KINGSTON, R.I. – April 7, 2025 – Farmers, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders will gather at the University of Rhode Island’s DeChristofaro Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences on May 19-20 for the inaugural Rhode to Regenerative: From Land to Sea conference.

This two-day event, organized with the agricultural network Why Regenerative, will explore regenerative agriculture, an approach to food production and ecosystem management that restores and enhances soil health, water systems, and biodiversity from forests and farms to kelp beds and coastal fisheries. The conference will focus on a regenerative future rooted in science, community, and collaboration.

“We’re excited to launch this dialogue at URI alongside Why Regenerative, merging academic expertise with grounded, land-and-sea-based knowledge,” said Laura Meyerson, URI professor of restoration ecology and co-organizer of the conference. “The future of farming, fisheries, and ecological restoration depends on these kinds of cross-sector collaborations.”

The conference is designed for farmers, students, researchers, investors, policy makers, funders, suppliers, and the public, and will include a field session, intergenerational knowledge exchange, and actionable solutions for the Northeast and beyond.

Highlights will include real-world strategies that explore how to build bridges between coastal marine and terrestrial farming systems, and opportunities for meaningful conversations around the future of food, farming, and ecosystem restoration in the Northeast. Discussions and sessions will focus on a variety of topics and events, including implementing a silvopasture; linking land and ocean farming through shared strategies; innovations in ocean farming; bridging the gap from harvest to market; financing regenerative agriculture; and demonstrations of agroforestry tools, technologies and techniques.

The event will feature numerous speakers and contributors: Sally McGee of The Nature Conservancy; Rachel Sayet, a Native American educator; Brett Hundley of Agroforestry Partners; Paul Young of Conservation Resource Partners; Perry Raso, shellfish farmer and owner of Matunuck Oyster Bar; Josh Dunlap, co-founder of Whalers Brewing Co.; Meg Giroux, founding executive director of Interlace Commons; Sara Wuerstle, director of Ocean Hour Farms; Dawn and Cassius Spears, keepers of Ashawaug Farm; and Austin Unruh, founder of Trees for Graziers. URI’s Mary Parlange, writer, editor, media relations professional, and senior fellow in URI’s Coastal Institute, will serve as moderator.

For more information, contact Laura Meyerson at lameyerson@uri.edu.