Melanie Kirby is an Interdisciplinarian integrating the pollinator stewardship, agroecology, and creative science communication as an Extension Educator for the Institute of American Indian Arts based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is also a professional queen honey bee breeder, consilience researcher, and writer who participates in several national and international organizations including serving on several boards. Melanie is a registered member of Tortugas Pueblo (a state recognized tribal community in southern NM- cousins to Taos & Ysleta Pueblos). She is the founder of Poeh Povi- The Flower Path, an Indigenous Matriarch collective working on community led pollinator stewardship initiatives in and of the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance which connects professional bee breeders with scientists for climate adaptive field research. Melanie is also a Fulbright Fellow, National Geographic Explorer, a NM Coalition to Enhance Working Lands Fellow, and a 2023 GRIST 50 Climate Fixer. She holds graduate degree in Entomology and serves as the Extension Educator for the Institute of American Indian Arts where she focuses on pairing TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) with western sustainable agriculture science. Melanie has been keeping bees professionally for 27 years and is grateful the bees have guided her around the globe broadening her interests in biodiversity conservation, regenerative stewardship, and environmental policy.

Publications:
A Nectar Nomad in the Land of Enchantment
Poeh Povi: The Flower Path
Re-Indigenizing Ecological Consciousness and the Interconnectedness to Indigenous Identities
Nectar Nomad

Plenary Speaker

Indigenous Insights: Integrating Regenerative Pollinator Stewardship for Changing Climes & Times

Olivia Tincani is a food and agriculture business educator and consultant with over 20 years of experience in the field. Her work focuses on farmer/rancher training, entrepreneurial empowerment, business, financial and strategic planning, curriculum design and development, technical assistance, livestock businesses and whole animal supply chains. Her deep experience in her own entrepreneurial food and farming endeavors infuses her work with ambition, empathy and creative spirit. She is currently executing farmer training programs for The Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest Farm Business Incubator, Fibershed, Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance, and the Grazing School of the West. She served as a Business & Communications Strategist for 8 years for Rancho Llano Seco in Chico, CA. She has deep history in food business operations as the co-founder of landmark joint restaurant/farm enterprises Farm 255 and Farm Burger in the rural southeast, and food service design and management company Just Fare in the San Francisco Bay Area. Olivia is a fierce nomad, splitting time between client projects across the country and family home bases in Sonoma County (CA) and the Maremma region of Italy, keeping her hands in the dirt and her skin in the game.

Workshop Presenter

Leadership & Entrepreneurship Skills for Value-Driven Businesses: Learning from an Indigenous Approach

As a child I grew up helping on my uncle’s farm. With a passion for farm life I expanded my knowledge in agriculture by obtaining an OSU Master Cattleman Certification and an Oklahoma Beef Quality Assurance Certified Producer Certification.

Over the years I have enjoyed studying Joel Salatin’s intensive, rotationally grazed, pasture management style of farming. Salatin is a pioneer in this farming practice. I proudly model our farming methods after Salatin’s Polyface Farm. 

​I farm in Mayes County, Oklahoma where I raise beyond organic,  NON GMO: Pastured: chicken, eggs, corn free pork, turkey & duck and Grass Fed: beef, goat & lamb. My animals enjoy fresh air, sunshine, exercise and all the NON GMO feed they would like to eat. USDA Inspected. 

Plenary Speaker

Turning your passion into a paycheck: farm to food production and financial literacy

Singing Pastures used to be a one farmer operation.  We have grown to be a business filled with farmers, ranchers, graphic designers, accountants, data analysts, supply chain managers and marketers.    We are driven by our desire to heal the ecosystem we live in, create the most nutrient dense pork in the country and maintain our target margin. 

Singing Pastures in its current form was founded by John and Holly Arbuckle in 2010.  John was a 9th generation family farmer and Holly was an acupuncturist.  Our goals proved an elusive target to achieve until Holly stepped into the CEO and Marketing position at Singing Pastures.  With Hollys leadership, our sales went up. With that increase in margin, we found the spaciousness to move toward the other goals more effectively. Singing Pastures manufacturers smoked sausages and salami which we most sell in the “online wholesale” channel.  

They say that a smart person learns from their mistakes and a wise person learns from someone else’s!  Come listen to some of our mistakes and how we overcame them so that hopefully you can avoid them in your journey.

Plenary Speaker

Turning Your Passion into a Paycheck: Farm to Food Production and Financial Literacy

Grazing management isn’t the only thing you need proficient at to succeed in today’s world. The planning process that allows you to document Cost of Goods Sold is part of the platform that we as farmers move forward from.  Let’s talk about a way of showing COGS that allows us to optimize the decision making process that leads to higher margins.