Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming

Promoting the power of nature to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere where it does untold damage, and restore it to the soils where it supports abundant life and helps reverse global warming.

Register on Eventbrite!

Saturday, September 26, 2015, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Moot Court Room
David A. Clarke School of Law
University of the District of Columbia
4340 Connecticut Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC  20008

Sponsored by Moral Action on Climate, People Demanding Action, and the University of the District of Columbia Law School

Source: http://bostongreenschools.org/

Program

This conference, one of a series offered by Biodiversity for a Livable Climate and local co-sponsors, will cover topics including:

• Science: The state of the climate and how we can reverse global warming through eco-restoration
• Land management practice: The various approaches to ranching and farming that improve soil health and carbon sequestration, productivity, water cycles, local economies and more
• Climate activism: A new paradigm, storing gigatons of excess atmospheric carbon in soils with a power far greater than emissions reductions alone (which, according to the IPCC, are no longer adequate to address climate disruption)
• Hands-on efforts that you can do in your town
• The role of business and government
• Inspiration and hope!

Speakers

Adam Sacks is executive director of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. He has had careers in education, holistic medicine, computer technology, politics, and advocacy. A climate activist for the past 15 years, he has been studying and writing about Holistic Management since 2007. His primary goal is regeneration of biodiversity and a livable planet.

Jim Laurie, Restoration Ecologist at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, is a biologist from Rice University and is a pioneer in biological remediation of waste water. He was the technical manager of the world’s largest “Living Machine” project to clean raw municipal sewage with no toxic chemicals. The facility, through a grant from the EPA, processed 80,000 gallons/day using the “living machine” methodology invented by ecological visionary, and Buckminster Fuller Award recipient, John Todd.  Prior to that, for twenty years Jim was a biologist and trainer in the chemical industry in Houston, TX, where his work with living machines resulted in processing effluent cleaner than possible with conventional technology. Jim has also been a passionate advocate for Holistic Management of grasslands in the past decade.  He began studying with Allan Savory twenty years ago in Texas, has spoken about Holistic Management at Harvard, MIT, Tufts, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and at meetings of the Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN) and Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA), and has been instrumental in spreading the message in New England.  Jim is also co-founder of a lively and sophisticated Google Group, Soil-Age, and he invites you to join!

Leah Rampy, Ph.D. is a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, a group of activists trained by Al Gore and committed to telling the story of climate change to inspire action.  Frequently joined by her daughter Ana, Leah has presented to numerous religious groups, students, and non-profits.  Leah’s career spans executive leadership positions in Fortune 50 companies, a decade running her own business focusing on executive coaching and leadership consulting, and service as Executive Director in a small non-profit. Currently she and her husband David are working on a permaculture design for their eight-acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley.  

Dan Kittredge is a life-long farmer and founder of the Bionutrient Food Association.  He launched The Real Food Campaign (RFC) in 2008, to empower and educate farmers towards the production of quality food for the improvement of human health. In 2008 and 2009 RFC made major strides in developing a cohesive local, national and global vision, and networked nationally to build the base to implement its mission. Under Dan’s leadership in 2009-2010 RFC began holding yearlong courses on Nutrient Dense Crop Production and building a professional team of staff.

Precious Phiri is the Founding Director of EarthWisdom Consulting Company.  She was formerly a Senior Facilitator at the Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) in Zimbabwe where she directed training for villages in the Hwange Communal Lands region that are implementing restorative grazing programs using Holistic Land and Livestock Management.  She helps rural communities in Africa to reduce poverty, rebuild soils, and restore food and water security. This nature-based solution has been successfully used on different landscapes in Africa and the Americas. Precious was born and raised in one of the communities now implementing restorative grazing.

Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director, Organic Consumers Association. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children’s health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability and other key topics.

Fritz Gottschalk, Maryland Certified Compost Facility Operator at Veteran Compost. Veteran Compost is a veteran-owned business focused on turning food scraps into high quality organic compost in Maryland, DC and Virginia. Fritz fills a variety of roles with the organization from collections, retail sales, consultation and direct marketing of compost, composting related products and composting services. 

Nick Maravell, Nick’s Organic Farm. In 1979 Nick started organic farming on a commercial basis on rented land in Purceville, VA, having experimented first on a smaller scale for almost a decade. Concerned about the soil, environment, energy conservation, and fresh, local, healthy food, he began selling vegetables he grew on small rented plots of land to restaurants, local food coops, and at farmers markets. Nick and his wife, artist Tory Cowles, were able to purchase their own farm near Buckeystown in the 1990s. Committed to developing local and regional food systems, Nick has helped establish and operate several farmer cooperatives. He is also active in many local, state and national organizations dedicated to organic and sustainable agriculture. He is a founding member of the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association (MOFFA), the Maryland Small Farm Cooperative, and Future Harvest-Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (Future Harvest-CASA). Nick has also worked closely with other farmers and scientists at the Organic Farming Research Foundation to publish the National Organic Research Agenda.

Will Mitchell, Founder of Tenleytown Meat Company. Tenleytown Meat Company was founded to effectively connect responsible local farms with DC area residents seeking a change to our modern food system. Tenleytown Meat Company is a small distribution service helping to build a sustainable market of holistically managed, pasture-raised meat for DC area farmers, processors, and eaters.

 

Sudheer Shukla, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate outreach coordinator and DC Area Maryland Coordinator at Climate Change is Elementary, which leads climate awareness activities for elementary school students and their families.  Sudheer is also involved with Citizens Climate Lobby.

 

Lincoln Smith, Forested.us., teaches or co-teaches all courses at Forested, and designs forest gardens. He is passionate about production ecosystems, and brings a background in agronomic science  and sustainable landscape design. Lincoln started Forested, LLC to develop and share research in forest gardening. He is a regular speaker on forest gardening at venues such as University of Maryland, the U.S. Botanic Garden, and the Maryland Master Gardeners’ Conference. Lincoln spent 5 years in a high-end residential landscape architecture office, designing managing installation of big budget landscapes, and pushing sustainability. He holds a Master of Arts in Landscape Design from the Conway School, and earned LEED certification in 2008.

Larry Kopald has been a communications and branding professional for over twenty-five years, working at some of the world’s top advertising agencies. He has overseen the advertising for brands ranging from McDonalds to American Express to Honda, and has helped launch multibillion-dollar brands like Acura, Oracle, and Huggies. Larry has also been a lifelong environmentalist serving on boards like Oceana, the National Marine Sanctuaries, 1% For The Planet and others. He has done the environmental communications for the UN and the Olympics, and his work for the Earth Communications Office was seen in over 100 countries by over a billion people. Larry has been nominated for both Emmy and Grammy awards.  He is Co-Founder and President of The Carbon Underground.

…and more to be confirmed!

Get Involved!

If you’re interested in helping with planning, volunteering, partnering or sponsoring the DC conference, please contact  info@bio4climate.org.

Other Upcoming Events

Also coming up soon, Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming at Tufts University in October, 2015.