages a 500 head cow-calf herd and GLC Beef, a direct-to-consumer beef retail operation. Some of Garrett's main goals on the farm are practicing soil conservation and achieving uniformity of yield throughout his many acres. Kelly Garrett boasts a 2016 National Corn Growers Association win using drip irrigation, several state NCGA no-till irrigated yield wins, and most recently took third place nationally in the National Corn Yield Contest, no-till irrigated class, with a yield of 387.93 BPA in 2021.
Corine Giroux
Corine is the staff veterinarian at Giroux’s Poultry farm in upstate New York, where she oversees live production, bird health, and biosecurity. She is an Alumnus of the State University of new York at Albany, where she received her bachelors’ degree, and Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine.
In the past she has worked for Hickman’s Family Farm in Arizona as their company veterinarian, where she was in charge of bird health, as well as the development of bird welfare and biosecurity programs. She also has been a member on the US Poultry’s Roundtable for Sustainability International Poultry Welfare Alliances layer welfare committee, where she helped developed the framework for layer welfare. In addition, she has held industry leadership positions including Association of Veterinarians in Egg Production. Corine has now returned home to work on her family’s farm as company vet as well as learning all aspects of the business.
Phillip Haynie, III
Philip J. Haynie, III, more commonly known as P.J., graduated from Northumberland High School, Heathsville, Va., in June 1995. While in high school, Haynie served as vice president of his Future Farmers of America chapter and actively worked on his family farm in Reedville, Va. Haynie graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics in May 1999. While attending Virginia Tech, he served as president of the Virginia Tech MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences) chapter. During his senior year at Virginia Tech, Haynie was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.
After graduating from Virginia Tech, he chose to pursue his childhood dream and continue the family tradition of farming. Haynie, a fifth-generation farmer, currently owns and operates Haynie Farms, LLC, a grain farming business, producing corn, wheat, soybeans and canola throughout all four counties of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Haynie and his family also own and operate a transportation company specializing in food grade liquid bulk and dry bulk transportation, a timber harvesting company as well as a landscaping & excavating company. Haynie currently serves as Chairman of the National Black Growers’ Council. P.J. and his wife, Dr. Lisa Haynie, reside in Reedville, Va., with their three children, Colette, age 18; Philip, IV, age 17; and Trevor, age 12.
Kara Heckert
Kara works across regional and national programs to help develop and execute AFT’s strategy for increasing resilience for agriculture in the Western United States, including California and Pacific Northwest Regions. Throughout a long career working on agricultural sustainability and natural resource conservation in California, Kara has led the strategy and development of programs and policies that provide greater opportunities for farmers and ranchers to engage in sustainable environmental stewardship practices and protect agricultural land. Kara was formerly AFT’s California Regional Director where she developed and expanded AFT’s programs and policy work. Before joining AFT, she was the executive director of the Sonoma Resource Conservation District where she worked with a diverse cross-section of the community on landscape-scale conservation planning, agricultural sustainability, and education. Kara is also a former soil conservationist for NRCS where she worked throughout the Russian River Watershed in California. Kara is a native Californian and the grand-daughter of a Nebraskan dairy and corn farmer. She is an alumna of Sonoma State University where she studied both biology and environmental studies and planning.
Sheldon Jones
Mr. Sheldon Jones, a 4th generation Arizonan, was born and raised on the family’s ranch near Payson, AZ. Sheldon now serves as the Chief Operating Officer with the Soil Health Institute, Morrisville, NC, with over 40 years of experience, a balance of private sector, non-profit and public service experience. Prior to joining SHI Sheldon served as Vice President at the Farm Foundation, from 2008 to 2016, where he oversaw the Foundation’s financial operations and project management activities. His public service experience involved service as deputy commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, 2004-2008. From 2002 until 2004, Sheldon was executive vice president of the Agri-Business and Water Council of Arizona. In From 1997 until 2002, Mr. Jones was director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. During his term, he was active in the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the Arizona/Mexico Commission, and the Board of Governors Agribusiness and Water Committee. Mr. Jones worked in the Arizona banking industry for 14 years before beginning his career in government service. Mr. Jones earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Agri-Business at Arizona State University.
Ermias Kebreab, Ph.D.
Ermias Kebreab is Associate Dean and Professor of Animal Science. He holds the Sesnon Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture. He conducts research in animal nutrition, mathematical modeling of biological systems and impact of livestock on the environment. He is contributing author to 2019 IPCC update on enteric methane emissions. He co-chaired the feed additive and methane committees of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and received several awards including Excellence in Ruminant Nutrition and International Agriculture from American Society of Animal Science, and 2022 Chancellor’s Innovator of the year award. He served on two committees of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on methane and nutrition of dairy cattle. He is a regular invited speaker including TED talks. His research was in the top 10 of all research conducted at the University of California system in 2021. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Asmara, Eritrea and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Reading, U.K.
Natalie Kovarik
Natalie Kovarik is the co-host of the popular podcast Discover Ag as well as the co-founder of Elevate Ag - an online course and community providing producers with the tools they need to successfully advocate and share online. She and her husband live in Central Nebraska where they own and operate Kovarik Cattle Co, a cow calf operation with a growing registered herd. For the past 2 years Natalie has been sharing her ranching and familying story online to showcase the beauty behind the western lifestyle as well as foster a community who supports and trusts in Agriculture as much as she does.
Anjali Marok
Anjali Marok is the Head of Global Responsibility at Corteva Agriscience. She stewards the development and execution of the company’s Global Responsibility strategy, inclusive of ESG& Sustainability, Agriculture Development, and Community Investment. Through these practice areas, she is focused on advancing the company's social, environmental and economic efforts for farmers, the land, its communities and corporate operations in over 140 countries. She is a passionate, experienced, and candid thought leader who aims connect and amplify critical efforts to support sustainable agriculture for generations to come.
She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Keystone Policy Center, a non-profit working to identify common, sustainable solutions for contentious US-based policy challenges.
Prior to this, Anjali built over 10 years of international experience driving responsible business outcomes spanning sales planning, business forecasting, marketing, consulting, partnerships, strategy and program design across a wide range of stakeholders, including global finance, agriculture, early-stage start-ups and venture entities, and non-profit organizations. Most recently, Anjali was the Global Sustainability Strategy Leader for Corteva, where she designed Corteva’s first ESG disclosure practices.
She is a graduate of Wellesley College and University of Chicago Booth School of Business (with honors). She has also studied International Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and Sustainability Leadership & Corporate Responsibility at London Business School.
Alan Martinez
Alan Martinez is Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, the sustainability research-to-action hub of Cornell University. He leads the center’s work on transition finance for regenerative agriculture. He serves as the co-chair of Field to Market’s Innovative Finance Committee and is an executive committee member of the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation.
His entrepreneurship and consulting experience includes management roles in financial services, impact investing, consulting and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining the center, Alan was part of the leadership team for a fintech startup focused on financial inclusion. Prior to acquisition, he led partnerships with organizations such asthe World Bank, Mastercard and FICO to expand access to finance for more than one million entrepreneurs across the globe. His finance career started inChicago as a community lender to small businesses.
Alan earned a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Texasand a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Eric Morgan
Sarah Porter
Porter also is an attorney, having graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree and obtaining her juris doctor from Arizona State University (ranking third in her class). She clerked for federal appellate Judge William Canby and was a litigator for Brown & Bain; Coppersmith Gordon Schermer Owens & Nelson, PLC; and Osborn Maledon PA. She left her law career in 2006 for Audubon because she wanted to contribute to a collaborative effort to address Arizona’s natural resource challenges. She will now dedicate that focus to the Kyl Center.
Justin Ransom
Kimberly Ratcliff
Kimberly Ratcliff is the manager of Caney Creek Ranch, a diversified ranching operation located in East Central Texas, started by her parents Wesley and Marie Ratcliff. Kimberly joined the ranch in 2007 after leaving her job with Bloomberg, a New York City financial firm where she was a Branding Specialist.
Kimberly manages and helps operate the family business producing registered Charbray Cattle, from which bulls, replacement heifers, semen and embryos are sold national and international. The ranch also produces commercial cattle and livestock feed resources.
In 2016, Kimberly launched Farm to Freezer Meat Company, LLC, which purchases finished cattle from Caney Creek Ranch with the mission to provide the highest quality ranch-direct beef possible, in a simple, convenient and responsible manner.
Megan Rock
Megan Rock is vice president of sustainability and innovation at CHS, the nation’s leading farmer-owned cooperative and an agronomy, global energy, grains and food company.
In 2022, Rock joined CHS as the company’s first VP of sustainability and innovation. Prior to CHS, she served as VP of corporate responsibility and sustainability and global lead of sustainability solutions at Bunge, Inc., and held sustainability and environmental management positions in government and banking.
In her new role, Rock will lead CHS efforts to develop and execute sustainability and innovation strategies across its $38 billion enterprise.
Rock holds a bachelor of science degree in soil, environmental and atmospheric science from the University of Missouri and a graduate certificate in advanced studies in environmental policy and management from the University of Denver.
Rock has served on the board of directors for Field to Market and Ag Future of America. In 2015, she received the Changemaker of Tomorrow award from Keep Akron (Ohio) Beautiful, and she is a member of the St. Louis Business Journal’s 40 under 40 class of 2020. She lives in St. Louis with her three children and two French bulldogs.
Cynthia Rosenzweig
Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), is the 52nd Laureate of the World Food Prize. By designing and leading rigorous observational and modeling research efforts, she has influenced climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in over 90 countries. She founded the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) in 2010,building a community of experts dedicated to advancing methods for improving predictions of the future performance of agricultural and food systems in the face of climate change. She is also an Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at the Columbia Climate School and a Professor at Barnard College.
Tom Ryan
As President of Truterra, Tom leads Land O’Lakes’ sustainability business and is driving farmer adoption of climate-smart practices. Under Tom’s leadership, Truterra is focused on creating new value streams up and down the supply chain by connecting farmers, ag retailers, and food and CPG companies. Not only does Tom have industry-spanning experience working with farmers and ag retailers, but he is also a multi-generation farmer who practices sustainability and soil health practices on his own farm.
Tom is a 23-year veteran of the Land O’Lakes Federated system, and throughout his tenure, he has held multiple leadership roles, most recently leading WinField United’s business operations team where he oversaw customer experience, business analytics and data science. He also led WinField United’s Strategic Retail Alliance efforts executing partnerships, alliances and joint ventures across 40 ag retailers.
Tom has strong experience in precision agriculture and working directly with farmers and ag retailers to evaluate and adopt conservation practices. He first joined Land O’Lakes in 2005 as a Seed & Agronomy Advisor and previously served as a Technical Service Provider with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. In this role, he helped farmers develop conservation plans, apply for federal conservation funding, and adopt new regenerative practices.
Tom is a multi-generation farmer who is an active partner in his family’s 1,200-acre corn and soybean farm near Springfield, MN. He currently resides in Ham Lake, MN with his wife Kori and their son Jack.
Tara Vander Dussen
Tara is a New Mexico native, 5th generation dairy farmer, an environmental scientist, and mom of two girls. Daniel, her husband, manages all day-to-day on his family dairy farm while Tara hasher own career as an environmental consultant, speaker, and online agriculture advocate.
Tara began sharing her story online through her platform, New Mexico Milkmaid, because she found that people often had misconceptions about farmers and modern farming, and she wanted to set the record straight about dairy farm life and on-farm sustainability. She now has a community of more than 73,000 followers. And she has had the opportunity to speak at national and global conferences about dairy sustainability including at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on World Food Security and the Forbes AgTech Summit.
Tara is also the Co-Founder of Elevate Ag, an online course to provide farmers and ranchers with the tools they need to successfully share their ag story and grow their businesses, and the Co-Founder of Discover Ag, a docuseries and podcast of being agriculture to people in a new way.
Steve Wooten
Steven Wooten is the president of Beatty Canyon Ranch, Inc a multi-generational cow-calf enterprise in the Purgatoire River Canyons of southeast Colorado. Purchased by his great-grandfather in 1929, Wooten’s family has been raising grass for cattle grazing on native pristine pastures ever since. Sustainability has guided their work – Beatty Canyon began a rotational grazing plan almost 30 years ago, with the primary focus on maximizing rest periods after grazing. They have diversified their operation in response to 25 years of drought period and the economics of beef ranching. Additionally, Wooten has a big game hunting enterprise, landscape stone sales and a modest vacation program. He and his wonderful wife of 46 years, Joy, have two daughters and sons-in-law and five grandchildren.
Wooten has held multiple leadership positions, including as the current president of Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, and served as 2021-2022 chairman of the board of U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. He is the recipient of Denver Business Journal’s Trailblazer Award, Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award and NCBA’s 2020 National and Region V Environmental Stewardship Awards.