The Pasture Project’s core team engages with farmers, grazing experts, partner organizations, and funders on work throughout the Upper Midwest River Basin.
Kelsey’s (she/her) passion for agriculture and local food systems grew out of her upbringing in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she worked as a farm hand on several diversified farming operations. After earning her dual B.A. in Environmental Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies from Guilford College, Kelsey spent 3 years on the management team for a specialty food store in Charlottesville, VA, where she coordinated with farmers and regional purveyors to market locally sourced food. Her interests eventually brought her to the Wallace Center where she works as a Project Manager, helping to support the regenerative grazing efforts of the Pasture Project. She’s based in Charlottesville, VA.
Elisabeth (she/her) is a Project Manager with the Wallace Center who helps support the Pasture Project. She first became interested in regenerative agriculture while taking animal science classes at the University of Tennessee and later working as dairy manager for an 80-cow grass-fed dairy and processing plant in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Elisabeth specializes in understanding and documenting the environmental and economic impacts of regenerative practices. She holds an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment with a specialization in spatial analysis from Tufts University and a B.A. in Animal Agriculture and Food Security, a self-designed major, from the University of Tennessee. Elisabeth is based in St. Louis, MO.
Jane (she/her) is a Project Manager on the Pasture Project team at the Wallace Center. Before landing at the Pasture Project in 2019, Jane worked on ecological research and restoration projects in Iowa prairies and Florida scrub. Her interest in democratized, regenerative farming systems comes from a love of food, a deep interest in agroecology, and a commitment to movements that build collective power and prioritize people and land. Jane has a background in community ecology and grassland ecosystems and holds a B.A. in Biology from Grinnell College. Jane is based in Chicago, IL.
Juan (he/él) is a Program Associate on the Resilient Agriculture and Ecosystems team. His passion for a more just and equitable agricultural space stems from his personal experiences working alongside his father on Mississippi beef cattle farms. His passions led him to co-create the mutual aid fund, FUERZA Farmworkers’ Fund to support farmworkers in March 2020. Juan is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College where he majored in Geography with a minor in Education. He is a published author, young scholar, and brings in years of organizing with organizations from the South to the East Coast. Juan is based in Como, MS.
