Speakers

Dave Abler 

Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education at Penn State University, and Professor of Agricultural, Environmental & Regional Economics and Demography. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Macalester College and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. Dave’s research focuses on the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture along the rural-urban continuum, and food and agricultural markets and policy.

Katie Bartling

Katie has a professional background in ecological field studies, wetland delineation, riparian buffer design, stream restoration and fisheries science. She is passionate about contributing to a broader ecological focus, working with partners and landowners to implement practices to improve water quality. With a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Temple University and undergrad in environmental science from University of Delaware, Katie offers a science-driven approach to watershed planning and ecological restoration. As part of her Masters capstone, she focused on watershed restoration in support of aquatic connectivity and habitat expansion for the eastern brook trout. Outside of work, Katie enjoys gardening, kayaking, and flyfishing on small brook trout streams.

Ann Basehore

Ann Basehore is passionate about producing food – especially with grazing and foraging ruminants. Currently serving as executive director of Capital RC&D, Ann helps to educate and assist landowners through technical and financial programs aimed at improving soil and animal health, grazing operations and farm income. This work also involves direct connections with the Pennsylvania Grazing Lands Coalition, local conservation districts and county/state NRCS staff. She previously worked for Capital RC&D as the small ruminant grazing advisor.

Ann’s passion and expertise builds on lifelong work in agriculture - growing up on a family dairy farm. She started and operated a farmstead dairy goat cheese business in Massachusetts for twenty years – utilizing pasture and forage plants to bring local flavor to her dairy products. She also served on her county conservation district board for over twenty five years. Ann returned to her native Cumberland County, PA several years ago and is excited to continue active engagement in today’s agricultural scene in south-central Pennsylvania. Ann believes today’s tools and technology can be interwoven into yesterday’s wisdom to shape tomorrow’s prosperity.

Lisa Blazure

Lisa is an experienced conservation professional who advocates for improving soil health to achieve water quality goals, grow nutrient-dense foods, and enhance farm profitability. She works for Stroud Water Research Center and serves as the coordinator for the Pennsylvania Soil Health Coalition to foster collaboration among numerous organizations involved in soil health education and implementation.  Prior to joining the Stroud Center, Lisa was the agricultural technician for the Clinton County Conservation District and worked in the Chesapeake Bay and Nutrient Management Programs. She currently serves on the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance board and the Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture Board.

Kate Bresaw  

Kate is the Nonpoint Source Management Division Program Manager in the Bureau of Watershed Restoration and Nonpoint Source Management at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP). In this role, she is responsible for ensuring the synergistic, coordinated, and efficient implementation of the Nonpoint Source Program. This includes the administration of the Growing Greener Plus, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), and Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management grant programs; providing technical and financial support for conservation districts through various delegation and contractual agreements; and assuring consistent statewide implementation of agricultural compliance and technical assistance programs. Her core motivation is found where solutions are mutually benefiting food security and water quality issues, and finding that place on the Venn Diagram has been a throughline for her career thus far.

Mary Sketch Bryant  

Mary is the Coordinator of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition which receives backbone support from Virginia Cooperative Extension. The Coalition works with partners across the commonwealth to advance collaborative soil health strategies. Mary has experience working with collaboratives and coalitions across the country at the intersection of economic and environmental wellbeing with a focus on working lands and rural communities. Prior to working with the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, she worked at the Center for Rural Strategies where she helped coordinate the Rural Assembly, a coalition of rural stakeholders across the US. She received her Master’s degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech and her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Brown University. Through her graduate research she worked directly with agricultural producers and conservation practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of how farmers and ranchers approach conservation and land management decisions.

Alex Cooper  

Alex is the Project Coordinator for Lancaster Clean Water Partners. He spent his childhood fishing and kayaking on the Conestoga River and streams throughout Lancaster County. While attending West Chester University, he was introduced to watershed issues as an intern with the Chester County Conservation District. After graduating, he performed stream assessments for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as a Watershed Ambassador before beginning watershed work at the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership in Philadelphia. Over the next 5 years at TTF, he led programs for stream monitoring, green infrastructure, and riparian buffer projects while bringing local partner organizations together for collaborative work. He is a fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program in the Delaware River Watershed Network. Most recently, he worked as an independent contractor doing residential drainage and construction projects in the Greater Philadelphia area.

John Dawes 

John is the lead for organizational growth and product development for The Commons. Originating as a small fiscally sponsored program delivering GIS services and information design to environmentally focused organizations, John grew the Commons into a stand-alone nonprofit that delivers leveraged products and digital services to organizations working to improve the natural world. Prior to founding the Commons, John worked at Environmental Integrity Project as a Research Analyst, mapping public and private drinking water wells and their proximity to hazardous coal ash impoundments. John graduated from Juniata College with a B.A. in Environmental Policy and holds a M.S. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from Johns Hopkins University. He is a self taught front-end software developer, an avid cyclist, and manages his family’s grass-fed Angus beef operation located in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

Carly Dean  

Carly is the director of the Chesapeake Tributaries Initiative at the Chesapeake Conservancy where she will expand the successful Rapid Stream Delisting program to more states in the watershed beyond Pennsylvania. After completing her master’s degree in environmental science at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, she researched sustainable development for a real estate developer in Beijing, China and social resilience at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria. Her bachelor’s degree in environmental science is from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. At Chesapeake Conservancy, her work is focused on creating and delivering innovative, customized datasets and tools for diverse partners to help restore farmland and improve urban stormwater management.

Olivia Devereux  

Olivia is an expert in developing linked watershed and management practice models and accounting systems. She was the scientific lead in developing the first CAST tool and the lead in developing the first Chesapeake Bay Program Scenario Builder, the system that distributed nutrients to the land and was used to create inputs to the Watershed Model. She has expertise in developing management systems that track stormwater projects through the lifecycle of plan submittal, design, construction, fees, permits, inspections, post-construction maintenance, and reporting. She has performed water quality assessments and facilitated environmental planning efforts.

Matt Ehrhart

Matt is the Director of Watershed Restoration at the Stroud Water Research Center.  As Director, Matt is focused on building and managing a restoration program that integrates current science and technology into watershed restoration and demonstrating how to maximize ecological and water quality outcomes while serving the needs of farms and communities.  The Stroud Center team is integrating resiliency, other climate based concerns, and market driven funding into research and implementation efforts in stream and watershed restoration.  Further objectives include effectively leveraging federal and state resources and demonstrating how to improve public programs and public spending on conservation work.  He is also engaged in state, regional and national policy issues.

Prior to moving to Stroud, Matt served as the Executive Director for the Pennsylvania office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) for 18 years.  Mr. Ehrhart received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Resource Management and his Master of Engineering in Engineering Science from the Pennsylvania State University 

Amber Ellis

Amber Ellis serves as the convener for the Upper and Middle James Riparian Consortium and manages the James River Buffer Program.  She grew up in Powhatan County, Virginia with the woods, creeks, and James River as her playground and throughout her life the James has continued to bring joy, healing, and inspiration. Outside is where she feel most at home and is why she has grown a passion for protecting it. Building diverse partnerships to restore streamside forests and tidal shorelines is at the heart of her work across the James River watershed.  Her strengths in relationship building, finding community based solutions to watershed wide challenges, and my love of the flora and fauna of the James watershed guide her work. She earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech, learning how to create landscapes that enrich both our human and natural communities. She is a Professional Landscape Architect in Virginia, a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional, and has a certificate in Ecotherapy through the EarthBody Institute. 

Dana Ensor 

Brings 34+ years of career expertise with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation, initially as field staff, and eventually to the Agency’s Senior Ag Advisor to EPA for the Chesapeake Bay Program, and culminating as Associate Chief, managing the Agency’s overall programs and operations, including a $3.2 billion annual budget with 13,000 employees to all facets of continued contributions across the agriculture landscape. 

Retiring from USDA NRCS in 2011, Dana continues to serve across the agriculture landscape through her consulting firm, Green Earth Connection,  She has facilitated leadership initiatives with the Chesapeake Bay-based state departments of agriculture as well as non-government organizations like the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  She also mentors and teaches new generations of farmers to increase their capacity to become successful, start-ups. A native of Tennessee, Dana returned in 2013 to run her 130-Acre family Grand Oak Farm which was established in 1778, and beginning in 2017, she started an organic vegetable, cut flower and hay operation as well as an Incubator farm to mentor new farmers by leasing her land and equipment to gain revenue and experience to buy their own farm.

Dana has a BA in Agricultural Science from Tenn. Tech University and MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University with an emphasis in organizational design and measurement, training, planning and leading people and organizations through change. She also currently serves on her local Soil Conservation District Board of Directors. 

Sharon Farrell 

Sharon is the Special Projects Lead and Strategic Advisor at The Stewardship Network. She has more than 35 years of successfully incubating innovative environmental stewardship programs; building and supervising strong and diverse multi-disciplinary teams; facilitating cross-boundary landscape-scale partnerships; teaching collaborative leadership; and managing projects and programs of significant scope, scale, complexity and public profile in national parks and public open space. She directed the One Tam Partnership, founded the California Landscape Stewardship Network and Global Landscape Stewards, and currently provides strategic coordination capacity to five California-based cross boundary collaboratives. Farrell is the Special Projects Lead and Strategic Advisor for The Stewardship Network.

Jenn Fetter 

Jenn is the Director of the Center for Agriculture Conservation Assistance Training and the Penn State Extension Water Resources Program Team Leader. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Biology from Villanova University.

The Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training (CACAT) provides education and technical assistance to conservation professionals and others working in the ag sector to support the implementation of best management practices and conservation activities on Pennsylvania's farms.  The Water Resources Team programs focus on water quality education that helps to protect and restore Pennsylvania's abundant waterways and groundwater supplies. Programming includes collaborative watershed restoration efforts, agricultural and urban stormwater management education, safe drinking water clinics, and more.

Jennifer specializes in developing timely and critical education programming specifically for conservation professionals and youth audiences. She has also dedicated many professional years to programming that engages Pennsylvania's citizens as water conservation volunteers. In her current roles, Jennifer seeks to engage her staff and important stakeholders and partners in project management, collaboration, innovative approaches, and network building that helps to accelerate the adoption of best management practices to protect water resources in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Andy Flinchbaugh 

Andy is a partner at Flinchbaugh’s Orchard & Farm Market, a fourth-generation family farm in York County, Pennsylvania, known for its diverse crop production and community-focused farm market. He manages the farm’s grain and cover crop operations, raising corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, snap beans, grass hay, pumpkins, sunflowers, buckwheat, and tree fruits. Andy has been a leader in conservation and soil health innovation, planting green since 2010 and interseeding cover crops since 2014. His operation integrates a wide range of cover crop species, from cereal rye and triticale to hairy vetch and sunn hemp, to improve soil structure, reduce erosion, and support long-term sustainability. Andy also serves on the board of the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance, contributing his experience and practical insights to help other farmers adopt conservation farming practices.

Lamonte Garber 

Watershed Restoration Coordinator for the Stroud Water Research Center.   Lamonte works with landowners, producers, and conservation organizations to advance soil health, stream health and water quality in Pennsylvania and the wider region.  He brings 35 years of experience in agriculture and natural habitat restoration to projects in the Chesapeake, Delaware and Ohio watersheds.   

Allyson Gibson 

Allyson Ladley Gibson serves as the Executive Director for the Lancaster Clean Water Partners, facilitating collaboration between a unique set of multi-sector partners who are working to improve local water quality.

Allyson spent her childhood in Lancaster County, exploring streams and growing up in her family’s business. She attended the University of Richmond then spent 13 years in Maryland with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in their Education Department. She returned to her Lancaster roots at Kitchen Kettle Village before bringing all of her worlds together with the Lancaster Clean Water Partners in 2018.  Allyson participated in the Rural-Urban Leadership Program and serves as the co-director for the Lancaster Watershed Leadership Academy.    Allyson loves life in Lancaster along with her husband and two kids plus a puppy.

Dave Hartman 

Dave grew up on a general crops and livestock farm in central Pennsylvania. He currently working part-time as program coordinator for the Pennsylvania Grazing Lands Coalition.He began working for Penn State Extension in 1985 and retired in 2023 after a 38-year career in agricultural extension in central Pennsylvania. In his extension career Mr. Hartman introduced aspects of management intensive grazing to livestock owners in central Pennsylvania throughout the 1990’s. This was followed in the early 2000’s by extension education offered to beef cattle owners interested in grass-finishing. His grass-finished beef programs attracted participants from all parts of Pennsylvania and several surrounding states.

Mr. Hartman is owner/operator of Watson Hartman LLC, a grass-based livestock operation in Montour County. Dave and his wife, Lisa, currently own 170 acres in three separate tracts. The enterprises include a small herd of Octoraro-influenced Angus cows, wholesale grass-finished beef for a regional branded program and a small flock of registered Katahdin sheep for marketing breeding stock and grass-finished lamb. Some land is rented out for cropping. The farm started in 2001 and involved converting a tract of land to active grazing after it was in CRP for 10 years. Having the privilege of owning, setting up, regenerating, and operating a grazing farm was tremendously beneficial to his work as an extension educator.

Dani Heisler

Serves as the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program Manager for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).  Through her role, she provides funding to producer-led groups that focus on non-point source pollution abatement activities.  Dani leads the program administration, works to promote program participation and growth, and offers direct support to the currently 50 Producer-Led groups and over 2,500 farmer members in Wisconsin.

Jim Hershey

Promotes the use of No-Till, Cover Crops and Soil Health principles that support Regenerative Agriculture. Mr. Hershey serves as President of the Pa No-Till Alliance and serves as Director on the State Conservation Board. Jim has been farming near Elizabethtown, Pa. for 48 yrs. Where his family raised Broiler chickens, hogs and cash grain Corn, soybeans, wheat, and barley.  He has implemented numerous Conservation practices and BMP with the help of NRCS, PDA, Stroud Water Research, Penn State and others.

Mr. Hershey has received numerous Conservation and Crop Yield awards over the years. Much thanks goes to all the many partners across the state including farmers that helped make a significant improvement in the quality of the soil and cleaner water to the Chesapeake Bay.

Adrienne Hobbins 

Adrienne Hobbins serves as the program manager for Chesapeake Conservancy’s Pennsylvania restoration work. In this role, Hobbins supervises PA staff and oversees a partnership of over 40 organizations collaborating to restore 30 agriculturally impaired streams by 2030.Hobbins comes to Chesapeake Conservancy with a breadth of local, on-the-ground knowledge of watershed management, natural resource needs and data gaps within the Susquehanna River Basin.  She is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College with a bachelor’s degree in biology and has a master’s degree in biology with a focus on freshwater ecology from Missouri State University.
Hobbins is a native of central Pennsylvania and currently resides in Mifflinburg, Pa., with her husband Andrew, daughter Grace and their goldendoodle Ruby.

Elizabeth Hoffman  

Currently serves as the Watershed Strategies Administrator for Program Planning & Evaluation, at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. In this role, she manages data across Resource Conservation’s programs and Soil Conservation Districts, for tracking and reporting progress towards sector and state-wide goals as part of our Watershed Implementation Plan. This includes providing analysis to align or advance program needs and planning efforts related to BMP implementation and TMDL goals, alongside the expanding scope of environmental outcomes to be supported by working lands. Included in that effort is the management of the Field Assessment Team, with planners working across the state to assess and map farms and practices for crediting and reporting towards the department’s environmental goals - from water quality to climate initiatives. Elizabeth also serves as the Maryland representative for the Agricultural Workgroup within the Chesapeake Bay Program, participates with the Committee on Watershed Strategies as part of the Maryland Agricultural Commission, and serves on the state management team of Maryland’s Whole Watershed Program.  

Amy Johnson 

Conservation Biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Director of their Virginia Working Landscapes program (VWL). In this role, Dr. Johnson leads a team that cultivates a dynamic network of private landowners, farmers, community scientists, NGO’s, state agencies and scientists to collectively investigate the impacts of conservation management and land use on biodiversity. VWL research activities occur almost entirely on privately-owned working lands, demonstrating the importance of multi-faceted collaborations for acquiring the knowledge needed to move conservation forward in human-dominated landscapes. In addition to research, she and her team are committed to developing effective outreach strategies that communicate research findings to inform best management practices for regional conservation partners and land managers.

Andrew Lefever

PhD student in Plant Science at Penn State University.  Andrew holds a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences from Cornell University and an M.S. in Plant Science from Penn State.  He worked as an Agronomist in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for several years.  At Penn State, he helps Dr. Charlie White in the Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management Program to validate the efficacy of nitrogen fertilizer decision support tools for corn production in Pennsylvania through on-farm experimentation.

James Martin

Director of the Division of Soil and Water Conservation at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the lead agricultural conservation agency for the Commonwealth.  James oversees nutrient management planning and certification, engineering assistance to soil and water conservation districts, administration of Virginia’s agricultural BMP cost-share program, which is the largest state funded agricultural conservation program in the nation, and other non-point source water quality programs that are key to Virginia’s efforts to meet its Chesapeake Bay nutrient and sediment reduction commitments.

Lee McDonnell

Analysis and Implementation Branch Chief (Science) at Chespeake Bay Program. Lee has over 26 years of experience working on issues related to clean water, specifically water quality modeling, TMDL development, NPDES permitting and general water quality standards implementation. Prior to joining the Chesapeake Bay Program, Lee worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as a Water Quality Program Manager in the Southcentral Regional Office and as Director for the Bureau of Clean Water. Through scientific analysis, Lee’s team works to assist and support the Chesapeake Bay Partnership to help them achieve their shared goals and objectives.

Jenell McHenry 

Jenell grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on her family's broiler and grain farm, working alongside her dad and brothers. Following High School, Jenell had two great opportunities to serve the state of Maryland as the State FFA President and as Miss Maryland Agriculture, where she found her place in the industry. Jenell graduated with a dual bachelors from the University of Delaware and has since been serving farmers through organization management. Today Jenell runs a diversified farming business with her husband and son while managing the Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association.

Amy Mickel 

Amy has 30 years of experience conducting social science research using integrative mixed-methods approaches. Her strong background in both qualitative and quantitative data analyses has produced many articles. Her research is published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals, including the Academy of Management Review, Human Relations, International Journal of Business Communication, and Journal of Management Inquiry. She is a Full Professor in the College of Business at California State University, Sacramento where she has taught undergraduate and graduate students since 2000. Mickel is the Applied Research Lead for The Stewardship Network.

Jeb Musser 

Vice President of Land Protection at Lancaster Farmland Trust beginning in 2019. Prior to this role he served in nearly every role in the organization’s Land Protection Department over eight years. Jeb is responsible for carrying out the programmatic activities of the Trust, including farmland preservation, implementation of best management practices on farms, fee for service activities, and grant management. He provides direction to the Land Protection staff, interns, and volunteers. Jeb is a commissioner on the Lancaster County Planning Commission and is a member of the Lancaster Clean Water Partners Watershed and Data Action Teams. Jeb graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Geography with focus in Environmental Studies, plus a minor in Government and Political Studies from Millersville University. He also has a professional certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Pennsylvania State University and a certificate in Drones for Land Trust Monitoring from Duke University. Jeb is originally from Lebanon County, where he spent his teenage years helping out on a hog farm in South Londonderry Township. He moved to Lancaster County to attend Millersville University and has stayed in the area since. Jeb currently resides in Elizabethtown with his wife, son, and three pets. Jeb enjoys gardening, camping, fishing, and tinkering. 

Jen Nelson

Executive director for the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts and the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, two non-profit organizations that provide coordination and support for the 25 conservation districts in both states. Jen also serves as the coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay Program's Agricultural Advisory Committee. Having worked with conservation partners at the local, state and federal level, she recognizes that the best work to support farmers is achieved through partnership and collaboration. 

Greg Noe 

Greg has been a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA, since 2002, where he leads the Wetland Ecosystem Ecology & Biogeochemistry Laboratory (WEEBL) in the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center. Dr. Noe’s research centers on wetland ecosystem ecology and watershed processes. His dissertation research identified the complex controls on annual plant germination in the salt marshes of southern California. This was followed by post-doctoral research on phosphorus biogeochemistry and enrichment effects in the Florida Everglades. When joining the USGS, he started a research program on nutrient cycling, transport, and retention in wetlands associated with floodplains.  He is the recent President of the Society of Wetland Scientists, serves on the Science and Technical Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program, served on the editorial board of Wetlands and Wetlands Ecology and Management, is the recipient of the President's Service Award from the Society of Wetland Scientists, and has served on the program committees of national and international scientific conferences and numerous graduate student committees.  Greg is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Award from the Department of the Interior and is a Fellow of the Society of Wetland Scientists.

Heidi Reed

PhD, CCA is a Field and Forage Crops Educator for Penn State Extension based in York County. Heidi provides research-based educational programming based on local grower interests and needs, with a special interest in soil health and cover crops. 

Jake Reilly

Jake Reilly is Director of Chesapeake Bay Programs for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Jake has  experience in policy and management of Federal, state and local environmental and agricultural conservation  programs with a focus on watershed management, climate resilience, and innovative finance. Prior to his role at  NFWF, Jake served as a Policy Analyst with the White House Office of Management and Budget. He holds degrees  in agricultural and natural resource economics and environmental science and policy from University of Maryland  and Johns Hopkins University. 

Eric Rosenbaum 

Senior Agronomist and owner of Rosetree Consulting LLC, an agricultural and environmental consulting firm providing agronomic, precision ag, and regulatory services in PA & NJ.  Eric holds a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences from the Pennsylvania State University.  Eric is a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA), and holds CCA specialty certifications in Sustainability, 4R Nutrient Stewardship and Resistance Management.  Additionally, he also holds professional certifications for nutrient management planning, conservation planning and odor management planning.

In addition to his agricultural consulting business, Eric also serves the agricultural community in a number of capacities.  He, along with his wife Brooke, serve as the executive directors of the PA4R Nutrient Stewardship Alliance – a industry supported organization established to educate farmers, regulators & environmental groups about agronomic practices which improve nutrient use efficiency & farm profits while reducing agriculture’s environmental impact.  Eric also serves on a number of state & regional advisory committees.

Matt Royer 

Director of the Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center. Matt's expertise is in environmental law and policy with an emphasis on water quality. He has over a decade of experience in building watershed coalitions and partnerships. Prior to becoming the Director of the AEC In 2013, Matt directed the AEC’s Lower Susquehanna Initiative. Matt also serves as faculty for the Environmental Resource Management program at Penn State. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Dartmouth College and his law degree from Duke University School of Law. Matt grew up on a farm on the banks of the Conewago Creek and resides in Mount Gretna with his wife Kerry and sons Luke and Finn.

Dianne Russell

Dianne Russell, President of the Institute for Conservation Leadership (ICL), leads fundraising and financial management, and oversees ICL’s program design and delivery. Dianne blends her knowledge of human systems with a deep understanding of the strategies needed to create healthy natural systems and communities. She specializes in developing networks, leadership, and organizations using the primary tools of planning, coaching, facilitation, and training. She has played the role of process designer, meeting facilitator, backbone staff, evaluator, and foundation advisor with over 45 collaborative efforts across the U.S. and Canada.  Questions about baseball, gardening, social change theories, photography, LGBTQ issues, or her home state of Ohio will spark very enthusiastic discussions with her. 

Chris Sigmond 

Chris has led TeamAg since the company was founded in 2002 and is active on an array of agriculture & conservation boards. He has a BS in Biology and an MS in Natural Resources Management from the University of Connecticut.

Dwight Stoltzfoos 

Dwight grew up on Springwood Farm in Kinzers, Pennsylvania, the oldest of eleven children. Working alongside his father in the 1990s, he helped transition the farm to certified organic and later to a 100% grass-fed grazing system. Today, Dwight and his wife, Brenda, manage a 250-cow, 100% grass-fed organic dairy with their nine children. Their focus is on regenerating soil health through adaptive grazing, silvopasture, and thoughtful land stewardship. Under their leadership, Springwood Farm has become a model for sustainable, family-centered agriculture. Dwight’s father, Roman Stoltzfoos, founded the Lancaster County Graziers Group, and together they coordinate the network, with a focus on fostering profitable community stewardship on grass-based farms.

Lydia Fitzgerald Taylor 

Lydia is the owner of Fitzgerald Farms’ Pumpkin Patch and serves as the Soil Health & Integrated Conservation Agronomist for the Virginia Tech/NRCS Soil Health Partnership.  From a young age, Lydia knew that she wanted to work in agriculture. She recognized that healthy soils were the backbone of the farm and decided that studying soil science was the best way to help farmers and improve our agricultural systems. Lydia studied Crop and Soil Sciences at Virginia Tech and then went on to get her Master’s degree in Integrated Plant and Soil Science at University of Kentucky. After working as a soil conservationist for NRCS, Lydia was hired by Virginia Tech and NRCS to promote soil health across the state as the Partnership Conservation Agronomist. She also works to support the Virginia No-till Alliance (VANTAGE). Her passion is to help improve our agricultural systems and our soils while continually learning more about the environment, the soil, and the farmers that rely on them.

Bob Waring

Bob is a grain farmer in the Middle Peninsula of Virginia at Brandon Farms, which is a third-generation row crop farm. The farm was selected as a case study with the American Farmland Trust, published in January 2024. He is an elected member of the executive board for the Southern Cover Crops Council, member of the Ag and Forestry Advisory Board appointed by the Essex County Board of Supervisors, as well as past Chair of Virginia's Cover Crop and Nutrient Management Technical Advisory Subcommittee. Bob is a Senior Agricultural Conservation Specialist with the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District.

Jeremy Weaver 

Jeremy is the founder and president of Weaver Environmental Consulting, LLC, based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. With more than 20 years of experience in agricultural designs and conservation planning, Jeremy specializes in helping producers design and implement practical, high-quality Best Management Practices (BMPs) that protect water quality and support farm viability.  His work focuses on farm outreach, BMP design, construction oversight, and coordination with conservation partners and funding programs such as EQIP, ACAP, RCPP, and PennVest. Jeremy is known for his collaborative approach, strong partnerships with landowners and conservation agencies, and commitment to practical, sensible environmental solutions. He is an active member of the Lancaster Clean Water Partners, Co-Chair of the Octoraro Source Water Collaborative, and a member of the ELANCO Source Water Protection Collaborative.

Jimmy Weber 

Jimmy is the Associate Coordinator of USGS Chesapeake Bay studies. has been a hydrologist with the USGS since 2012 and has collaborated extensively with science centers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. He has led many Chesapeake Bay science activities in coordination with federal, state, and local partners. His work has focused on understanding the factors affecting water quality in small agricultural and urban streams, as well as explaining nutrient and sediment trends in large Chesapeake Bay rivers. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Resource Management and a Master’s degree in Forest Resources from the Pennsylvania State University.

Kate Wofford 

Kate has worked with local communities to protect their land and water resources for more than 15 years, serving as director of Shenandoah Valley Network from 2009 until 2018. She is the former director of conservation at the Wood River Land Trust in central Idaho. She also worked with woodland owners through Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and as a conservation associate for the Henry’s Fork Foundation in eastern Idaho. Kate is an honors graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington and she received a master’s degree in forest science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science in 2002. Kate is pleased to serve on the steering committee for the Choose Clean Water Coalition and the board of directors for Virginia Conservation Network. She also sits on the steering committees for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (CBI) Virginia Working Landscapes, CBI’s Changing Landscapes Initiative, and the Shenandoah Rail Trail Partnership.