First, I would like to thank CSANR for generously funding my, and my classmates’, attendance at TILTH Conference 2018. Especially for undergraduates like myself, conferences such as TILTH are a welcome departure from the oftentimes synthetic academic track, onto a more organic (no pun intended) professional…
My name is Matthew Tumlinson, and I’m a junior undergraduate transfer student in my first semester at WSU. I’m working on my B.S. in Field Crop Management with a minor in Crop Science and working toward a certification in Organic and Sustainable Agriculture. I grew up mostly in Vancouver, Washington. I also lived in a pear growing region of northern California and a…
As an aspiring farmer and a student of the social sciences, attending the Tilth conference provided a unique opportunity to engage with topics ranging from applications of sustainable agriculture to issues of gender and race in the organic farming world. Before coming to Washington State University for graduate school to study the sociology of food and agriculture, I was living and farming in Maine…
Entering the Tilth Alliance conference, I was eager to put a finger on the pulse of sustainable agriculture in Washington State. I attended a wide variety of workshops pertinent to me as a small-scale farmer and an academic interested in the structural transformation of our agricultural systems. The collage of researchers, extension agents, and producers illuminated a portrait of the sustainable agriculture movement existing around the edges of population centers, meeting high-end demand, and struggling to impact both the general land management and consumption patterns. As a PhD student in Civil Engineering focusing on water resources and as a small farmer, I caught myself often wondering…
When I saw the class itinerary for this year’s Tilth Conference, I knew I had to find a way to attend. As a student and single mother of 3, I wasn’t sure, how I would make this work, but CSANR stepped in with a generous scholarship that covered my lodging, travel and conference admittance. I squeezed my kids extra tight as I bounded…
Over the three days of the Spokane Tilth Conference, it was a truly wonderful experience to get a closer look at the organic farming that has begun to spread around the world. Organic crops have also begun to compete with conventionally grown crops. During the conference I had an opportunity to attend many lectures related to my specialty and interests, and I enjoyed listening to the discussion that resulted. Before attending the conference, my information about organic agriculture was very limited based…
First of all, I was happy to join the Tilth Conference and learn on a number of different topics. One workshop of particular interest to me was “Women in Agriculture Panel.” I think that women have a significant part to play in agricultural and rural life. Thus, I was excited to learn about the challenges facing women working in Washington…
It was my second time attending the Tilth conference. The diversity of talks and panels at the Tilth conference last year help me broaden my understanding of sustainable agriculture and it was no different this time. I am grateful for the CSANR sponsorship that made my participation…
My name is Derya Eroglu Karaca, and I have been a graduate student in the Crop and Soil Science Department at Washington State University for two years. First of all, I am grateful to WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR) for giving me a chance to attend to the 2018 Tilth Conference and for supporting the costs of my Tilth Conference trip. Secondly, it was my first time to attend the Tilth Conference in Spokane, Washington. It was a great opportunity for…
“I’m a doctoral student at WSU in the School of Economic Sciences.” The audience looked puzzled whenever I introduced myself with this sentence at the Tilth Conference. The connection between the dismal science and Tilth Conference perhaps was a little less…
