Speaker Biographies

Mario Tenuta is the NSERC/WGRF/Fertilizer Canada Senior Industrial Research Chair in 4R Nutrient Stewardship and Professor of Applied Soil Ecology at the University of Manitoba. His training includes a B.Sc. in Botany and Physical Geography, an M.Sc. in Soil Fertility, a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, and Post-Doctoral research in Nematology. The 4R Industrial Research Chair Program is advancing research in 4R nitrogen management practices to give farmers and industry solutions to achieving nitrous oxide emission reductions as well as improved soil health and crop productivity.

Benjamin Ellert is a research scientist in biogeochemistry with the Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Research & Development Centre at Lethbridge.  He earned a Ph. D. in soil science, and has considerable experience in research on the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and other biogeochemicals in agroecosystems.  He studies the land-atmosphere exchanges of greenhouse gases associated with biogeochemical cycling, applies isotopic techniques to trace element flows in the environment, and gleans insights from assorted long-term field experiments.  Ellert’s interest in agriculture stems from his early years on a small mixed farm in southern Alberta.

Mark Liebig is a Research Soil Scientist with the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory near Mandan, North Dakota. For the past 23 years, Mark has contributed to research seeking develop soil, crop, and animal management practices for the Great Plains to overcome limitations to productivity while enhancing environmental quality. As a team member, Mark leads research to quantify management effects on soil properties and greenhouse gas emissions. As a supplement to core responsibilities, Mark develops decision aides and evaluation tools for producers, conservationists, and scientists, and regularly contributes to research networks within and outside USDA-ARS.

Dan joined the Manitoba Association of Watersheds in 2020 as Project Manager. He brings 14+ years of project management experience in the renewable energy sector to the MAW project team. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science from the University of Winnipeg and an advanced diploma in GIS from Red River College. His role within the organization is to over see all projects which MAW administers on behalf of the Watershed Districts in Manitoba.

Justine Cornelsen is the Agronomic and Regulatory Services Manager with BrettYoung Seeds. She carries over 10 years of agricultural and environmental experience from previous positions with the Canola Council of Canada, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, and Parks Canada.

Justine graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Brandon University in 2014. In 2021, she completed her Master of Science degree at the University of Manitoba.

Justine currently resides on an acreage near Virden, where she is surrounded by many, many horses.

Dr. Syama Chatterton joined Agriculture and Agri-food Canada at the Lethbridge Research Centre in July 2011 as the pulse and special crops pathologist. Her research focuses on management of root and foliar diseases of pulse crops, and molecular diagnostics and identification of soilborne pathogens. She was the first to identify that Aphanomyces root rot was present in Alberta, and has been on a challenging journey of discovery of this troublesome pathogen ever since. She is chasing the dream of developing a robust decision support system to reduce root risk for sustainable pulse production.

Chris joined the Canola Council of Canada in May 2022 as an Agronomy Specialist for the East Manitoba region and as the Sclerotinia and Research Lead for the Crop Production & Innovation Team. He received his Master’s degree researching next-generation RNAi fungicides (2022) and his Bachelor of Science in Plant Biotechnology at the University of Manitoba (2020). Chris is currently involved in managing the Council’s Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP) and the 2023-2028 Sustainable Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) Canola AgriScience Cluster.

@WheatPete is the resident agronomist with Real Agriculture, where he posts a weekly podcast “Wheat Pete’s Word”. He is a regular on “Agronomy Monday” on RealAg radio, Sirius Satellite Radio 147. Peter spent 30 years as the Ontario Cereal Specialist, and loves to talk anything agriculture, especially wheat! He leads the Middlesex Soil and Crop Improvement Association’s applied research program, is the Environmental Advocate for the Land Improvement Contractors of Ontario, and is a member of the Ontario Compaction Team. He was named as one of the Top 50 in Canadian Agriculture in 2021, and inducted in to the Middlesex County Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2022. Peter operates a small farm near Lucan, Ontario, where he constantly tries out new production ideas, and where the “rubber hits the road”! He is enthusiastic and passionate about agriculture, and loves to be challenged by growers. “Have at him”!!!

Jason is the co-owner and Lead Agronomist of Field 2 Field Agronomy Inc.  He has 27 years experience as an agronomist working for ag retail and industry. He has 8 staff including 4 full time agronomists and 4 summer scouts.  Field 2 Field Agronomy Inc. offers full-service boots on the ground crop consulting services such as soil testing and fertilizer planning as well as intensive field scouting and SWAT MAP VR services in the central area of Manitoba, across a range of soils and special crops.  He is currently the Vice Chair of the Prairie CCA program. 

Elizabeth Karpinchick P.Ag. CCA, of Tone Ag Consulting Ltd. works as a Consulting Agrologist with farmers across Manitoba. Elizabeth is the leader of the Tone Ag team that works together on nutrient management, soil testing, crop rotation planning, and on-farm trials. Elizabeth spends her summers crop scouting, working with farmers on crop protection recommendations, and damage claims.

Elizabeth works collaboratively with the farmers in her care to come up with the best strategies for their farm today and improving for the future. Each farm presents their own unique circumstances and Elizabeth works closely with each farm to reach their goals.

Any free time Elizabeth has is spent volunteering on non-profit committees, La Société D’agriculture St. Pierre, Manitoba Organic Alliance and St. Pierre en Boom.

Kory grew up in the Hamlet of Glenora, MB on a mixed hog/grain farm operation.

He completed high school in Pilot Mound, MB in 2003 then went on to get his post-secondary education in Brandon, MB where he got his diploma in Agribusiness and GIS Environmental Technologies @ Assiniboine Community College which he graduated from in 2005 and 2006.

Kory Started his career in Agriculture at Double Diamond Farm Supply in Pilot Mound, MB for the summers of 2004 and 2005, thanks to his dad David Van Damme for getting his foot in the door.  In the fall of 2005 Kory had an opportunity to join Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon in their new company (Farmers Edge) based out of Pilot Mound.  Kory was with Farmers Edge right up till the spring of 2017 when he decided to start his own business Fortified Agronomy.  Currently Fortified has two additional Full time Agronomists and usually 2-3 seasonal workers.  Kory has his CCA, Tech. Ag and 4r Designations

Kory currently resides in the town of Glenora with his wife and three kids. Some of his favorite pass times are snowmobiling, ice fishing, hanging out with friends, camping, and spending time with his family.

Joanne joined the Department of Soil Science at the University of Manitoba as an Assistant Professor of Soil Chemistry and Fertility in August 2022, after completing a PhD in the same department. Her research interests focus on nutrient flows in agroecosystems, especially phosphorus dynamics. Joanne previously worked in research, extension, and education related to organic and ecological farming systems in the Natural Systems Agriculture lab in the Department of Plant Science at U of Manitoba. She has worked with farmers, agronomists, extension personnel, and researchers across Manitoba and Canada, as well as internationally.

Buetow attended North Dakota State University, where he pursued an undergraduate degree in Crop and Weed Science and a master’s degree in Plant Sciences. He is currently finishing up a PhD while working full time for NDSU Extension. He started working at the Dickinson Research Extension Center in June of 2015. He was raised near Cologne, MN, surrounded by corn, soybean, and alfalfa production and is currently enjoying the crop diversity of southwestern North Dakota. Buetow works with a wide range of cropping systems and is currently focusing much of his time on Aluminum toxicity and acidic soils.

Miles Dyck is a professor of soil science in the Department of Renewable Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta. While growing up on a farm near Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Dr. Dyck developed an intense curiosity about the origin of the soils landscapes around his home that was further developed through his university studies at the University of Saskatchewan (BSc in Environmental Earth Sciences; MSc in Soil Science) and the University of Alberta (PhD in Soil Physics).

Dr. Dyck’s primary research focus is the effect of long-term agricultural management practices on soil processes and properties, and transport of mass and energy in soil.  As principle and co-investigator, Dr. Dyck has secured research funding from federal (NSERC – Discovery, Strategic, Strategic Networks, CREATE; AAFC; IDRC), provincial (ACIDF, AB Wheat Commission, Results-Driven Agricultural Research (RDAR)) and industrial sources (Fertilizer Canada, Shell, Koch Agronomic Services). Dr. Dyck has authored/co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications.

With respect to agricultural management impacts on soil processes and properties, Dr. Dyck’s research at the Breton Plots has generated interest in the agricultural community as demonstrated by extensions publications in Top Crop Manager (March, 2018), Country Guide (September, 2017 & 2018) and Better Crops (April, 2016). In 2015, past and present Breton Plots researchers were recognized with an ASTech (Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Foundation) Award for Innovation in Agricultural Science, awarded to the Breton Plots Long-term Agroecological Research Site Management Team (chaired by Dr. Dyck).

Since joining the University of Alberta in 2008, Dr. Dyck has taught courses in soil physics, sustainable agriculture, cropping systems and soil formation. He has supervised/co-supervised 17 MSc students, 3 PhD students, 3 post-doctoral fellows, 2 technicians and 5 undergraduate students. Currently, Dr. Dyck is co-supervising 4 MSc students, 3 PhD students, 2 post-doctoral fellows and 1 technician.

Scott Shearer received his Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from The Ohio State University (OSU) in 1986. Currently, he serves as Professor and Chair of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at OSU. Highlights of his research career include development of methodologies and controls for metering and spatial applying crop production inputs, modeling of agricultural field machinery systems, autonomous multi-vehicle field production systems and strategies for deployment of UAVs in agriculture. He has lead research supported by over $15M in grants, authored more than 200 technical publications, and has made numerous invited presentations at international conferences, professional meetings and farmer forums. Dr. Shearer is a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Having grown up on a small farm Dr. Barney Geddes is passionate about making discoveries that can be harnessed to improve resilience and productivity in agriculture. Dr. Geddes completed a PhD studying the rhizobium-legume symbiosis in the lab of Dr. Ivan Oresnik at the University of Manitoba in Canada before joining the lab of Dr. Philip Poole at the University of Oxford in the UK as a post doctoral researcher to explore the engineering of nitrogen-fixing cereal crops. In a second post doctoral position with Turlough Finan at McMaster University in Canada he began work to elucidate a “minimal symbiotic genome”. In 2020 Dr. Geddes started his research group at North Dakota State University in the Department of Microbiological Sciences.  At NDSU his research group uses a blend of bacterial genetics, microbial ecology and synthetic genomics to investigate ways to maximize microbe’s contribution to agriculture.

Dr. Yvonne Lawley is an assistant professor in the Plant Science Department at the University of Manitoba. Her area of research is agronomy and cropping systems. Dr. Lawley’s research has focused on several crops including soybeans, corn, and wheat and a range of management practices from residue management, strip tillage, to cover crops. Her research involves both small plot and on-farm field scale agronomy research.  Dr. Lawley enjoys communicating the results of her research to a wide range of audiences including farmers, agronomists, scientist, and especially in the classrooms where she teaches at the University of Manitoba.

Tom Wolf is a spray application specialist, based in Saskatoon.  He grew up on a farm in Manitoba and studied agriculture at the University of Manitoba (BSA, M.Sc.) and the Ohio State University (Ph.D.).  Tom has over 30 years research experience in spray technology, including work on spray drift, coverage, efficacy, sprayer cleanout, waste disposal and risk assessment. With Jason Deveau, Tom hosts and writes for the world’s number one sprayer website, Sprayers101.com. He is a past president and Fellow of the Canadian Weed Science Society and has been named Distinguished Agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrology. 

Dr. Breanne Tidemann is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe.  She completed all of her degrees at the University of Alberta, and holds a B.Sc in Biological Sciences, and an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences with projects focussed on weed science and weed management.  Breanne started with AAFC in 2016 as a Weed Scientist/ Field Agronomist.  Her research program in Lacombe focuses on management of herbicide resistant weeds, integrated weed management strategies, weed biology, and alternative methods of weed control. She lives in Blackfalds, AB with her husband and their two sons.

Dr. Mark Belmonte is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Mark received his BSc (2001) and MSc (2003) from the University of Calgary before moving to Winnipeg where he obtained his PhD in Plant Science in 2008. After a brief postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis, Mark moved back to Winnipeg to start his own lab in the Faculty of Science where he is a full professor. Dr. Belmonte’s group uses cutting edge next generation molecular tools to improve crop production and protection in some of Canada’s most important agricultural crops. Mark has published his work over 60 times, been the recipient of numerous awards including CBC’s Top 40 under 40, the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Research Excellence Award and has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to research, teaching and outreach by the Winnipeg Foundation and the University of Manitoba. Mark is devoted to promoting science education and research at outreach events across Canada and takes pride in training the next generation of young scientists.

John is an entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture based out of Carman.  He conducts monitoring programs for some of the more common insect pests of crops, and provides information on insects, both beneficial and potential pests, to farmers, agronomists and those working in agriculture. John does numerous presentations and information updates for agronomists and farmers, and co-produces a weekly Manitoba Crop Pest Update during the spring and summer. He has worked for Manitoba Agriculture since 1997.

John has a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology and a M. Sc. in entomology from the University of Guelph, and completed his Ph.D. in the department of entomology at the University of Manitoba.

Aside from entomology, John also enjoys cycling and observing almost any type of wildlife.