SARE State Coordinators train agriculture professionals in sustainable practices and share SARE project results with them. They hold workshops and field days to share sustainable practices and research results, provide travel scholarships for ag professionals to attend training events, and generally serve as sustainable agriculture resources in their state.
SARE State Coordinators can also provide information and assistance to potential grant applicants. Find your North Central region state coordinator below.
NCR-SARE's 1994 Tribal College Coordinator, Emily Proctor, conducts train-the-trainer programs and shares information about our grant programs and other sustainable agriculture resources at five Tribal colleges and other Tribal communities in Michigan and Wisconsin. Started as a pilot program in 2023, NCR-SARE and the 1994 Land Grant Institutions worked together to develop it to facilitate connections.
Illinois
Emily Heaton
Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Bio
Emily Heaton is a Regenerative Agriculture professor in the Crop Sciences department at the University of Illinois. Her research investigates the growth and productivity of perennial grasses to guide their management of biomass, ecosystem services, and profit.
Cate Loomis
Extension Program Coordinator
University of Illinois
Bio
Cate Loomis is an Extension Program Coordinator at the University of Illinois. Loomis has a background in conservation and soil health.
Indiana
Lais McCartney
Extension Educator
Purdue Extension Hancock County
Bio
Lais McCartney is an Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator with Purdue Extension in Hancock County. She has expertise in technology leadership and beekeeping.
Iowa
Ashley Dean
Extension Specialist
Iowa State University
Bio
Ashley Dean is an extension specialist for field crop entomology at Iowa State University. She coordinates the Iowa Moth Trapping Network, the Iowa Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network, and the Iowa Pest Alert Network. She also develops educational resources for field crop pests in Iowa and aids in the research efforts of the Soybean Research Laboratory
Christa Hartsook
Small Farms Program Manager
Iowa State University
Bio
Christa Hartsook is the Iowa SARE State Coordinator and is the Small Farms Program Manager for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. She helps connect people to resources at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Kansas
Kerri Ebert
Communications & Outreach Specialist
K-State Research and Extension
Bio
Kerri Ebert is the Kansas SARE State Coordinator and coordinator for the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops at Kansas State University. Kerri is a fourth generation Kansas farmer who, with her husband, raises purebred sheep in Pottawatomie County.
Michigan
Emily Proctor
Extension Tribal Educator
Bio
Emily Proctor, MSW, BASW, earned her degrees from Michigan State University – School of Social Work. She is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Harbor Springs, Michigan. She serves as a Tribal Extension Educator for MSU and conducts train-the-trainer programs and shares information about SARE's grant programs and other sustainable agriculture resources at five Tribal colleges and other Tribal communities in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Sarah Zeiler
Extension Environmental Management Educator
Michigan State University
Bio
Sarah Zeiler is an Environmental Management Educator based in Hillsdale County, Michigan, where she works with farmers on issues related to ecology and land stewardship.
Minnesota
Christopher Brittain
Program Associate
Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships
Bio
Christopher Brittain a member of the University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) statewide sustainable agriculture and food systems team.
Katie Lee
Extension Educator
University of Minnesota
Bio
Katie Lee is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator in Apiculture, where she supports the needs of beekeepers across the state of Minnesota.
Missouri
Dan Downing
Water Quality Specialist
University of Missouri
Bio
Dan Downing is a Missouri SARE Co-Coordinator and has more than 30 years of service with the University of Missouri Extension. More than 20 years of that time have been spent serving in a statewide position with The University of Missouri Extension Water Quality Program.
Touria Eaton
Associate Professor of Horticulture
Lincoln University of Missouri
Bio
Touria Eaton is a Missouri SARE Co-Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, and the State Horticulture Specialist at Lincoln University in Missouri. The focus of her research and extension work is sustainable production of horticultural crops.
Nebraska
Ben Beckman
Extension Educator
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Bio
Ben Beckman is a Beef Systems Assistant Extension Educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has expertise in grazing systems and forage management. Beckman grew up on a family farm near Elgin, Nebraska, where he was involved in 4-H and FFA.
Katja Koehler-Cole
Extension Educator
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Bio
Katja Koehler-Cole is a Soil Health Management Extension Educator with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Hailing from Germany, she has expertise in cover crops, soil health, and soil quality.
North Dakota
William J Gale
Extension Agent
North Dakota State University
Bio
Jeff Gale grew up on a crop-livestock farm in Kansas. After completing graduate studies, he taught agronomy to university students in China for 15 years while serving with a non-governmental organization, and then came to NDSU Extension. His professional interests include soil health, organic agriculture, local food production, and farm succession.
Karl Hoppe
Extension Specialist
North Dakota State Univerity CREC
Bio
Karl Hoppe is a North Dakota State SARE Co-Coordinator, a sheep producer, and the Area Extension Specialist for Livestock Systems at the North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center where he has been teaching nutrition and management for beef cows and feedlot cattle for more than 20 years to North Dakota cattle producers.
Ohio
Mike Hogan
Extension Educator, Associate Professor
The Ohio State University
Bio
Mike Hogan is an Ohio State SARE Co-Coordinator and an Extension Educator at the Ohio State University. He specializes in small farm management, sustainable production systems, Christmas tree production, and business management.
Sarah Noggle
Extension Educator
The Ohio State University
Bio
Sarah Noggle is an Extension Educator with The Ohio State University. Her areas of expertise include farm management, farm succession planning, farm stress, mental health, soil health, and cover crops.
Michelle Wallace
Extension Educator
Central State University
Bio
Michelle Wallace is the Northwest Ohio Regional Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator for Central State University in Ohio. Michelle has 25 years of experience in agriculture and natural resource management.
South Dakota
Amanda Bachmann
Urban Entomology Field Specialist
SDSU
Bio
Amanda Bachmann is a SARE State Co-Coordinator for South Dakota. Bachmann is a pesticide education and urban entomology field specialist at SDSU Extension.
David Karki
Extension Agronomy Field Specialist
South Dakota State University
Bio
David Karki is a SARE State Co-Coordinator in South Dakota. Karki supports the citizens of South Dakota in his role as an SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist based in Watertown.
Wisconsin
Steffen Mirsky
Emerging Crops Outreach Program Coordinator
UW-Madison
Bio
Steffen Mirsky, Emerging Crops Outreach Program Coordinator, supports new crop development in Wisconsin to help diversify food and farming systems. He supports research, farmer technical assistance, education outreach, and supply chain development. His current focus areas include honeyberries and Kernza perennial grain.
Emily Proctor
Extension Tribal Educator
Bio
Emily Proctor, MSW, BASW, earned her degrees from Michigan State University – School of Social Work. She is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Harbor Springs, Michigan. She serves as a Tribal Extension Educator for MSU and conducts train-the-trainer programs and shares information about SARE's grant programs and other sustainable agriculture resources at five Tribal colleges and other Tribal communities in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trisha Wagner
Extension Farm Management Program Manger
UW Madison
Bio
Trisha Wagner is a Program Manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension with expertise in farm management, agriculture, environmental sciences, and rural sociology. Wagner is serving on an interim basis as the Wisconsin SARE state coordinator.