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Click here for BIONEERS TALLGRASS CONFERENCE 2007 SITE
Please Join Us for Tallgrass Bioneers, 2008!
October 31- November 2, 2008
Tallgrass Bioneers 2008 Updates:
Find an interactive map with driving directions, workshop locations, etc- click here
For a complete schedule of events - click here
Questions? Ask Rich - rich@gotoplanb.net
Keynote Speaker: Founder & President of Living Lands & Waters, Chad Pregracke |
| Chad Pregracke will join us as the keynote speaker on Friday, October 31st.
While attending high school and college Chad worked as a commercial shell diver, a commercial fisherman, and barge hand during the summers. He sometimes lived on the islands of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers during that time. While there, he noticed that the condition of the rivers was getting worse due to the accumulation of trash on the shorelines. Based on his concern, while still in college, he set out in the spring of 1997 to make a difference... one river at a time…one piece of garbage at a time.
In 1998, he founded Living Lands & Waters, the not-for-profit environmental organization based in East Moline, Illinois. Today, there are several employees and a fleet of several barges and workboats. Thousands of volunteers have cooperated to help with the community cleanups, Riverbottom Forest Restoration and Adopt-a-Mississippi River Mile programs.
http://livinglandsandwaters.org/ |
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Keynote Speaker: World Champion Skier Alison Gannett speaks out on Climate Change
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Alison Gannett will join us as the keynote speaker on Saturday, November 1st. Allison has spent the majority of her life working on solutions to climate change. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Vermont in 1987, and went to graduate school at Solar Energy International. She designed and built the first straw bale home in a National Historic District in 1997, and has converted the world's first solar powered SUV - a plug in hybrid that gets over 100 miles to the gallon. As a world champion extreme skier, she brings exciting images and videos from her crazy ski adventures and expeditions to document global warming in Bolivia, Argentina, Bhutan, India, South Africa, France, Switzerland, Canada, The US, and Pakistan. This year she was nominated by Outside Magazine as one of 23 Green-All-Stars, alongside Willie Nelson and Leonardo DiCaprio. http://www.alisongannett.com/ http://www.sosfound.org
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Dallas artist Tracy Hicks to present at Tallgrass Bioneers 2008
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Tracy Hicks uses preservation as a medium to make art. He writes, teaches, and researches with scientists, amphibians, and other artists about the natural, cultural and social values of preservation and loss. Glass, plastic, rubber, metal and photography all are used as tools of preservation for Mr. Hicks' exploration process. Tracy's work will be a visual addition to the Conference, and Tracy will be joining us as a presenter as well. Sponsored by the Faulconer Gallery.
http://www.tracyhicks.com - Studies for Grinnell Project
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Organic Dairy Farmer Francis Thicke to speak at Local Food Banquet
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Francis Thicke and his wife, Susan, are the owners and operators of a 75-cow, grass-based, organic dairy near Fairfield, Iowa where they process their milk on the farm and sell dairy products through local grocery stores and restaurants.
Francis grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota. After receiving a B.A. in music and philosophy from Winona State College, he returned home to farm full-time for nine years. He then completed an M.S. in Soil Science at the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in Agronomy/Soil Fertility at the University of Illinois. Before returning to farming in 1992, Francis was employed by the USDA-Extension Service in Washington, D.C. where he served as the National Program Leader for Soil Science. |
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Saturday Night Banquet by Chef Kamal Hammouda
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Kamal Hammouda, one of Iowa's leaders in the local food scene and owner of the Phoenix Cafe, will prepare a local foods banquet again this year. If you missed last years sold-out dinner, you will want to get your tickets early for this fantastic community event. Time and location TBA - check back soon! http://www.thephoenixcafe.com/
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We will feature exclusive pre-recorded presentations of all of the plenary speakers from the 2008 "Headwaters" Bioneers Conference as well as an expanded selection of great local speakers, arts events, live music and outdoor activities.
Workshops will include:
Local Food/Local Energy
Water Quality
Climate Change
Environmental Arts
Cultural Diversity in Iowa
Honoring Our Environmentalist Elders
Full Workshop Schedule:
Bioneers Comes To Grinnell
Each October in San Rafael, CA, a group of leading social and scientific innovators, artists and writers come together to share stories, present model solutions and network with each other. This group, called the "Bioneers", also broadcasts the conference to satellite sites across the country. This year, we are proud to announce that Grinnell, Iowa was one of the communities to host a local "Beaming Bioneers" conference, and Imagine Grinnell organized the event. Our 2007 event was a big success, and we plan to make this will an annual event at which folks from around our region will gather in Grinnell to talk about solutions to deal with current social and environmental issues.
Find more videos like this on Bioneers Community
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A few photos from 2007...
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Comments about the 2007 Conference
please send your comments to iabioneers@gotoplanb.net
"It's would take so long to go over the Bioneers conference with the depth it truly deserves...There is nothing that I have experienced that brings out so much enthusiasm about sustainability as the bioneers conference... "
Todd, Fairfield (check out Todd's blog)
"I was really, really impressed with how everything went and I think that's how most everyone felt. "
-Liz, Grinnell
About the dinner by Chef Kamal Hammouda...
"Kamal, people keep telling me that the dinner went so well, and I keep pointing out that it’s like praising the civic center box office for a great Bruce Springsteen concert. You put on one hell of a show for the Bioneers. You’re the Boss! Thank you!!"
-Rob, Grinnell
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SELLING THE EARTH
AND EVERYTHING ON IT
by Robert Dana
We had a lot of requests for a a copy of the poem "SELLING THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING ON IT " which Iowa Poet Laureate Robert Dana read at the close of the Friday plenary panel. He has been kind enough to make that available to us, and you can read it here....
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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Tallgrass Bioneers
Since Grinnell is known as "The Jewel of the Prairie", we have christened our own version of the Bioneers get together the "Tallgrass Bioneers Conference" to reflect our native bioregion. By linking with sites across North America, the "Tallgrass Bioneers" can "think globally and act locally" in the context of a unique small town with big ideas.
More about the 2007 Tallgrass Bioneers Conference
Please Join us
Bioneers is not just about sitting and listening to all of the great speakers. It is also about community building through arts, music, food, outdoor activities and youth programs.
Volunteer
It is our hope that you will consider assisting in organizing the conference, by providing guidance and feedback on the programming, and possibly even organizing an event.
Committees are already forming to organize workshops, arts events and activities, and we welcome your ideas and participation. If you would like to get involved, contact Rich Dana by email at rich@gotoplanb.net. |
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