Dr. Kimberlee Kidwell has held the title of Dean of the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences (ACES) since November of 2016. She currently holds the Inaugural Robert A. Easter Chair for the College of ACES, and was recently named a Crop Science Society of America Fellow. Not only an award-winning educator and administrator, Dr. Kidwell is an accomplished spring wheat breeder and geneticist, having developed more than 20 wheat varieties for Washington State farmers. Her research has led to multiple patented discoveries and addressed questions involving genetic discovery and characterization, as well as genetic mapping for wheat improvement.

Dr. Robert Easter is President Emeritus of the University of Illinois and the current chair of FARM Illinois. An expert in livestock feeding, Dr. Easter has co-authored a book on livestock production and has written more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, 11 book chapters, and number papers for conferences and industry publications. In 2006, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), and is currently a fellow of the American Society of Animal Science, a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable, and serves on the board of 1st Farm Credit Services, Agrible, the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation, and FARM Illinois.

Dr. Peter Fandel is an Associate Professor of Agriculture at Illinois Central College. In this position he teaches many different agricultural classes at ICC, as well as maintains several research and demonstration plots. He is also a Cover Crop Specialist with the Illinois Council on Best Management Practices. Prior to being at ICC, Dr. Fandel was a Crops Educator at the University of Illinois Extension in Eureka, IL. He is a Certified Crop Advisor by the American Society of Agronomy and holds a Master of Science in Agronomy from the University of Illinois.

As a Partner at Ernst & Young, Rob has over 20 years of experience serving clients in the food and agribusiness sectors. He works with a number of Fortune 500, Global 1000, and private companies in advisory and transaction capacities. As the founder of the EY Global Agribusiness Center, Rob leads EY professionals in all regions of the world to serve agribusiness clients. Rob holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University.

Laura Frerichs is the University of Illinois Research Park Director and Director of Economic Development for the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus. She is responsible for managing startup company services at the EnterpriseWorks technology incubator, marketing the Research Park, and supporting the University’s economic development efforts. Frerichs has developed innovative entrepreneur support programs as well as has attracted many new companies who are interested in engaging with the University of Illinois. Her board positions also include FARM Illinois and the Association of University Research Parks. Under Frerichs’ leadership, the Research Park was named AURP Outstanding Research Park of the Year in 2011, by Inc. Magazine as one of the top 3 College Town Incubators in 2013, and by Forbes in 2013 as one of 12 Business Incubators Changing the World.

Dr. Ainsworth is a USDA ARS scientist in the University of Illinois Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit. Research in the Ainsworth Lab applies physiological, biochemical, and genomic tools to understand the mechanisms of plant responses to environmental stress. Her current areas of research focus include understanding the dynamics of leaf growth and development, investigation of antioxidant metabolism in response to global change, and unraveling the physiological and molecular basis for intraspecific variation in plant responses to climate change. Dr. Ainsworth holds a Ph. D in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois and is a 2018 recipient of the Presidential Award from the Crop Science Society of America.

Dr. Rooney leads a U.S. Department of Agriculture research unit whose mission is to develop new microbial biocontrol agents for use against insect pests, weeds, and crop diseases. His personal research program focuses on characterizing the diversity of microorganisms, with emphasis on finding new entomopathogenic and plant-associated microorganisms useful for agriculture and/or public health. Dr. Rooney has served as both Curator of Bacteria and Director for the ARS Culture Collection and currently serves as the Director for the Microbial Biocontrol Resource Center. He holds a Ph. D in Genetics from Texas A&M University.

Steve Sinn is the President of Lacuna Technologies, LLC and a partner in Sinn Brothers, a family-owned grain and turkey production enterprise. Steve’s family has been in the turkey production business for more than 70 years. Steve developed the core concepts behind Lacuna Technologies, LLC, and has closely managed product development, prototype manufacturing, intellectual property protection, and preliminary industry discussions on the path toward commercialization.

Dr. William Hay is a research plant physiologist for the USDA at the NCAUR facility located in Peoria Illinois. He received his BSc (2007) and PhD (2012) from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, while studying improvements to plant photosynthesis through genetic engineering. During his postdoctoral research with the Plant Polymer Unit, he aided in the development of numerous low-cost bio-based films, antimicrobials, emulsifiers, and surface treatments utilizing natural products and novel amylose-complexes. Currently, with the Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research Unit he is conducting research to elucidate how climate change impacts wheat resistance to toxin producing fungal pathogens.

Jonathan runs the THRIVE AgTech Accelerator program in Silicon Valley, where he supports and invests in early-stage, growth-driven startups that are using technology to advance the future of food and agriculture. He oversees a portfolio of Agrifood Tech companies that have raised $250M at a $500M post-money valuation since graduating from the program. This year, he was selected as part of the AgGrad 30 Under 30 class in the Entrepreneurship category and THRIVE won “Most Valuable Agrifood Tech Accelerator” at the AgFunder Innovation Awards. He was previously a 2x startup founder and consumer software investor. Jonathan has lived in three countries (US, Japan and Taiwan), and is a proud alumnus of both Rice University and the Cornell University – Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Bill Davison is a Local Food System Educator with University of Illinois Extension. He manages the Refuge Food Forest, Grand Prairie Grain Guild and breeds corn, small grains, and vegetables for local markets. He is a founding member of Regenerate Illinois and the Artisan Grain Collaborative and he works with a diverse group of partners on the innovative Middle Mackinaw Project. This project integrates diverse crops, livestock, and agroforestry to show that food production and conservation can be mutually beneficial.

ReGenerate IL is a coordinating space that brings together and facilitates a diverse group of champions and thought leaders. We support regenerative farming and ranching practices that produce a variety of food crops that work with nature. We support teams that are seeking to bring regenerative practices to a variety of organic cropping systems–grains, livestock, nuts, berries and legumes, vegetables, and others.

Michelle Wander is Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Director of the Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program at the University of Illinois where she has studied ecological soil management and soil quality for over 20 years. She presently serves on advisory councils for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research’s Soil Health Council, the Soil Health Partnership’s Science Advisory Council, and the National Soil and Water Conservation Societies’ Policy Committee.

When Harold Wilken was about two years old, his father put him in a wooden box he’d made to fit next to him so he could take his son on the tractor as he cultivated his fields. For this and many other reasons, farming was Harold’s destiny — although it wasn’t until many years later that Harold, together with his wife Sandy and son Ross, became the proprietors of Janie’s Farm Organics which has grown to include over 2,400 acres of USDA Certified Organic grains.

At last count, Janie’s Farm Organics was growing wheat, oats, rye, emmer, einkorn, buckwheat, corn, soybeans (for soy milk and tofu), black turtle beans, alfalfa, popcorn, and seed corn. Harold is also growing Kernza, a perennial grain developed by The Land Institute.