Women in Ag Conference set for six Alaska sites

Brenda Mack

Four additional sites will join the Women in Agriculture Conference on Jan. 25.

Soldotna, Anchorage, Kodiak and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are joining Homer and Palmer as videoconference locations. Altogether, the event will occur simultaneously at 32 videoconference sites in Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Hawaii. This year’s theme is Healthy Farms.

The program starts at 7 a.m. in Palmer, Anchorage, Kodiak and Soldotna and at 7:30 a.m. in Fairbanks and Homer. The featured speakers will talk about cultivating personal resiliency and positive psychology to handle farm stress. Each site will also host a panel of local women farmers, who will talk about the ways they balance their lives. A keynote speaker will focus on mindfulness and positivity.

Organizers from Washington State University Extension say, “You will leave this conference with new friends, new ways to farm and new strengths to do what we love to do every day.”

Sue Schneider

The keynote speakers will include Brenda Mack, a behavioral health and wellness consultant who is an assistant professor at Bemidji State University; Shawna Reitmeir, who has more than 25 years of experience in behavioral health care; Sue Schneider, who offers programming in community health and stress resilience; and Gabrielle McNally of American Farmland Trust.

Registration and more information are available at http://womeninag.wsu.edu. Men are welcome. The early registration fee is $30 until Jan. 17 and $35 after that date. Agriculture students, farm interns and members of FFA or 4-H pay $20. The fee includes the workshop, a light breakfast, lunch and conference materials.

This is the fifth year for the conference in Alaska. Sponsors include the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Alaska Farmland Trust, the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, Homer Soil and Water Conservation District and Alaska Farm Bureau in Soldotna.

Locations and local contacts:

Gabrielle McNally

University of Alaska Fairbanks: 103-105 Murie Building
Contacts: Meriam Karlsson, 474-7005 or mgkarlsson@alaska.edu; Ronda Schlumbohm, 460-4088 or slimtree@mosquitonet.com

Palmer: Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center
Contacts: Jodie Anderson, jmanderson@alaska.edu, 746-9466; Amy Pettit, 745-3366, amy.pettit@akfarmland.com

Anchorage: Anchorage Outreach Center at the Loussac Library
Contacts: DeShana York, 786-6330, ddyork@alaska.edu; Gina Dionne, 786-6300, gddionne@alaska.edu

Kodiak: Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, 118 Trident Way, Room 122
Contacts: Kodiak 4-H and Kate Schaberg, 486-1534 or klschaberg2@alaska.edu

Soldotna: Kenai River Center
Contacts: Amy Seitz, amy.seitz@gmail.com

Homer: Kachemak Bay Campus
Contacts: Nicole Arevalo, 237-8177; Kyra Wagner, kyra@homerswcd.org