MSU to host sustainable food systems specialist Laura Lengnick April 5-6

From MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — Montana State University College of Education, Health and Human Development, College of Agriculture and Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems program will host national sustainable food systems specialist Laura Lengnick Tuesday and Wednesday, April 5-6, for free public seminars, a book signing and an informal roundtable discussion on climate change and agriculture.

Lengnick has spent more than 30 years working in the area of agriculture and food system sustainability and resilience as a researcher, educator, policy-maker and farmer. She recently started her own consulting firm, Cultivating Resilience LLC, which offers businesses, communities and government ecosystem-based climate risk management services. Lengnick continues to work in the academic community, as adjunct faculty in the horticulture department at North Carolina State University, as an affiliated researcher with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Local Food Research Center and as an author.

Tuesday Lengnick will present two seminars on climate and agriculture. The first, “Is Sustainable Agriculture Climate-Ready?” will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in MSU’s Reid Hall, room 103. The second, “Climate Change, Resilience and the Future of Food,” will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Emerson Center for Arts and Culture, 111 South Grand Ave.

Following the second presentation, Lengnick will sign copies of her new book, “Resilient Agriculture: Cultivating Food Systems for a Changing Climate.” There will also be a public reception.

Wednesday, April 6, Lengnick will host an informal roundtable discussion from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Sola Café, 290 W Kagy Ave. She will talk with farmers, ranchers and producers about climate change and Montana agriculture. From 2 to 4 p.m. Lengnick will meet with MSU faculty, students and staff for an informal open house. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Anna Diffenderfer, Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems, 406-994-4074 or [email protected].

For more information on Lengnick, see http://cultivatingresilience.com.