Speaker Biographies
Micaela Colley is the director of research and education for Organic Seed Alliance (OSA). She manages participatory plant breeding, research, and education projects with farmers, university researchers, and other seed professionals. She is the chair of the biennial national Organic Seed Growers Conference. Micaela has authored several educational publications covering topics on organic seed production, on-farm crop improvement and variety trialing, and she also teaches workshops on organic seed. Micaela has 11 years of experience in the organic seed field, including past experience in the organic seed industry.
Matthew Dillon is the founder of Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and was the Alliance’s first executive director from 2003–2007. He currently works as OSA’s director of advocacy, with a focus on issues of intellectual property and farmers rights, consolidation and competition in the seed industry, and genetic contamination. He is a Lannan Foundation Fellow, author of "State of Organic Seed Report", chair of the Organic Seed Symposium, and serves on the organizational committee for “Seeds and Breeds for 21st Century Agriculture.” Matthew has also worked in enterprise development as a consultant to Max Seeds, North Olympic Growers Network, and the Family Farmer Seed Cooperative, and as an advisor to the Organization for Competitive Markets’ Seed Concentration Project. He also served as a consultant for the Organization for Competitive Markets on seed concentration issues, work which has led to a Department of Justice antitrust investigation of Monsanto. Prior to OSA, he was the executive director of Abundant Life Seed Foundation, an heirloom seed conservation organization, and was a consultant on biological and genetic resource conservation for the United Nations Development Program’s Africa 2015 Initiative.
Guy Kaulukukui graduated from Kamehameha Schools, attended the University of Hawai‘i (BA, Economics), Hawai‘i Pacific University (MBA), and the University of Kansas (Ph.D. Economics Education). During the early part of his career, he was a high school economics teacher. He then worked at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu for 7 years, where he eventually became vice president for cultural studies. He also served as the senior advisor to Honolulu city councilman Todd Apo for nearly 3 years before joining the UH Hilo faculty as a visiting professor of economics in 2007. Since June 2009, Guy has served as the director of the Hawai‘i Island Food Self Reliance Project at The Kohala Center. The project drew his interest because it provides an opportunity to apply economic reasoning to a real world problem.
Jerry Konanui is a Native Hawaiian mahi‘ai who gathers, grows, maintains, and provides many varieties of Hawaiian food crops. As a resource person he is continually called upon to provide hands-on workshops on identification of Hawaiian food plant varieties, their propagation, cultivation, harvesting, processing, and use throughout the islands.
Frank Morton has been an organic seed grower for 28 years. His company, Wild Garden Seed, has been a leader in on-farm selection and breeding of new varieties and disease resistant strains for organic farmers. These seeds, grown in Oregon's Willamette Valley, are available from most North American seed companies which supply the organic seed trade. Frank's mission is to educate and encourage other organic seed folks to pursue similar purposes, only better.
John Navazio, Ph.D., is the research and education specialist for Organic Seed Alliance and Extension Plant Breeding, and the seed specialist for Washington State University. His field work includes increasing genetic breadth in several vegetable crops for their nutritional quality, flavor, texture, ability to scavenge nutrients, compete with weeds, and resist heat and drought. He teaches farmers, university students, and others about organic seed production and the fundamentals of participatory, on-farm plant breeding for organic systems. John develops participatory breeding projects with farmers across North America to improve crop germplasm for regional seed independence.
Ted Radovich, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Born and raised in Waimānalo, O‘ahu, he received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He is currently investigating links between ecological farming practices, yield, and crop quality. Ted is collaborating with the UH Seed program and others to make organically grown seed of "Sunrise" papaya and other crop varieties developed at the University of Hawai‘i available to the public.
Hector Valenzuela, Ph.D., is a professor and vegetable crops specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He has conducted applied agroecology research for 25 years in support of commercial farmers, organic farming, and sustainable agriculture. He has authored over 390 technical and educational publications, conducted over 200 field research trials with over 60 different vegetable and cover crop species, organized over 65 field days and workshops for farmers in Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region, given over 220 presentations, and participated in 17 international assignments. A staunch supporter of organic and sustainable farming in Hawai‘i, he established the first long-term organic research plots in Hawai‘i in 1993, the longest-running organic research project in the Pacific Region, the first Web site to assist vegetable farmers in 1998, and co-established a Web site for organic farmers in the Pacific Region in 2005.
Alvin Yoshinaga operates the Seed Conservation Laboratory at Lyon Arboretum. His official position is as the restoration ecologist for the University of Hawai‘i Center for Conservation Research and Training (UH-CCRT), where he has worked since 1992. In 1995, he started the Seed Lab at Lyon Arboretum, which is operated jointly by the Arboretum and by UH CCRT. His main research interest is developing effective storage methods for seeds of native Hawaiian plants. He was born on Maui, where he graduated from Baldwin High School. He has a B.S. in biology from Stanford University, an M.S. in botany from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.B.A. from the University of Hawai‘i.
Panelist Biographies
Alton Arakaki has been working in agriculture and with farmers on Moloka‘i and Lana‘i for 32 years. For the last 28 years, he has worked as a county extension agent, responsible for fruit, vegetable, and agroforestry crops. He has worked in projects that investigate various farming methods, including vegetable and melon production operating on the economic concept of "economy of scale," fruit and vegetable production systems that utilize sustainable and organic practices, and crop production systems in the “specialty” arena. He has worked with farmers on marketing that is based on low price competition strategy, as well as with farmers that depend on specialty and branding to gain high end pricing strategy. He has conducted many applied research and demonstration projects at the Moloka‘i Applied Research and Demonstration Farm and on-farms that directly addresses production problems. He has also conducted and published research projects, including a project that investigated phytoremediation methods to extract heptachlor-epoxide from abandoned pineapple fields, as well as a study using Ant Bait Stations to manage ant population and scales in coffee production. He is currently investigating methods to use locally produced products and by-products as a source of soil amendment and plant nutrition, and is in the initial development stages with other CTAHR faculty on a project involving a low-chill peach variety. He is also investigating production issues related to carbohydrate root crops: taro, sweet potato, and yam—important crops that will contribute to the nutritional needs and sustainability of island communities.
Paul Massey is the director of Regenerations Botanical Garden, a nonprofit organization that coordinates community-based plant diversity stewardship, community seed and plant exchanges, workshops, and conservation projects on the island of Kaua‘i. He is the organizer and instructor of Kaua‘i Community College's Organic Gardening and Farming Training course. Paul also sits on the boards of Kauai Agriculture Initiative and Sustainable Food Solutions Kauai. He holds diplomas from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in plant conservation and botanic garden management.
Russell T. Nagata, Ph.D., is the Hawai‘i County administrator for the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at UH Mānoa. He received a B.S. (1977) in tropical horticulture and an M.S. (1980) in horticulture sciences from UH Mānoa. He earned a Ph.D. (1984) from the University of Florida in horticultural sciences with a specialization in plant breeding and genetics and a minor in plant pathology. His professional career began as a post-doctoral researcher for Clemson University, where he worked on studying vegetable culture as a replacement for traditional row crops, as well as on seedless watermelon development. Between 1987 and 2009, he was a faculty member with the University of Florida, Institute for Agricultural Sciences, Everglades Research and Education Center, where he conducted applied and basic research in the area of plant breeding, cultivar development and genetics on lettuce and St. Augustinegrass turf. He has been breeding St. Augustinegrass turf since 1997, and in the past decade he released a St. Augustinegrass cultivar and contributed to the release of four other turf grasses. His approach to research has been to develop a strong multidisciplinary program based on fundamental disciplines of pathology, entomology, plant physiology, and horticulture.
Greg Smith is a self taught farmer. He started farming in Mexico in the early 1990's, specializing in herbs, cut flowers, and growing seeds for Seeds of Change. He then moved to the San Diego area and started the first certified organic nursery, specializing in edible gardens. In 2004, he came to Hawai‘i Island and started Earth Matters Farm. Greg now grows lettuce, greens, herbs, and produce in the Ka‘u District and is a "regular" at the Sunday Kona Green Market in Kealakekua and the Wednesday Market in Keauhou. He plans on starting a CSA in the future.
Ellen Sugawara farms ginger and other crops on the Island of Moloka‘i. She is an avid seed collector and saver.
Glenn Teves has been a county extension agent on the Island of Moloka‘i
for 28 years. Born and raised in Mānoa, O‘ahu, he spent summers on Moloka‘i. Glenn’s family ranched throughout O‘ahu: Mānoa, Lualualei, Kipapa Gulch, Hawaii Kai, and finally Kuliouou until urban sprawl replaced ranching. In Mānoa, on the family ranch, pigs, chickens, ducks, goats, cattle, and horses were raised; milk, butter, and eggs were produced; and surplus pork and beef were sold. Glenn has raised orchids since high school, collecting old varieties from his neighbors. While in college, Glenn and a classmate farmed 65% of all snowpeas in the state until a water shortage forced them to shut down operations. For the last 22 years, he has been a Hawaiian Homelands farmer, raising Dwarf Apple Bananas, taro, and assorted fruits and vegetables. He is presently involved in growing several Hawaiian taro cultivars, as well as hybrids developed by the UH. In his extension capacity, he oversees an orchid education program and a new Native Hawaiian "beginning farmers" program.
Ray Uchida received B.S. and M.S. in soil science and soil chemistry from the University of Hawai‘i. He worked in various positions in the agricultural industry for 21 years, and owned and operated his own flower business for 11 years. At present, he is the manager for the Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center, and the O‘ahu county administrator in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at UH.
Jill Wagner is the project coordinator for the Hawai‘i Island Native Seed Bank. She collects the seeds of native Hawaiian species for restoration, mitigation, and research. She is the owner of Future Forests Nursery and consults with landowners about landscape design, restoration, agroforestry systems, small farms, and hardwood plantations.