Agroecologist, Estelline, SD

Dr. Lundgren is an agroecologist, Director ECDYSIS Foundation, and CEO for Blue Dasher Farm. He received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004, and was a top scientist with USDA-ARS for 11 years.

Lundgren’s research and education programs focus on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for regenerative food systems.

Lundgren received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering by the White House. Lundgren has served as an advisor for national grant panels and regulatory agencies on pesticide and GM crop risk assessments. Lundgren has written 107 peer-reviewed journal articles, authored the book “Relationships of Natural Enemies and Non-prey Foods”, and has received more than $3.4 million in grants. He has trained 5 post-docs and 12 graduate students from around the world. One of his priorities is to make science applicable to end-users, and he regularly interacts with the public and farmers regarding pest and farm management and insect biology. Lundgren’s research and education programs focus on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for sustainable food systems. His ecological research focuses heavily on conserving healthy biological communities within agroecosystems by reducing disturbance and increasing biodiversity within cropland.

The planet is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate, and pollinators are an indicator of this loss and its implications. Agroecosystems currently occupy 35% of the terrestrial land surface of our planet, and decisions made on farms have important implications for the health of biological communities. We can solve the biodiversity crisis and the bee problem, but only if we focus on reforming food production systems along ecological principles. This requires involving farmers as actors of change.

Session: The Science Underlying the Core Principles in Regenerative Agriculture

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