Wes Jackson

Founder and Former President of The Land Institute

Travels From Travels From:
Salina, KS, USA
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Wes Jackson Biography

 After earning a BA in biology from Kansas Wesleyan University, an MA in botany from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in genetics from North Carolina State University, Wes Jackson established and served as chair of one of the United States' first environmental studies programs at California State University-Sacramento. Jackson then chose to leave academia, returning to his native Kansas, where he founded a non-profit organization, The Land Institute, in 1976. He was head of The Land Institute until he stepped down in 2016. The organization describes its main goal as the development of Natural Systems Agriculture; it also publishes The Land Report, a newsletter about American sustainable agriculture and agrarianism.

The Land Institute explored alternatives in appropriate technology, environmental ethics, and education, but a research program in sustainable agriculture eventually became central to its work. In 1978 Jackson proposed the development of a perennial polyculture. He sought to have fields planted in polycultures, more than one plant in a field, as in nature. Jackson also wanted to use perennials, which would not need to be replanted every year - that would leave the soil more intact, preventing erosion, and allowing important relationships between soil and plant to continue. The Land Institute attempts to breed plants not presently used in agriculture into effective producers of perennial grains in intercropping conditions. Jackson argued that this version of agriculture used "nature as model", and to pursue that end The Land Institute has studied prairie ecology.

Entering its fourth decade, The Land Institute is beginning to demonstrate progress in developing the perennial crops called for in the Natural Systems Agriculture model. Programs in wheat, sorghum, and sunflower are generating crop lines displaying both perenniality and agriculturally-significant seed yield. Research on integrating these new plants into polycultures also continues. The Land Institute is not itself developing machinery suitable for one-pass harvesting of grain polycultures. It instead takes the position that integration of existing materials separation technology into harvesters is a straight-forward task, and will be accomplished by public and private agricultural engineers when the demand arrives.

Wes Jackson is the author of several books including New Roots for Agriculture and Becoming Native to This Place and is recognized as a leader in the international sustainable agriculture movement. He was a 1990 Pew Conservation Scholar, in 1992 became a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2000 received the Right Livelihood Award. His work is often referred to by author Wendell Berry, with whom Jackson has shared a longtime friendship and correspondence.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 10/16/2024.

Wes Jackson Videos

  • 3 Questions to Wes Jackson (RLA 2000) - YouTube
  • Wes Jackson at the David Brower Center Part 1: Dualism: Human vs ...

Wes Jackson Books

  • The Woman at the Well: How One Encounter Changed a City (Deep Well Encounter Series)
    The Woman at the Well: How One Encounter Changed a City (Deep Well Encounter Series)
  • Nature as Measure: The Selected Essays of Wes Jackson
    Nature as Measure: The Selected Essays of Wes Jackson
  • Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture
    Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture
  • Altars of Unhewn Stone: Science and the Earth
    Altars of Unhewn Stone: Science and the Earth
  • Becoming Native to This Place
    Becoming Native to This Place
  • Meeting the Expectations of the Land: Essays in Sustainable Agriculture and Stewardship
    Meeting the Expectations of the Land: Essays in Sustainable Agriculture and Stewardship

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  • What topics does Wes Jackson speak about?

    Wes Jackson is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Agriculture, Environment, Environmental Policy, Food & Beverage, Government, Sustainability, Technology.
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    Wes Jackson generally travels from Salina, KS, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
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Wes Jackson is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Wes Jackson for your event is $5,000 - $10,000. Wes Jackson generally travels from Salina, KS, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Sarah Frey, Vanessa Garcia Polanco, Tristram Stuart, Will Allen and Tom Colicchio. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Wes Jackson for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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