Advisory Council

Meet our community of advisors that inform our vision

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Meet advisor Dayna Burtness of Nettle Valley Farm in Spring Grove, Minnesota.

Thank You Advisors

Steven I. Apfelbaum – Senior Ecologist, Founder, & Chairman, Applied Ecological Services, Inc. – WI

Dayna Burtness – Farmer, Nettle Valley Farm – MN

Sallie Calhoun – Founder, #NoRegrets Initiative, Cienega Capital, Globetrotter Foundation and Paicines Ranch – CA

TJ Callahan – Owner, Farmhouse Taverns – IL

Cathe Capel – Farmer, Seven Sisters Farm – IL

Casey Dahl – Farmer, Feral Farm (Jefferson, WI) – WI

DD Danforth Burlin – Founder, Sustainable and Local Food Investment Group – IL

Syovata (Vata) Edari – Chocolatier & Lawyer, Cocovaa – WI

Narimah (Nimi) Ehr – MBA Candidate, UW-Madison – WI

Jose Franco, PhD – Research Agronomist/Agroecologist, U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center – WI

Leslie Freehill – Attorney, Pines Bach LLP – WI

Stefan Gailans – Research and Field Crops Director, Practical Farmers of Iowa – IA

Paul Gaynor – Owner, White Oak Savanna Events Farm and Sanctuary; Principal, G&R Public Law & Strategies – WI                    

Meghan Giroux, MSC – Owner, Interlace Agroforestry LLC; Director, Interlace Commons Inc.

Michael Gold, PhD – Professor, The Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri – MO

John Graham, PhD – Professor of Environmental Science and Biology, Madison College, WI

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquín – President-CEO, Regenerative Agriculture Alliance – MN

Brooke Hecht, PhD – President, Center for Humans and Nature – IL

Randy Jackson, PhD – Professor of Grassland Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison – WI

Shibu Jose, PhD – Interim Associate Dean for Research, University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources – MO

Margaret Krome – Policy Director, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute – WI

David LeZaks, PhD – Senior Fellow, Croatan Institute – WI

Theresa Marquez – Mission Executive (retired), Organic Valley – WI

Diane Mayerfeld – Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator, UW-Madison Division of Extension – WI

Erin Meier – Director, Green Lands Blue Waters – MN

Curt Meine, PhD – Senior Fellow, Aldo Leopold Foundation – WI

Dave Miller – Co-Founder and CEO, Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT – IL

Gary Nabhan – W.K. Kellogg Chair in Southwest Borderlands Food and Water Security, University of Arizona – AZ

Valentin Picasso, PhD – Assistant Professor in Forages and Grazing, University of Wisconsin-Madison – WI

James (Jim) Pines – Co-Founder, Tillable – WI

Odessa Piper – Lead, Taliesin Food Artisan Immersion Program; Chef (former) & Founder, L’Etoile – WI

Lindsay Rebhan – Partner & Designer, Ecological Design – MN

George Reistad – Food Policy Coordinator, City of Madison – WI

Abby Rose – Podcaster, Farmerama – UK

Ricardo Salvador, PhD – Director, Food & Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists – MD

Kathy Schmitt – Bureau Chief, Wisconsin Farm Center, WI Department of Agriculture – WI

Eric Toensmeier – Senior Biosequestration Fellow, Project Drawdown – NY

Severine von Tscharner Fleming – Founder and Director, The Greenhorns & Agrarian Trust – NY

Tom Wahl – Farmer, Red Fern Farm – IA

Richard Omar Warner – Past Director, Green Lands Blue Waters – WI

Sarah Wentzel-Fischer – Executive Director, Quivara Coalition – NM

Sandra Williams, PhD – Professor, Northeastern Illinois University; Partner, Fields Restored Farm – IL

Wendy Yang, PhD – Assistant Professor of Plant Biology and Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – IL

Gary Zimmer – Founder, Midwestern BioAg – WI

Advisor Odessa Piper.

Meet Advisors Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm in Wapello, Iowa.

“I trust Savanna Institute to be careful stewards of land that’s important to me and my family, and to develop and spread farming practices that will increase biodiversity and fight climate change.”

                                                                  – Jack L., Donor

Deep-rooted long-lived tree crops improve the soil, help retain water, improve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and mitigate the effects of floods. Tree crops help us heal our climate, regenerate our communities, and share stories and values across generations. It is time to transform American agriculture through tree crops.