The Penn Regenerative Ag Alliance Workshop
Event Summary
Regenerative agricultural describes holistic farming and grazing practices aimed at improving soil health. Unlike sustainable agriculture that intends to maintain farming systems, regenerative practices apply techniques to restore and revitalize farms and neighboring ecosystems.
Agriculture today is under scrutiny, because it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture offers a solution by rebuilding soil organic matter, reviving degraded soil biodiversity, and facilitating carbon sequestration. New approaches, however, must not compromise productivity, since the world population is growing exponentially.
How can we increase production as we simultaneously reduce emissions?
To address this generational challenge, the Penn Regenerative Agriculture Alliance hosts its first annual workshop to stimulate interdisciplinary discourse around future models of agriculture. The alliance is a collaboration between the Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security at Penn Vet and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The workshop is funded by a research community grant from Penn’s Environmental Innovations Initiative and welcomes participants from schools across campus.
To register for this event, please email Thomas Parsons.
Schedule
10:00 AM: WELCOME
10:20 AM: KEYNOTE Jane Zelikova
11:20 AM: ALAIN PLANTE Soil Organic Matter, Soil Health, and Climate Mitigation
11:40 AM: RAHUL MANGHARAM Plant Factories: The Internet of Things for Precision and Decision Agriculture
12:00 PM: LUNCH
1:00 PM: KEYNOTE Beth Hoffman
2:00 PM: COFFEE BREAK
2:20 PM: ZHENGXIA DOU Food Waste Upcycling for Climate Mitigation
2:40 PM: TOM DANIELS Opportunities in Regenerative Agriculture and Nature-Based Solutions
3:00 PM: DIPTI PITTA Enteric Methane Mitigation in Livestock
3:20 PM: NICK PEVZNER Renewable Energy in Agricultural Landscapes: Designing for Multifunctionality with Solar and Agrivoltaics
3:40 PM: PETE PSARRAS CDR Markets and Measurement, Reporting, and Verification
4:00 PM: CLOSING
4:15 PM: RECEPTION
Please note this is an in-person event. We look forward to welcoming guests to the Kleinman Center’s Energy Forum. In accordance with the University of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 guidelines, masks are optional for all visitors. PennOpen Pass and PennOpen Campus screenings are no longer required for entry to our events.
This event is part of Energy Week at Penn. Check out the rest of the 2023 programming at energyweek.upenn.edu.
Alain Plante
Professor of Earth and Environmental ScienceAlain Plante is a professor of Earth & Environmental Science and the Faculty Director of the University Scholars Program. His research interests focus on the field of terrestrial carbon biogeochemistry.
Tom Daniels
Crossways Professor, City and Regional PlanningTom Daniels is the Crossways Professor of city and regional planning at the Weitzman School. Daniels directs the concentration in Land Use and Environmental Planning.
Rahul Mangharam
Associate Professor of Electrical and Systems EngineeringRahul Mangharam is an associate professor of electrical and systems engineering in the School of Engineering and Applies Science.
Dipti Pitta
Assistant Professor in Ruminant NutritionDipti Pitta is an assistant professor in ruminant nutrition at the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Zhengxia Dou
Professor of Agricultural SystemsZhengxia Dou is a professor of Agricultural Systems at the School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests focus on livestock farming, sustainable farming, novel feeds for dairy cows, and agri-food system efficiency.
Nicholas Pevzner
Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape ArchitectureNicholas Pevzner is a faculty fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
Peter Psarras
Research Assistant Professor of Chemical EngineeringPeter Psarras is a research assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.
