Staff & Steering Committee

Ashley currently holds a research position with the Nebraska state extension soil health lab. She has a Ph.D. in Animal Science with emphasis in ruminant nutrition and integrated agriculture systems with interests in research and teaching/extension outreach in the following areas: applied animal nutrition, rumen metabolomics, integrated systems (production parameters and economics), forage digestion and utilization, agro-ecological impacts of livestock systems, agroforestry and silvopasture, and small-farms development.

 

Meghan is a passionate advocate of grazing and pasture-based livestock systems with over a decade of experience supporting farmers through roles in the non-profit and cooperative extension sectors. She addresses barriers to getting more livestock on the land through advising on livestock integration in cropping systems, regenerative grazing and meat marketing. Meghan works for Nofence, a Norwegian virtual fencing company, to spearhead the adoption of virtual fence technology in the United States. While not at work, you can find Meghan out on the prairie or in the woods with her husband and son. They use goats and sheep to reclaim Iowa’s native oak savanna while working to build community in their rural Iowa town.

Diane Mayerfeld helps educators and communities with development projects, including solar and agrivoltaics siting. She studies silvopasture in Wisconsin.

I am the Executive Director of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA). MISA is a joint venture between College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, University of Minnesota Extension, and four community-based non-profit organizations. MISA’s purpose is to bring together the interests of the agricultural community to develop and promote the long-term viability of agricultural systems. My responsibilities include oversight and program support for the activities of MISA as determined by a Board of Directors. My research work is focused on sustainable food systems, and identifying ways of increasing diverse team participation in research, education, and outreach programs. I am on the graduate faculty of the Applied Plant Sciences program, the Conservation Biology program, and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change.

Jeri Neal, consultant – Retired after 22 years with the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa as grants manager and ecological systems and research program leader; currently consulting in areas of sustainability, agriculture, ecology, grants, funding and outreach. Jeri has a background in grain science and milling management, and international development studies.  Neal is currently serving as Chair, Green Lands Blue Waters steering committee.  She is active in state and local bicycle advocacy and on the steering committee for the Ames Climate Action Team.

A Wyoming native, Tessa Peters studied physics before she became fascinated by what people worldwide eat. She changed career trajectories to pursue a PhD in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On any given day, you can find Tessa hiking among the shortgrass prairies of Wyoming, the shorter and more water-starved cousins to their Kansas counterparts. At The Land Institute, Tessa ensures the organization reflects the vision of a just perennial future in how we work, building internal practices to support aligned decision-making. She believes that the long arc of annual agriculture is ready for cultural, environmental, and economic shifts that ensure a just, perennial future for humans.

R. Eugene (Gene) Turner is a faculty member of the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University. He received a B.A. degree from Monmouth College (Ill.), a M.S. degree from Drake University (Biology), and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia (Ecology). He can’t seem to make up his mind if he is an oceanographer, wetland ecologist or landscape analyst. He has been working on the scientific aspects of the low oxygen (hypoxic) zone off the Mississippi River with Nancy Rabalais and colleagues for 45 years, as well as wetland conservation, restoration and management. He spends much of his time working on land use issues and water quality within the Mississippi River watershed.