Webinar: Compost and Jumping Worms: What to Know

  • Aug 25, 2023
  • Jordan Ashby, Linda Bilsens Brolis
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  • Presentations & Events
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    Jumping worms are invasive earthworms that rapidly consume organic matter, degrade soil quality, facilitate the proliferation of invasive plants, and destabilize local ecosystems. They can be easily introduced to your farm or garden via compost, mulch, or seedlings. If you’re a farmer, gardener, or composter, register to learn how to slow the spread of jumping worms and protect your soil, plants, and compost. This webinar will cover the latest research about jumping worms, best practices for preventing contamination, and specific strategies for on-farm and other composters.

     

    This webinar took place on September 27, 2023

    Watch the Recording

     

    This webinar is Part 10 in a On-Farm Composting & Compost Use Webinar Series the Institute for Local Self-Reliance offers to support a distributed and diverse composting infrastructure that includes community-sized and on-farm composting. To view and listen to our library of past composting-related webinar recordings, click HERE.

    PRESENTERS

    Natasha Duarte – Director, Composting Association of Vermont
    Natasha Duarte is the Director of the Composting Association of Vermont (CAV). She represents CAV in policy initiatives, develops and leads outreach and education initiatives, and promotes the production and use of compost as vital to soil health through practices that contribute to water quality, plant vigor, and environmental resilience. Natasha has extensive experience working with rural and small communities to plan and implement solid waste management projects, developing training tools and resources, and delivering training and technical assistance. She is an instructor for UVM’s Master Composter Program and is currently leading a USDA-funded project that supports community-oriented food scrap composting on farms. Natasha has an MS in Soil Science from North Carolina State University and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Vermont.

     
    Josef Gorres – Assistant Professor of Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont

    Josef believes that Vermont’s economy depends on agriculture and thus soil is a central resource. His teaching and research connect ecosystem services with agricultural economics for the sustainability and prosperity of farms in Vermont. He aims to provide students with a survey of soil science that includes current issues to give them an appreciation of the role of soils in the environment, fundamental knowledge about soils, and a working knowledge of professional materials. Josef has been studying the effects of jumping worms on Vermont’s agriculture and forests and how to control them since 2019. He is currently in Canada studying the early stages of a jumping worm invasion.

     

    Dan Goossen – Director of Composting, Green Mountain Compost at Chittenden Solid Waste District

    Dan Goossen started at Intervale Compost in 2003 and has been managing the compost operation (now called the Chittenden Solid Waste District Organics Recycling Facility) starting in 2008. Dan spends a lot of time with people and working with numbers, but is most happy at work on those occasions when he gets to climb a mountain of compost, or spend a day screening a finished pile. When not at work, Dan enjoys traveling, growing food, and spending time with his family. He has been developing best practices for avoiding and managing jumping worms at composting facilities.

     

    MODERATOR

    Linda headshot

    Linda Bilsens Brolis – Composting for Community
    Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
    Linda’s work focuses on promoting composting as a tool for regenerating soils, supporting local food systems, and fighting climate chaos. She manages ILSR’s Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program and leads ILSR’s work advancing on-farm composting.

     

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