Join MARC, regional experts and your peers to learn the science and practice of agroforestry near streamways! This luncheon workshop is designed for local government natural resource and parks managers and staff, private landscape and restoration contractor companies, and environmental nonprofit staff.
Lunch will be provided, registration is required.
This workshop will feature a keynote presentation and local case study of biodiverse agroforestry practices. Gina Beebe, Research and Education Specialist at the Mizzou Center for Agroforestry will present research-based best practices to design and manage agroforestry and riparian restoration projects to include edible plant species. Dr. Linda Hezel, owner and operator of Prairie Birthday Farm, a sustainable small-scale research farm, will share their knowledge from over 30 years of applied research and management at the Prairie Birthday Farm in Kearney, Missouri.
Riparian buffers are an incredibly important component of watershed health, including in urban areas. However, riparian buffers also have the capacity to provide food and medicine to human communities. This presentation will explore the technical side of designing edible riparian buffers: site assessment and soils, functional group placement, native species selection for food and medicinal value, and plant spacing and establishment. We'll also explore how edible riparian buffers can open the door to foraging education, plant identification, and community engagement.
About the speakers:
Gina Beebe has built a career at the intersection of ecology, conservation, and production systems. She holds an MS in Forestry from the University of Missouri, where she is currently pursuing her PhD in Agroforestry, studying native forage systems. In her role as Research and Education Specialist at the Mizzou Center for Agroforestry, she coordinates events and conducts research that bridges conservation and agricultural production. She also leads plant walks for community and student groups on foraging, herbalism, and plant identification — work that reflects her belief that connecting with a landscape is the foundation of caring for it.
Linda Hezel is a career nurse and educator with a masters of Community Health and doctorate of Curriculum & Instruction and adult learning emphasis. Hezel believes that growing and eating nutrient-dense, organic food is a fundamental nursing practice. Since 1993, Hezel and her spouse Richard Moore have transformed the Prairie Birthday Farm from degraded soil with non-native weeds and grasses to a 14-acre reconstructed ecologically based farm, food forest and native prairie ecosystem. Prairie Birthday Farm is a production farm supplying organic market product. The Farm also serves as a regional teaching laboratory where Linda shares the science, craft and art of artisanal food growing with chefs, farmers, apprentices from Savanna Institute, Kansas State Growing Growers, Women Food & Agriculture Network, West Central Community Action Agency, and the Northland Center for Applied Professional Studies.
Event schedule:
11:30 Welcome by Natalie Unruh, MARC Water Quality Planner III
11:40 presentation from Linda Hezel
12:00 presentation from Gina Beebe
1:00 Q&A and facilitated speaker panel
1:30 event close
Kauffman Foundation Conference Center
The event will be hosted in the Town Square Room.
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