Sophia Porter is a returning student at Santa Rosa Junior College and is VP of Sustainability for the Student Government Assembly.  She is studying Natural Resource Management, Natural Science, and Environmental Studies.  In the past she earned an AA in Nursing as well as a BA from UC Davis in Psychology and Communications.  Passionate about the environment, community, education, food, and health, Allison has been drawn to the condition of the planet and humanity since childhood – a guiding force to her many endeavors including volunteering at numerous environmental non-profits.  This self-labeled “volunteer-junkie” has been a steward at a local nature preserve, Pepperwood, for almost nine years, assisting with various outreach events and working as a field technician for climate scientists.  She believes education is key to generating many ripples of change.  Currently, her involvement with Sustainability at SRJC includes working collaboratively with students, faculty, and administrators to develop a community garden on the main campus with the aim to create a common space to foster empowerment that comes from growing your own food, healthy, luscious, beautiful food.

Stacy Miller is an organic gardener, writer, mom, and former Executive Director of the national Farmers Market Coalition. She currently consults on local food system evaluation and operates good phyte foods, LLC, a small business designed to help busy parents offer their preschool-aged kids nutrient dense snacks that highlight the diversity of locally-grown vegetables and fruits. She got turned on to the Lexicon of Sustainability after writing a book review of Douglas Gayeton’s Local, published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Rural Development in August 2014.

 Stacy serves on the University of Virginia Food Collaborative Steering Committee, which is coordinating a series of pop-up shows in Charlottesville in partnership with the Tom Tom Founders Festival, OpenGrounds Studio, and other community allies.

Originally from New Hampshire, Stephanie Aubert is now a local foods activist based out of Gunnison, Colorado where she is pursuing a Masters of Environmental Management degree at Western State Colorado University, experimenting with a 55-day growing season, and exploring the Rocky Mountains. She is the graduate mentor to the Organics Guild on campus and a member of the local Farm to Table Conference planning committee. She has been organic gardening for almost a decade and is passionate about Permaculture and Ecological Design. She is also the co-founder of the Southwest Seed Library in Durango, CO.

Steve Case has been involved with Slow Food Charlotte since 2006 and co-owns and operates a sustainable farm with his wife Geny. They started the farm with the intent on growing good, clean, nutrient dense food for their family and growing vegetables for many years. Soon they added chickens and ducks and sold eggs at the local farmers market. Getting to know the local farmers and connecting to the food community helped them form a CSA for their products and educate them more on how food connects everyone from chefs and farmers to businesses to the general public. Steve and Geny enjoy farming; it keeps them grounded, inspired and also provides them great food every day!
Steve has a passion for food and traditional food ways, enthusiasm for the process of seed to table, excitement about event planning, and general organizational skills. He also has the ability to trust and empower his fellow board members to keep Slow Food Charlotte always engaging.
When Steve is not hanging out on the farm, he enjoys the finance industry which has allowed him the foresight to gain a clear understanding of how our current food systems are struggling economically. Steve has a degree in electrical technology and enjoys many hobbies including everything outdoors, hiking, climbing, skiing, flying… etc.!!

TAHLIA DYER is a free spirit, urban farmer, foodie, and writer. Her passion for local food, agriculture, and community inspired her to become involved with The Lexicon of Sustainability. She can be found in the garden, outdoors, or practicing yoga. Tahlia is looking forward to sharing experiences and encouraging folks to become more connected with our own food, or at least a little closer to it!

TARA DEPORTE: The Human Impacts Institute envisions a world where “environment” is not treated as separate from “society”. Where communities, from one to one million, are active agents of positive progress and where environmental well being is central to all levels of human systems. Our mission is to inspire action for strong communities and a healty environment through hands-on education, creative engagement, and coalition building.

Tearsa Saffell is a student and ecological research assistant at Arizona State University, as well as the food systems priority lead for the Arizona Sustainability Alliance (AZSA). AZSA is a non-profit based out of Tempe, Arizona. The mission of the food system priority is to create and support a regenerative local food system through community engagement, education and project-based assistance. Through her work with AZSA, Tearsa is able to help link her community with the resources they need to ensure a healthy and nutritious diet, regardless of zip code.

Teri McKenzie is the founder of the Inland Northwest Food Network (INFN), a nonprofit organization committed to growing a resilient, environmentally responsible and cohesive regional food system. The INFN predominantly focuses on consumer education and awareness of the myriad facets of local food systems.

Teri has a Masters degree in Whole Systems Design and Nonprofit Leadership. She is passionate about community building (what better way to build community than through food?!) and the arts. She relocated to North Idaho from Portland, Oregon, where she worked as an advisor in the Environmental Science and Management Dept at Portland State University. Prior to that she administered an AmeriCorps VISTA program, as well as other service-learning initiatives throughout the state of Oregon.

In other lifetimes she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (W. Africa) and was the Director of Special Events for Oxfam America’s West Coast Office. She is the mother of two children who have taught her as much as she ever taught them. Currently Teri lives in an off-grid, earth-sheltered home with her husband and cat. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking, traveling, poetry, music, movies, laughing, beauty, energy medicine, herbs, bird watching…

The Campbell County Master Gardeners are trained horticulture volunteers who operate under the guidance of University of Wyoming Extension. Our main goal is to serve the residents of Campbell County, Wyoming by providing up-to-date horticulture information for our unique area, cond>uct research, create community gardens, coordinate the farmers market and provide opportunities for community members to learn about gardening.

Therese Niemier has been farming since 1996. She is the founder and Director of Bertrand Farm, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to small sustainable farming education. She represents the small, local farming movement that is mindful of energy descent and focused on alternatives to petroleum based agriculture production. Therese lives, works and teaches on her 11 acre farm in Niles, Michigan.

Tod Cossairt is part of the administrative team of Besant Hill School (BHS), as Director of Sustainability, and teaches place-based environmental studies, AP environmental studies, and applied principles of sustainable agriculture. Tod’s responsibilities extend from the classroom onto the 500 acres that are utilized by the school experientially as a living laboratory. In 2008, Tod spearheaded BHS’ adoption of their Sustainability Strategic Plan designed as a system to combine their diverse sustainable strategies into one integrated plan. Of critical importance, was to design the strategic plan as a rubric to measure and celebrate their achievements. The strategic plan identifies BHS’ sustainable intentions, along with mechanisms for assessment, in areas including: energy and resource management; integrating sustainability into school curriculum; enhancing the natural environment of the school; cultivating community partnerships; and enriching systems of administrative support. As an educator and sustainability coordinator, Tod has cultivated expertise in the areas of: school culture & place-based curriculum; natural resource management; energy, water & building use; IPM (Integrated Pest Management); purchasing & waste stream; community partnerships; and economic sustainability. He works the Besant Hill School land alongside farmers, who are actively cultivating the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, campus orchard, and Circle Garden, that supply many of the organic vegetables used by the school food service farm to table program. Tod has integrated a sustainable agriculture curriculum that offers BHS students experiential opportunities to learn sustainable agriculture practice and design first hand. Tod and his students are active participants in the Annual Bioneers Summits each year, as well as the national Student Climate and Conservation Congress (Sc3).  He is the Green Schools Alliance Western Region Coordinator, and on the steering committee and a presenter at the Environmental Educators Conservation and Climate Colloquium (Ec3). He is also working with GSA member schools to develop the Student Climate & Conservation Corps (Sc3) as a dynamic youth service learning program.

TODD LEVASSEUR holds a Ph.D. in the study of religion and nature, focusing on sustainable food issues. He teaches at the College of Charleston, SC in the Religious Studies Department and Environmental Studies program, often about issues related to sustainable agriculture and food security. He has worked on organic farms in South Carolina, California, New Hampshire, Scotland, and Greece.

TROY GOODNOUGH serves as the Sustainability Director at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Troy was the first sustainability coordinator hired in the University of Minnesota-system in 2006. He currently directs the Office of Sustainability on campus and works with students, faculty and staff to develop and implement sustainability initiatives. His work has included creating new educational programs, outreach initiatives, and renewable energy projects. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. Troy serves with several sustainability-related organizations, including the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability, the West Central Clean Energy Resource Teams, Clean Up the River Environment, Morris Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Troy appreciates good books, good friends, and practicing Aikido. He is passionate about good salsa from good tomatoes. Troy resides on the prairie of Minnesota with his wife Jennifer and son, Ely.

Valerie Roy-Valerie is the root of Valor or strength in Latin, and my father named me – I was the first born of 3 girls. Valkyries are pretty impressive warriors and I want to champion sustainability as a concept for advocacy in all human rights and social change platforms.  I have learned that sometimes standing up like Xena Warrior Princess is appropriate, but other times standing up like a warrior means sitting down like Rosa Parks. Which represents what I learned about my name in Sanskrit. This ancient language translates Valerie to the garden and I’d like to use the strength that did not kill me to grow a garden of inspiration and opportunities to be a shared story with everyone around me, especially when teaching about food justice.

VILAY DETHLUXAY was born in a tiny village in Thailand, but grew up in the exotic “turkey capital” of the world (aka Worthington — a tiny town in SW Minnesota). She began her career in the fashion industry at the early age of 14 and that opened up opportunities to further explore her interests in film, music, casting, photography, design and event production. After developing her career in LA, SF, and NY, she was drawn back to the Twin Cities to work as a freelance event & festival producer. Some of her projects include working FT as CoCo’s Community & Event Steward, the Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival, PopUp Cinefeasts, Vita.mn “Small Bites” Food & Film Festival, and quarterly art exhibits at Friedman Iverson Art Gallery.

When she’s not belting out glam metal tunes at a local karaoke bar, you can find her in a kitchen perfecting the culinary skills her mother taught her early on or utilizing her gift of gab by collaborating or volunteering on many different local art/film/music-related projects around the metro. She also moonlights as a wanna-be Prince protegé and hopes to be the modern Apollonia.
Follow Vilay on Twitter: @FrecklesV

Dr. Vishakha Maskey is an Assistant Professor of Management at Gary E. West College of Business at West Liberty University. Her interest and focus in sustainability is an outcome of her interdisciplinary academic background (Post Doctorate in Business; Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics; Masters of Science in Ecology and Environmental Sciences; and undergraduate degree in Biology). She recognizes the trans-disciplinary aspect of sustainability. As an educator, she believes that conscious consumers and socially responsible businesses can solve most environmental, economic and social sustainability issues. Her teaching focus is on instilling the value of “Triple Bottom Line” of People, Planet, and Profit to her business students. Through education and outreach, she motivates students to be conscious consumers. Her sustainability research interest falls under the premises of sustainable business/enterprise, ethics and corporate social responsibility, and natural resource and environmental economics.

WENDY SIPOREN has been the Executive Director of Thrive since 2002. WWW.BUYLOCALROGUE.ORG. As part of the organization’s mission to cultivate a more sustainable local economy, she launched the Rogue Flavor local food campaign in 2005. She has gone on to collaborate on the Southern Oregon Farmer Incubator and is a founding member of the Rogue Valley Food Council. Wendy’s Southern Oregon roots are deep, running back to her great-grandparents who lived and farmed in Lakeview, Oregon. She holds a Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from Southern Oregon University and a BA in Political Science from Whitman College. Wendy believes in public service and in the power of one voice to make a difference.

YVONNE C. MOORE is with Tigers for Community Agriculture. This is a student run organization at the University of Missouri that provides hands on learning in Sustainable Agriculture at Bradford Research Center. As a group we work to increase awareness about sustainable farming, supply local and organically grown food to campus, and contribute to the full circle food and waste management system at Mizzou. We also collaborate with local organizations like the Columbia Farmers Market and the Southern Boone Learning Garden to connect our students to sustainable agricultural opportunities in the community.

Zach White works at Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia just North of Atlanta. He is the Reinhardt University Green (Sustainability Program) Coordinator. He also works on campus as the Horticulturalist and manages the Waleska Farmers Market at Reinhardt University and Burgess Arboretum at Reinhardt University. Zach is also the owner of a vegetable farm called Buice Family Farm in Jasper, Georgia. Zach is passionate about sustainability and stewardship of our natural environment.