Tyson Blackwater

Tara's Bio

Although, she wasn’t raised on a farm, Tara’s experience in agriculture spans over 30 years, first in dairy, then cattle and now chicken (25 years).

In 2011, Tara’s first husband lost his battle with cancer. During this difficult time, she was faced with the choice to stop farming or forge ahead. Her passion for agriculture persisted and with the encouragement from her father-in-law, the support of her church family, and neighbouring farmers she persevered.

Today, alongside her husband Darren, they farm near Devon, Alberta.

“I am very passionate of the fact that if we don’t tell our story someone else will… and we know that it won’t always be the correct story. Being out in the community has given me the opportunity to firsthand correct some of the myths around our industry. And hopefully our story gets spread just a little more with each encounter.”

Family plays a huge part in Tara’s life and when she isn’t busy volunteering at agriculture education events, hosting a farm tour, helping to create videos to counter myths, or tending to her flock, Tara spends time with her three children, their spouses and her and Darren’s nine grandchildren.

Alberta Chicken Producers 

Jenn's Bio

Jenn is a Logician (according to her 16 Personalities test). With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge she leans to innovative inventions, approaching life and work in unconventional ways. A flexible thinker, Jenn often finds herself walking unlikely paths with a strong focus on objectivity and rationality.

Alberta Pulse Growers

Boyd's Bio

Dr. Boyd Mori is an Associate Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Agricultural Entomology in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. His research group focuses on developing integrated pest management strategies for insect pests of field and horticultural crops. Boyd combines foundational and applied research incorporating behavioural, chemical, and molecular ecology to understand and exploit the biology of insect pests, their host plants, and natural enemies.

Boyd has worked on insect pests across a wide variety of field crops including alfalfa, canola, quinoa, red clover, pulses, and wheat. He has garnered over $4.1 million in research funding since 2019. Recently, a major focus of his research group is investigating the impact of generalist predators and the potential threat of insecticide resistance across prairie cropping systems.

He currently leads a laboratory consisting of 10 graduate students (6 PhD, 4 MSc), 2 postdoctoral fellow, 2 full-time technicians, and numerous undergraduate research assistants.

Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science

Mike's Bio

As the Sr. Manager, Environmental Sustainability at Nutrien, Mike leads Nutrien’s global sustainability work on water, biodiversity, waste, and climate as priority sustainability topics and how they relate to sustainable agriculture. He also supports Nutrien’s climate strategy and looks for opportunities around system solutions between the nature-climate-food nexus with agri-food value chain partners.

Mike received his Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Environmental Science and his Master of Science with a concentration in Hydrology from the University of Lethbridge. He is registered as a Professional Agrologist (P.Ag.) and an Environmental Professional (EP), and currently serves as the Chair of the Water Committee for the Potato Sustainability Alliance in North America.

Nutrien