In December 2021, 158 soil health practitioners earned their Cornell University Advanced Soil Health certificate. Another 50 participated in the course informally.
This first group to earn their certificate represents an impressive international cohort from over 30 countries. They fill various roles from agronomists to graduate students to urban farmers.
In this intense short course, thirty of the 158 students were also able to create and present pitch decks to showcase how to link soil health data to the soil health management planning process. Pitch deck presentations provided a valuable opportunity to synthesize and apply course information and present it effectively to a potential client.
The 10-day long course, with a combination of live sessions and self-study, provided deep dives on specific topics by advanced practitioners and university faculty. Successful course participants strengthened their understanding of soil health principles and the benefits of healthy soils. In their evaluations, they rated the course as 9.2 out of 10.
Harold van Es, professor of soil and water management in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and Joseph Amsili, extension associate in CALS and the Cornell Soil Health program coordinator, were the lead instructors of the course.
Additional co-instructors were: Matthew Ryan, Cornell University; Bob Schindelbeck, Cornell University; Janice Thies, Cornell University; David Wolfe, Cornell University; Debbie Aller, Cornell University; Valentina Rubio, Cornell University; John Wallace, Penn State University; Elizabeth (Liz) Rieke, Soil Health Institute; Beth Gugino, Penn State University; Márcio R. Nunes, USDA Agriculture Research Service; Thomas Björkman, Cornell University; Fatma Rekik, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, and Shyam D. Jadhao, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth.
There are tentative plans to offer the course again. For more information, visit soilhealthtraining.org.
- Olaniyi Adewumi, US
Ricardo St Aime, US
Muhittin Onur Akca, US
Bayram Akyol, Turkey
Michael Carlo Altman, US
Samuel Anderson, US
Criszel Arabe, Philippines
Nadezhda Atanasova, Bulgaria
Natalie Atherton, US
Cassaundra MelgarCDeBaca, US
Karen S. Bautista, Philippines
Whitney Beaman, US
Paul Benalcazar, Ecuador
Poonam Bhatt, Nepal
Netanel Borow, Israel
Paul Brock, US
Molly Brown , US
Matthew Butts, US
Michelle Ann Calubaquib, Philippines
Liz Camps, US
Jeancel Canares, Philippines
Ronley Canatoy, Philippines
Judith Carla Carandang, Philippines
William Cardona, Colombia
Martha Lustosa Carvalho, Brazil
Melis Cercioglu, Turkey
Katie Cerretani, US
Shangyuan Chen, China
Kevin Clark, US
Sarah Coffman, US
Maryann Conigliaro, US
Lucecita Cruz, US
Michael Curcio, US
Debarshi Dasgupta, India
Xiaoshang Deng, China
Melissa Devore, US
Perl Egendorf, US
Todd Eichas, US
Makela Elvy, US
Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, US
Gerry May A. Espejon, Philippines
Fadoua Elhadded, Tunisia
Rana Farrasati, Indonesia
Bill Fosher, US
Simon Futerman, Israel
Pablo Cardona G, Guatemala
Katharhy G, Ecuador
Florentino Gachupin, US – Indiginous
Edgar Raeben George, Singapore
Prashant Raj Giri, Nepal
Ryan Goertzen-Regier, US
James Goetz, US
Yolanda Gonzalez, US
Amanda Grisa, US
Mingxin Guo, US
Adi Haft, Israel
Joe Hammes, US
Cindy Hanlon, US
Christian von Hebel, Germany
Elizabeth Henderson, US
Thomas Herlihy, US
Lorena F. Hernandez, Philippines
Genevieve Higgins, US
Zyra B. Hila. Mabuhay, Philippines
Wang Hongliang, China
Mollie Hoss-Kuhne, Germany
Sierra Houston, US
Teresa Yang Hu, Australia
Krystel Hudicourt-Pierre, US
Zakir Hussain, Pakistan
Chinedum Ihuoma, Nigeria
Oluwatomi Jacobs, US
Kwesi Joseph, US
Imran Junejo, Pakistan
Artak Khachatryan, Armenia
Deepa khadka, Nepal
Buddhika Kulasekara, Sri Lanka
Vijaya Kumar, India
Amy Larsen, US
Venkata Hemanth Limmada, US
Emmaline Long, US
Arshad Mahmood, Brunei
Angela Manjichi, Mozambique
Poliksena Marinova-Prihodkova, Bulgaria
Livia Marrs, US
Tammy Maxson, US
Neil Mayberry, US
Carol Mayorga, Guatemala
Jill McArthur, US
Mark McCullough, US
Christina Woerner McInnis, US
Melkamu H. Sigay, Ethiopia
Shannon Moeller, US
Mirriam Muli, Kenya
Marci Muller, US
Yves T. Murindangabo, Rwanda
Monica Nabaasa, Uganda
Marivic Noceto, Philippines
Notewo Nze Nelson Thierry, Cameroon
Mohammed Omer, US
Ognen Onchevski, North Macedonia
Christian Overholtzer, US
Betsy Muñoz, Brazil
Basavaraj Patil, India
Charles Peacock, US
Jesse Perlmutter, US
Molly Pershing, US
Jeremy Petrie, US
Miroslav Petrov, Bulgaria
Ani Popova, Bulgaria
William Aaron Pratt, US
John Pullis, US
Selebalo Ramakhanna, Lesotho
Muhammad waseem Raza, Pakistan
Michael Reddy, US
Claudia Reynoso, US
Stephen Rodriguez, US
Melissa Ruschau, US
Monna Lysa Teixeira, Brazil
Francesco da Schio, Italy
Helena Schneider, Brazil
Adrienne De Schutter, Canada
Janielle Mae S. Sendico, Philippines
Yuli Shaham, israel
John Shanahan, US
Hannah Shayler , US
Vaibhav Balasaheb Shelar, India
Nathaniel Shije, US – Indiginous
Sebastian Wolf Siebzehnruebl, Colombia
Slade Sizemore, US
Chris R Smith, US
Michael Snow, US
Josien van Spingelen-Winters, Netherlands
Jim Staricka, US
Julie Suarez, US
Matt Sweeney, US
Abigail Tomasek, US
Frenemel Torres, Philippines
Yigit Ulukent, Turkey
Megan Vandewarker, US
Jose Pablo Vargas, Costa Rica
Ruth Vaughan, Kenya
Sylvia Ernestina Vergara, US
Mina Vescera, US
Stephen Wamalwa, Kenya
Xiao Wang, China
Mark Ward, Ireland
Jithya Wijesinghe, Sri Lanka
Casey Williams, US
Karl Wyant, US
He Xiao, China
Fumiko Yamazaki, US
Dean Yancey, US
Zhenglun Yang, China
Nebi Yesilekin, Turkey
Vigil Yu, China
Runli Yuan, China
Zornica Zlateva-Stoyanova, Bulgaria