Sterling College is proud to announce that noted farmer and ecologist Peter Allen will be presenting on campus. His talk, “Savanna Gardens: Becoming keystone species of Earth’s ultimate ecosystems,” will be given on Monday, October 5th, at 6:30 p.m. in Simpson Hall, Classroom 3. This talk is free and open to the public.

Savannas, defined as grasslands with scattered trees, represent the planet's most complex, diverse, and productive ecosystems—ecosystems capable of providing the services and material goods necessary to sustain a habitable planet and thriving human communities. Managing the complexity of these ecosystems, however, requires approaches and skill sets that are in many ways opposed to those of conventional land management, especially traditional agriculture and conservation. This story of the savanna will help people understand its ecology and evolution and what communities can do to embrace the complexity and restore the ecosystems most capable of cooling our planet and nourishing our communities.

Peter Allen is an ecologist-turned-farmer and applies his background in ecology towards the design, restoration, and management of diverse and agriculturally productive savanna ecosystems. He and his wife Maureen founded Mastodon Valley Farm, a 100-acre farm in southwestern Wisconsin, where they are developing an off-grid homestead, planting lots of trees, and grazing lots of animals.

For more information on the College and its mission of environmental stewardship, please visit www.sterlingcollege.edu.

Oct 19, 2024, 10 AM to 3 PM

Oct 22, 2024, 8 to 9 PM

Oct 24 to 27, 2024