The Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program is hosting a distinguished lecture series in partnership with the the Office of Research, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. 

These events are being cosponsored by Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, the Environmental Change Institute, and Students for Environmental Concerns.

OCTOBER 7

Mark Van Horn

8.30 am visit to the Student Farm with Zach Grant and Students for Environmental Concens
11.00 Presentation at the Illini Union- Students and Sustainability: the Role of a Student Farm
12.00 Lunch discussion

Mark Van Horn is Director of the UC Davis Student Farm, which is a part of the university’s Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI). He is also a lecturer in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. Van Horn's teaching activities have included courses on sustainable agriculture, agricultural ecosystems and organic farming. His publications focus on various aspects of sustainable and organic farming and sustainable agriculture education. He has worked with numerous partners to help farmers increase the sustainability of their operations and to educate children and youth about agriculture, food, nutrition and sustainability. In 2006, Van Horn and two colleagues hosted the first national conference on post-secondary sustainable agriculture education; he is a founding member of the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association and is a member of its steering committee. Van Horn has Master of Science degrees in plant breeding (University of Minnesota) and pest management (UC Davis) and several years of experience farming in California and the Midwest.

NOVEMBER 11

Steve Del Grosso

12.30 Lunch with Soils and Carbon Communities of Scholars
2.00 Presentation C and N Fluxes from Agroecosystems: Do We Know Enought to Offset Emissions?

NOVEMBER 12

10:00-12:00 ACES Library Basement  Workshop on Commet VR

Steve will provide a hands on training of the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases-CarbOn Management Evaluation Tool (COMET-VR ) tool – this is a decision support tool for agricultural producers, land managers, soil scientists and other agricultural interests.  COMET-VR provides an interface to a database containing land use data from the Carbon Sequestration Rural Appraisal (CSRA) and calculates in real time the annual carbon flux using a dynamic Century model simulation. Users of COMET-VR specify a history of agricultural management practices on one or more parcels of land. The results are presented as ten year averages of soil carbon sequestration or emissions with associated statistical uncertainty values. Estimates can be used to construct a soil carbon inventory for the 1605(b) program.

Stephen Del Grosso is a Soil Scientist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Fort Collins, CO. He is also affiliated with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL) at Colorado State University. He is responsible for estimating nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching from agricultural soils for the annual EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory and is the co-editor and co-author of the most recent USDA Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Dr. Del Grosso uses models to compare different mitigation strategies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cropped and grazed soils and to evaluate the net environmental impacts of different biofuel cropping systems. In addition to running models, he oversees a field experiment that investigates how crop rotations, fertilizer additions, and tillage practices interact to control greenhouse gas emissions and crop yields. Dr. Del Grosso received his Ph.D. and Master degrees from Colorado State University and his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University. His work has been reported in 30 peer reviewed journal articles, 20 book chapters, and various symposia and conventions in the US and abroad.

Tentatively Scheduled

FEBRUARY

Patricia Allen

11.00 Presentation  Land Grant Universities as Agents of Change

12:00 Lunch with sustainability COS

7.00   Presentation for Students for Environmental Concerns 

MARCH

Wholesale Success- buyers from SYSCO, Whole Foods, and Public Schools and potential visit to discuss the needs of wholesale buyers and wants of green consumers.