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National Pesticide Forum: 2009 Speaker List

Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator and author of many books, including his latest, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow. Mr. Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be. Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Jim has become a leading voice for those who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of Washington and Wall Street. He's a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, spreading the message of progressive populism all across the American grassroots.

Baldemar Velásquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), AFL-CIO, was raised as a migrant farmworker. After an incident when his father was cheated out of promised wages in front of the family, Baldemar began organizing workers to stand up for their rights, which led to the founding of FLOC. In 1979, FLOC workers called for a strike and boycott against Campbell Soup. They made many sacrifices for the cause, and suffered many abuses. But after eight years, FLOC, Campbell Soup, and the growers made history by signing three-way labor contracts. FLOC's organizing has also led to contracts with Heinz, Mt. Olive Pickles and others.

Philip Shabecoff, co-author of the new book Poisoned Profits: The toxic assault on our children, served as chief environmental correspondent for The New York Times for fourteen years. Mr. Shabecoff also founded Greenwire, an online digest of environmental news and was selected as one of the “Global 500” by the United Nations’ Environmental Program. His previous books include A Fierce Green Fire: A History of the American Environmental Movement.

Alice Shabecoff, co-author of Poisoned Profits: The toxic assault on our children, is a freelance journalist focusing on family and consumer topics. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and the International Herald Tribune, among other publications. She was executive director of the National Consumers League and Community Information Exchange. Her previous books include A Guide to Careers in Community Development.

Gustavo Aguirre is assistant director of organizing for the Center on Race Poverty and the Environment in Delano, CA. Gustavo was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and immigrated to California at the age of 19, where he worked under a United Farm Workers’ union contract as a lemon harvester for 16 years. He served as a steward and as the leader of the UFW worker committee involved in their contract negotiations and administration. At the UFW convention in 2000, Aguirre was elected National Vice President, serving until May 2006. After his 10 years of service to the UFW, in June 2006 Aguirre joined the CRPE, focusing and leading a campaign on pesticide protection zones around schools, towns and beyond.

Thomas Arcury, Ph.D. is professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the director of the Center for Worker Health at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Arcury is a medical anthropologist and public health scientist with a research program focused on improving the health of rural and minority populations. Since 1996, he has collaborated in a program of community-based participatory research with immigrant farmworkers and poultry processing workers and their families focused on occupational and environmental health and justice. He has also used research results to affect policy change.

Mark Chilton is the mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina, elected in 2005. He was the youngest elected official in North Carolina when he was elected in 1991 to the Chapel Hill Town Council at the age of 21. He was the first undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to hold elected office in Chapel Hill. Mr. Chilton later moved to the neighboring town of Carrboro, where he was elected in 2003 to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, and then Mayor. He is an active member of the North Carolina State Bar. As an advocate for the environment and for low-income communities, Mark has worked to make his community safer, stronger and more caring for over a decade.

Elaine Chiosso is executive director of the Haw River Assembly, a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance. The Haw River Assembly is a non-profit citizens' group founded in 1982 to restore and protect the Haw River and Jordan Lake, and to build a watershed community that shares this vision. Tributaries of the Haw River and Jordan Lake flow through Guilford, Rockingham, Caswell, Alamance, Orange, Chatham, Wake and Durham counties. The organization's goals are to promote environmental education, conservation and pollution prevention; to speak as a voice for the river in the public arena; and to put into peoples' hands the tools and the knowledge they need to be effective guardians of the river.

Caroline Cox is research director at the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, CA. For the last sixteen years she's been the editor of the Journal of Pesticide Reform and the staff scientist at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides in Oregon. Prior to working at NCAP, she had nearly ten years experience as a senior research assistant at Oregon State University where she conducted scientific research on the biological control of agricultural weeds. Caroline serves as a public interest representative to the U.S. EPA's Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Beyond Pesticides. She writes and speaks regularly as a national expert on the toxicity of and alternatives to pesticides.

Paula Dinerstein is senior counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and an attorney with 18 years of experience. She received her law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center. Prior to joining PEER, she clerked for a federal district court judge in Washington DC and then practiced with small public-interest oriented law firms. Her work included representation of States and advocacy groups in energy and environmental matters, including recovery for overcharges by oil companies for use in state energy conservation programs, challenges to EPA pesticide registrations, challenges to hydroelectric licenses, and litigation concerning regulations which weakened the federal organic food standards. She serves on the Board of Directors of Beyond Pesticides.

Anne Everitt is a native North Carolinian who lived in California and Colorado before returning to Carrboro in 2000. She is a unrepentant omnivore, locavore, cook and general foodie who never tires of talking about food, where it comes from and delicious ways to enjoy it. She managed the Carrboro Farmers' market for the 2003 & 2004 seasons and still maintains a close relationship with the farmers there. Anne was a baker at Weaver Street Market which was her first Coop experience and showed her that there are places to work that can talk the talk and walk the walk. After working as a pastry chef in some high end restaurants she has now found her calling as the Marketing Team Leader at Whole Foods Market in Chapel Hill, promoting the things she has the most passion for: Natural, delicious foods!

Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, is a co-founder of the organization and has served as its director since 1981. Jay dedicated himself to finding solutions to pesticide problems after working with farmworkers and small farmers through an EPA grant in 1978 to the national advocacy organization Rural America (1977-1981). Since that time, Jay has helped to build Beyond Pesticides' capacity to assist local groups and impact national pesticide policy. He has tracked specific chemical effects, regulatory actions, and pesticide law. He is very familiar with local groups working on pesticides and has helped develop successful strategies for reform in local communities.

Dawn Gouge, Ph.D. is an associate professor and associate specialist in Urban Entomology at the University of Arizona, teaching courses on Urban IPM, Arthropod Pest Diagnosis and Forensic Entomology - providing education on various insect species and their histories to understand why some become problematic. Dr. Gouge coordinates the Western Regional IPM in Schools Working Group. Dr. Gouge is an national expert on least-toxic indoor IPM and was a member of the team that developed the Pest Management Strategic Plan for IPM in Schools. She holds a Ph.D. in entomology and nematology from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

Nichelle Harriott is a research associate with Beyond Pesticides. With a B.S. in chemistry and environmental science (Morgan State University, 2005) and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy (George Mason University, 2007), Nichelle joined the staff as an intern in the summer of 2007, having previously worked with several conservation and public health issues, and then joined the staff as a research associate. Nichelle has also worked as a chemistry teaching assistant at GMU and co-authored a technical report on water quality issues in wetland systems.

Jerry Jochim is the Environmental Technician for the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) in Bloomington, IN. He has been implementing and monitoring an Integrated Pest Management program for more than twenty schools in the MCCSC. Before that, Jerry worked for eleven years as a maintenance supervisor for MCCSC. In 1997 he accepted the new position of IPM coordinator and began training others throughout the country. Jerry was recently the on-site coordinator for a pilot IPM program in Westerville, OH. He is currently working with the Centralia, MO schools and Pike Township schools in Indianapolis, setting up IPM programs. He continues to work with the Arizona Coalition project and has recently been involved in discussions with officials in Mexico for IPM implementation in Mexico.

Freya Kamel, Ph.D. is a staff scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Kamel's focus is on environmental determinants of neurologic dysfunction and disease, in particular, neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Kamel's research team which linked pesticide exposure in North Carolina and Iowa pesticide applicators to an increased risk of diabetes, showing that all seven pesticides examined contributed to a 20-200 percent increase in risk. Dr. Kamel has also studied the links between pesticides and Parkinson's disease and retinal degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. See her NIEHS studies.

Billie Karel is Toxic Free NC's program coordinator. Since 2003, she has worked to strengthen Toxic Free NC's connections to communities all across North Carolina, to find and develop volunteers and activists, and to help communities organize to win on local projects that reduce pesticide pollution. Billie brings a background in education and advocacy to bear in her work, and strives to equip people with the information and skills they need to be confident and effective advocates for change. She serves on the NC State University Integrated Pest Management Committee and the Board of Directors for The Beehive Collective.

Sandi Kronick got her start in the local food scene working as the local food coordinator for a 700-member dining co-op in Ohio, working mostly with Amish farmers. After consulting with Cleveland restaurants to help them set up local food buying programs, Sandi moved to NC where she worked for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association since 2001, and helped launch Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) in 2004 to help customers source fresh, local organic produce from neighboring farms while enabling farmers to preserve their family land through environmentally-friendly agriculture.

Sally Lee is the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA's Just Foods program assistant. The Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA cultivates markets, policies and communities that support thriving, socially just and environmentally sound family farms. The Just Foods program promotes a systems-based approach to a more sustainable food and fiber system. We work nationally and internationally to promote meaningful standards for organic agriculture, comprehensive labels for products grown in environmentally sound and socially just ways, and improved certification programs.

Neill Lindley is the fourth generation in his family to farm on the home farm, now called Lindale Organic Dairy. His father Darryle is still very involved with farming – he likes to drive tractor, which is fine with Neill who likes to concentrate on developing their rich, nutrient-dense soils, maintaining their pastures and caring for their herd of 175 Holstein and Holstein-cross cows. In the 90s, Neill farmed with his father conventionally, but he was bothered by the health of his cows. Neill began converting the operation and was certified organic in 2007. The farm is now part of the Organic Valley cooperative.

Chensheng (Alex) Lu, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of environmental exposure biology at the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health. Dr. Lu's interests focus on the assessment of pesticide exposure resulting from indoor applications, agricultural spray drift, parental occupation, or from dietary intake. His research projects have included using saliva samples as an alternative for biological monitoring, using GPS to assess children's time-and-location in relation to their pesticide exposure, and assessing urban/suburban children's long-term exposure to pesticides. He co-authored, "Organic Diets Significantly Lower Children’s Dietary Exposure to Organophosphorus Pesticides."

Lani Malmberg grew up in a cattle ranching family. While in graduate school studying weed science, Lani got the idea to offer a goat grazing service for those who did not want to spray chemicals for weed management. She has grown her business, Ewe4ic Ecological Services, to 2100 cashmere goats, working for governments and private landowners for noxious weed control, fire reduction, re-seeding, watershed management, and land restoration. The company also offers noxious weed mapping and inventory. Ms. Malmberg owns no land, and considers herself a ‘gypsy’ goat herders, working in 10 western states.

Roland McReynolds is a North Carolina attorney and executive director of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, the leading organic farm-advocacy and organic certifier for North and South Carolina. CFSA believes a regional food system that is good for the farmer, the consumer and the land. CFSA was founded in 1979 by a group of farmers, gardeners and consumers to support each other and foster the growth of organic food. The organization is pursuing an ambitious agenda to make real change in the Carolinas' Food System.

Chip Osborne is a professional horticulturist with 35 years experience in greenhouse production in Marblehead, MA. After several years, Chip converted his chemical-intensive greenhouse operation to an organic environment and by the mid-1990’s switched his specialty to natural turfgrass management. In 2005, he founded Osborne Organics, providing natural turf consulting services. Chip co-founded ten years ago and currently co-chairs the Marblehead Pesticide Awareness Committee. He co-authored the Town of Marblehead’s Organic Pest Management Policy. He has been recognized by the Toxic Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the Governor’s Office on Environmental Affairs, and the Toxics Action Center of Massachusetts.

Kagan Owens is a senior project coordinator with Beyond Pesticides. She joined the staff in 1997. She is the lead author of the Beyond Pesticides’ report, The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws, the collaborative report with Health Care Without Harm, Healthy Hospitals, and has been instrumental in developing national policy proposals. Kagan graduated from the School of Forestry, University of Montana with a B.S. (1996) in resource conservation. During her schooling, she worked with State Senator Vivian Brook on women's environmental issues, Women's Voices for the Earth on local environmental issues. After graduating, she worked for Montana Environmental Information Center during the 1997 Montana legislative session.

Fawn Pattison is executive director of Toxic Free North Carolina in Raleigh, NC. Since 2001, Fawn has directed Toxic Free NC’s work to promote alternatives to toxic pesticides across North Carolina, especially where children are at greatest risk. Her focus is on bringing technical experts on pest control, human health and public policy into effective collaborations with communities affected by pesticide contamination. She chairs the Board of Directors of Student Action with Farmworkers. An experienced community organizer, she was formally trained as a linguist, with a BA from the University of Virginia and an MA from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Warren Porter, Ph.D., professor of Zoology and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, will moderate the Emerging Science panel at the Forum. Dr. Porter's research has shown that combinations of commonly used agricultural chemicals in concentrations that mirror levels found in groundwater can significantly influence immune and endocrine systems, as well as neurological health in animals. He has also shown lawn chemical mixtures at low-levels increase abortion rates in lab animals. Dr. Porter is a Beyond Pesticides board member.

Brett Ramey is the director of the Flagstaff, AZ-based Urban Lifeways Project within Native Movement, an organization that supports indigenous leadership development and sustainability programs. The youth-led project includes building native food and medicine gardens at schools and in vacant lots, operating a bicycle-powered restaurant compost program, and facilitating community mural projects. Brett's family is from NE Kansas where they farmed for five generations. He is the first generation to grow up in a city away from his mother's reservation (Ioway). He travels extensively to communities throughout the world working on food systems and cultural affirmation projects and shares those stories through photography.

Floribella Redonodo, a farmworker for twenty years, is now health director of Campesinos Sin Fronteras (CSF - Farmworkers Without Borders). CSF uses education, advocacy, and hands-on involvement of farmworkers to bring positive life and community changes to the farmworkers and their standard of living.CSF offers programs including peer-to-peer health education, assistance in obtaining medical care, advocacy, and community resources and referrals. CSF also coordinates Día del Campesino, a community fair that brings a variety of free information and services to the farmworker.

Margaret Reeves, Ph.D. is a senior scientist at Pesticide Action Network North America. Before joining PAN in 1996, Margaret spent most of nine years in Central America, teaching and conducting research in tropical agricultural ecology. She worked with university colleagues and NGOs to improve productivity of low-input ecologically sound agricultural methods. Since the early 1980s, she has worked in support of farmworker rights and has been a member of New World Agriculture and Ecology Group. At PANNA, Margaret focuses on environmental health and justice, particularly farmworker health and safety.

Jim Riddle is outreach coordinator for the University of Minnesota Organic Ecology program and has worked in the field of organic agriculture for over 25 years. He began farming organically in 1980, and in the early 1990s, he became involved with various government agencies and private organizations that establish organic standards and policy, including the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement. Since 2001, Jim has served on the National Organic Standards Board. He served on the Executive Committee for 5 years and was chair in 2005. From 2003 to 2004, he held an endowed chair position in agricultural systems for the University of Minnesota.

Francisco Risso is director of the Western North Carolina Workers Center, which works to improve the wages, benefits, and working conditions of low-wage workers by developing leadership among workers and partnering with churches, community organizations, and progressive labor leaders to serve as allies to low-wage workers. The origins of the Workers’ Center began in 1995 when the workforce at a chicken processing plant began a union organizing campaign. The workers won union representation, but were unable to negotiate a contract. When the union pulled out, the center was started with union funds to continue organizational support.

Allen Spalt is co-founder of the Agricultural Resources Center and its Pesticide Education Project, now Toxic Free North Carolina, and currently serves on its board of directors. Toxic Free NC is a non-profit organization fighting pesticide pollution in North Carolina by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment. Allen has also been a member of the Beyond Pesticides board of directors since 1985. He has testified repeatedly on pesticide issues, including twice before Congress. Allen was elected Alderman of the town of Carrboro in 1997. He has been instrumental in the passage of numerous pesticide reduction measures.

Tes Thraves is community-based food systems coordinator for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. The Center for Environmental Farming Systems develops and promotes food and farming systems that protect the environment, strengthen local communities, and provide economic opportunities in NC and beyond. Tes works on the CEFS Farm to Fork project which is producing a "Statewide Action Plan for Building the Local Food Economy." Ms. Thraves also coordinate a local food initiative incubated by CEFS, the Wayne Food Initiative, which is focused on youths and food justice. She is a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program and has been coordianting speakers for the annual Southern Sustainable Agriculture conference sine 2007.