Michael Bellis Chair and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is also a faculty associate in Environmental Studies, Religious Studies, and Agroecology. Mike is author or editor of eleven books, three of which have won national awards. He is currently writing a book about community and co-authoring (with Jason Orne and Loka Ashwood) another about the social experience of heritage. In the evenings, Mike is a prolific composer and performer of grassroots and classical music. He has eight albums to his credit, and his compositions have been recorded by many other artists. For more on his work and passions, see his website: www.michael-bell.net.

Loka Ashwood is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at University of Kentucky. She theorizes about democracy, the environment, and social action to pinpoint points of aggravation and openings for change. She analyzes specific corporate and regulatory structures that undergird dispossession of property and community in rural places. She works with people to explore creative pathways forward amidst intense distrust and government neglect. Learn more at www.lokaashwood.com. Isaac Sohn Leslieis Postdoctoral Research Associate in Food Systems at University of New Hampshire.

Ike''s primary research area is the sociology of global environmental and economic change, with a focus on developing food systems for a just climate transition. Their research in the U.S. and Argentina centers queer, feminist, and anti-racist perspectives on designing food chains that prioritize healthy ecological and social relations. Ike recently co-edited a Special Issue of Society & Natural Resources on gender, sexuality, and sustainability in U.S. farming. They are also a beginning farmer and active in queer farmer organizing.

To learn more about Ike''s work, visit www.isaacleslie.com.4 Laura Hanson Schlachteris a PhD candidate in the Departments of Sociology and Community & Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her scholarship and teaching focus on environmental sociology, social movements, and economic sociology. As a mixed methods researcher, she has directed the first national survey about workplace democracy, interviewed activists seeding a regenerative economy in Appalachia, and collaborated with village leaders to improve walkability in rural Wisconsin. Laura has a background in inclusive economic development and an ongoing volunteer role at the Madison affiliate of 350.org.

Her writing has appeared in peer-reviewed academic journals, policy reports, and neighborhood newsletters. Her current research about constructive strategies to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis and alternative ways of organizing work has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation and Corporation for National and Community Service.