KeYnote Speaker
Erika Allen
Erika Allen currently serves as the Founding CEO of Urban Growers Collective, the President of Green ERA Educational NFP, and is the Co-Founder of Green Era Sustainability Partners.
For 16 years (2002 to 2018), Erika founded and directed Growing Power’s Chicago and National Programs, where she championed the eradication of environmental injustice and the promotion of regenerative, urban agriculture. Her career is dedicated to public service, developing sustainable community food systems, and addressing structural racism.
Ms. Allen's commitment to public service includes serving as a Chicago Park District Commissioner (2012–2018). She is a Co-Founder of the Chicago Food Policy Action Council, and holds board and advisory roles with organizations such as Grow Greater Englewood, Growing Home, the Community Food Navigator project, and the Growing Justice Fund.
Erika has been recognized at the state and federal levels, including an appointment by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education (ICAE) (2022–2024), and selection by the Biden Administration to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee for Illinois, 2022-2025. She also delivered the TEDxChicago talk, "Environmental Alchemy for Sustainable Food Systems,” in September 2024.
Her recent accolades for 2025 highlight her significant impact, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Chicago Council on Science and Technology and the Authentic Advocate Climate Action Hero Award from the Climate Action Museum.
Invited speakers
Liz Turner
Liz Turner, a Vermont native and Harvard Law School graduate (2023), is a visiting assistant professor at Vermont Law & Graduate School (VLGS). She is a former food and agriculture fellow with VLGS's Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. At Harvard Law School, she trained in the Food Law and Policy, Animal Law and Policy, and Transactional Law Clinics, with summers at the Conservation Law Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Before law school, she spent over a decade in the food system as a farmhand, line cook, and in various specialty coffee roles. Liz holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Film Studies from Haverford College.
Lihlani Nelson
Lihlani is Deputy Director and Senior Researcher at the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law & Graduate School, where she manages operations and leads projects including the Healthy Food Policy Project, which promotes local policies that expand access to healthy food. She holds a dual master's in Agroecology and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and previously worked with the National Farm to School Network's Seed Change initiative, helping schools boost local food procurement, on-site production, and food education.
Joshua Craver, PhD
Dr. Joshua Craver is an Associate Professor of Controlled Environment Horticulture at Colorado State University, where he leads innovative research in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. With a Ph.D. from Purdue University, Dr. Craver holds a multifaceted appointment focused on optimizing vegetable and floriculture production through advanced lighting strategies and CO₂ enrichment in controlled environments.
In addition to managing the CSU Horticulture Center, Dr. Craver plays a key role in advancing urban horticulture through his involvement at the CSU Spur campus in Denver. At Spur’s Terra building, he collaborates on research and outreach programs that leverage high-tech greenhouses and indoor growing systems to address the challenges of food production in metropolitan settings. By connecting academic innovation with community engagement, his program aims to support urban growers, workforce development initiatives, and sustainable city-based food systems to strengthen local food security.
invited panelists
Gwynne Mhuireach, PhD (Moderator)
Dr. Mhuireach is a Research Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health in the Built Environment at the University of Oregon and Director of Knowledge Exchange for the Build Health industry consortium. With a background spanning biology and architecture, she has built a career exploring how microbial ecologies of buildings, soils, air, and food influence human health—an often-overlooked dimension of biophilic design.
Gwynne teaches in both Architecture and Landscape Architecture and leads grant-funded research at the intersection of microbiology and the built environment. A core focus of her current work is advancing Building‑Integrated Agriculture (BIA) as a strategy for urban resilience and healthier cities. She collaborates closely with OSU Horticulture and the National Urban Research & Extension Center to develop science, design approaches, and community partnerships that support BIA adoption.
August Stolba, LFA
August is a Master of Architecture student at the University of Oregon whose work centers on regenerative design and the integration of ecological systems into the built environment. As a Research Assistant in the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, he collaborates on advancing architectural simulation tools to better model plant‑specific light responses—an emerging frontier in designing future food‑producing buildings.
August also serves as a Graduate Teaching Fellow, supporting courses in building construction, environmental control systems, and architectural context. With a deep commitment to sustainable food and energy systems, August’s work increasingly focuses on how architectural practice can support plant‑centered design, agricultural infrastructure, and ecologically resilient communities.
Dr. Megan Horst, AICP, PhD
Dr. Horst is a strategic climate, environmental, and urban planning professional whose work centers on climate resilience, food systems, and land use planning. She is a Senior Associate at Cascadia Consulting Group, where she leads projects on climate vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning for local, state, and tribal governments.
Before joining Cascadia, Megan spent nine years on the faculty of Portland State University’s Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, where she directed the MURP program and published extensively on food justice, urban agriculture, and equitable land use. Her scholarship appears in leading planning and food systems journals.
Megan’s work is grounded in community-engaged practice and social justice, reflected in her service as co‑chair of the Portland Clean Energy Fund Community Advisory Board.
Matt Arrington, PhD
Dr. Arrington is an assistant professor of applied plant science in the Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences and the director of the life sciences greenhouse at Brigham Young University. He has a strong desire to work on educational outreach to impoverished regions for agricultural production, particularly using new technologies to reduce production barriers.
He received his undergraduate degree in horticulture from BYU-Idaho, his master’s degree in horticulture from Oregon State University, and a PhD in horticulture from Washington State University.
Previously, Dr. Arrington was a research scientist for Plenty, an indoor agriculture company.