The NYFC Farmer Forum is the place to go for answers to all your farm-related questions. We are pleased to announce that next week, June 24-28th, Dr. Elaine Ingham, Rodale Institute’s chief scientist, will log on to the forum each day to answer your questions in the “Soil and Fertility” section of the Farmer Forum. If you’ve got a question—whether on building healthier soil, choosing soil amendments, or developing your compost system—post it to the forum before June 28th! Simply create an account on the forum and post a question here.
Dr. Ingham has led Soil Foodweb, Inc. as president and director of research since 1996 helping farmers all over the world to grow more resilient crops by understanding and improving their soil. She is also an affiliate professor at Maharishi University of Management in Iowa and has served in academia for two decades.
Elaine started her academic career at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN graduating in 1974 with a double major, cum laude, in Biology and Chemistry. Elaine earned her Master of Science in Microbiology in 1977 at Texas A & M University and her doctorate degree from Colorado State University in 1981. Elaine’s doctorate is in Microbiology with an emphasis on soil and she was offered a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. In 1985, Elaine accepted a Research Associate Fellowship at the University of Georgia. In 1986, Elaine moved to Oregon State University, and joined the faculty in both Forest Science and Botany and Plant Pathology. In 2011, Dr. Ingham was named chief scientist at the Rodale Institute.
Dr. Ingham’s specialities:
Sustainable Soils
Soil Life and Soil Food Webs
Sustainable Nutrient Cycling
Composting: Thermal, Worm and Static Composting
Liquid Composts: The production and use of compost tea and compost extracts