Current MISA Board Members, 2011

MISA’s twelve to fifteen member Board of Directors is made up of sustainable agriculture practitioners, University representatives, and representatives from the sustainable agriculture community (including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and citizens). The board provides oversight and direction to the MISA staff.

View past board members.

Todd Arnold,
Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
1980 Folwell Ave, St Paul, MN 55108
612-624-2220
arnol065 AT umn.edu

Todd helped to spearhead the Sustainability Studies Minor and teaches “Sustainable People, Sustainable Planet.” “I like to impart on students that eating mindfully is perhaps the most important single change that they could make in their lives to help achieve sustainability." He has been involved in issues relating to wildlife (primarily waterfowl) production in prairie landscapes for the last two decades. “The future of prairie wildlife is intimately related to decisions that occur in working agriculture landscapes." Todd has his Ph.D. in Zoology, M.Sc. in Wildlife and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology.

Phillip Batalden,
23651 420 Avenue, Lamberton, MN
507-220-4950
bataphil AT rrcnet.org

Phil is a fourth-generation farmer in southwestern Minnesota. For the past 37 years, he has grown corn, soybeans, wheat and other specialty grains. In 1998 he transitioned to organic agriculture. Phil has extensive experience with grains and livestock. His interests are in the areas of sustainable crop systems, small farm income diversification, biodiversity, and local food systems. Phil is a former member of the Southwest Research and Outreach Center advisory committee. He is currently serving on the Highwater Township board of supervisors. Phil manages his family farm with his wife and children.

Atina Diffley
Organic Farmworks Consulting,
25498 Highview Ave. Farmington, MN 55024
952-469-1855
atina AT organicfarmingworks.com

Atina Diffley is an experienced organic vegetable farmer, educating consumers, farmers and policy makers about organic farming and related issues. She provides consulting services to organic vegetable farmers though her business, Organic FarmingWorks LLC. She presently serves on the board of Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, as Secretary of the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Services Board, and as Board President for the Organic Field School at Gardens of Eagan.

Glen Hill
Minnesota Food Association
14220-B Ostlund Trail North, Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047
651-433-3676
Glenhill AT mnfoodassociation.org

Glen is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Food Association. He also serves on the Boards of the Minnesota Environmental Fund, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, the National Immigrant Farming Initiative and the Greater Stillwater Area Chamber of Commerce.

Loretta Jaus
22891 651 Avenue, Gibbon, MN 55335
507-834-6270
lorettajaus AT hotmail.com

Loretta is an organic dairy farmer from Gibbon, MN. She is also the Central Region Leader for Organic Valley’s Farmers in Marketing Program. She works with the staff in coordinating farmer involvement in the cooperative’s outreach and education efforts and serves as a key Midwest farmer contact.

Kris Johnson
4221 Aldrich Avenue Mpls, MN 55409
612-202-5760
krisj AT umn.edu

Kris is currently a Bush Leadership Fellow and a doctoral candidate in Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota. He is investigating the provision of ecosystem services by agricultural landscapes in the Minnesota River Basin and studies how alternative agricultural systems can improve water quality, provide greater carbon sequestration, and support increased biological diversity. He is dedicated to enhancing the sustainability of food systems and brings a diverse academic and professional background to this research and his work as a member of the MISA board.

Rob King
231 Classroom Office Building, 1994 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108
612-625-1273, fax: 612-625-6245
rking AT umn.edu

Rob King is a Professor and Department Head for the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Over the past 20 years Rob has conducted research on a range of issues related to farmer cooperative formation and management, and believes cooperatives can play an important role in the evolution of community-based sustainable farming systems.

Derric Pennington
909 New Jersey Avenue SE, Apt 515, Washington D.C. 20003
513-313-2185
Penn0107@umn.edu

Derric is a Research Associate in the Department of Applied Economic and Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Currently he is working with an interdisciplinary team to model the implications of alternative land-use planning scenarios for food and biofuel production on the joint provision of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation at local, regional and national scales. He has recently completed the Farm Beginnings program and has volunteered with many local organizations. He is currently a visiting scientist at World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.

Julie Ristau
4053 Garfield Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55409
612-879-7530
jristau AT earthlink.net

Julie is the Co-director of On the Commons and is Co-chair of Homegrown Minneapolis. She helped launch the Utne Reader magazine and was the executive director of the National League of Rural Voters.

Ramona Robinson-O'Brien
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University, 37 South College Ave., St. Joseph, MN 56374
320-363-5781
rrobinsonobrien AT csbsju.edu

Ramona is an Assistant Professor at the College of St. Benedict & St. John's University. She teaches nutrition science and courses examining connections between the food system, environment, and human health. She has a PhD in Nutrition with a minor in Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Minnesota. Her dissertation explored consumers' perspectives on purchasing sustainably produced foods and dietitians' perspectives on integrating issues of sustainability into professional practice. Her current research and teaching interests involve the investigation of practical approaches to supporting community health and sustainability in the food system.

Lisa Smiley
10500 310th St. Way, Cannon Falls, Minnesota 55009
651-258-4334
lsmiley AT iastate.edu

Lisa is is on the staff of the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute at Iowa State University. She served on the Minnesota Grape Growers Association Board of Directors and was the director for their “Cold Climate Grape and Wine Conference”. Lisa also helped re-write the book, “Growing Grapes in Minnesota”. She and her husband own a farm and vineyard in Cannon Falls, MN.

Okey Ukaga
8814 Pheasant Run Road, Woodbury, MN 55125
218-341-6029
ukaga001 AT umn.edu

As a program director and extension professor, his “goal has been to create ‘free spaces’ and ‘grounds for innovation and experimentation’ that facilitate a richer and more vibrant reciprocal partnership between the University of Minnesota and the citizens of Minnesota based on the concept of empowering people to define and meet their own needs”. Okey is Executive Director for the Northeast Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (NE RSDP) and a full Extension Professor.

Aimee Witteman
 

Aimee Witteman is the Program Officer in the Environment Program at the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis. She was formerly the Executive Director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, D.C. and was extensively involved in the 2008 Farm Bill reauthorization, working with an alliance of organizations to identify and promote policies that are equitable, encourage environmental stewardship, foster new markets, and increase access to healthy foods. She is a former W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow and has a master's of science in agriculture, food, environmental policy from Tufts University.

Dale Woodbeck
26475 Strawberry Ct., Excelsior, MN 55331
952-470-7939
dalewoodbeck AT blackhole.com

Dale is a former business owner and currently serves on the board of the Lakewinds Natural Foods Co-op. He is also an elected member of the Three Rivers Park District Board of Commissioners and is a member of the Sustainable Farming Association.

Vince Xiong
2300 County Rd. 101 N, Plymouth, MN 55447
vincexiong AT ymail.com

Vince Xiong is a beginning farmer who is enrolled in the Minnesota Food Association’s Big River Farms Training Program. As a member of the Hmong American community, he is concerned about the steep rise in diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease as immigrants begin to adopt an American diet. He believes that practicing sustainability calls us to share knowledge and challenge barriers that hold people back from the goals of caring for our food, our physical health, and the health of the community.

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