s1e21 July 20th 2023
Laura Lengnick is an award-winning soil scientist with 30 years of experience working as a researcher, policymaker, educator, activist and farmer to put sustainability values into action in U.S. food and farming. Her research in soil health and sustainable farming systems was nationally recognized with a USDA Secretary’s Honor Award in 2002 and she served as a lead author of the 2013 USDA report, Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation. As founder and principal at Cultivating Resilience, LLC, Laura and her associates work with organizations of all kinds to integrate resilience thinking into operations and strategic planning. Since 2015, Laura has led federal, state and local climate resilience research and planning projects exploring agricultural climate solutions, conducted resilience assessments and developed carbon management plans for small- and mid-sized businesses, and designed and delivered climate risk management workshops tailored to diverse audiences throughout North America. In 2021, Laura joined the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming as the Director of Agriculture. The second edition of her award-winning book, Resilient Agriculture: Cultivating Food Systems for a Changing Climate, examines climate change, resilience and the future of food through the adaptation stories of more than 45 leading sustainable, organic, regenerative and climate-smart farmers and ranchers growing food throughout the U.S. She resides in Asheville, NC.
