Joanne Thiessen Martens

OACC Research and Extension Associate
University of Manitoba

Phone: 204-474-6236
Fax: 204-474-7528
Email: j_thiessen_martens@umanitoba.ca

It is a great pleasure for me to join the OACC team and to become more involved in the organic community in Manitoba and across Canada. As an OACC research and extension associate based at the University of Manitoba, I am currently involved in extension of research results to organic farmers, identification of research needs, and support for farmers transitioning to organic.

My interest in agriculture probably began as a child on my parents’ grain/beef farm at Austin, Manitoba. However, it was only as a young adult that I began to consider agriculture as a course of study and a career. After completing a Bachelor of Theology in 1996, I went on to the University of Manitoba where I was in the first class of graduates from the B.Sc. in Agroecology in 1999.

Although the information on organic agriculture was surprisingly sparse in my agroecology training, it was enough to pique my interest, and I spent the next 15 months working as a research assistant with Dr. Martin Entz in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba. There I was introduced to the wonders of the world of agricultural research and specifically, organic cropping systems research. In 2000, my desire to “do something” with my education led me, along with my husband, to spend three years in northeastern Brazil where I worked with small-scale organic fruit and vegetable growers through Mennonite Central Committee.

Upon returning to Winnipeg, I rejoined Martin’s research team where my work has included cover crop research, writing research papers and extension materials, and maintaining and developing our Natural Systems Agriculture website. Adding my OACC responsibilities to the mix is already proving to be challenging and thoroughly enjoyable, and I look forward to collaborating with the many dedicated and passionate people involved in all aspects of organic agriculture in Canada.

 

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Posted January 2008