Born in 1956 in San Baltazar Chichicapam, district of Ocotlan Oaxaca, Berta is a widow, mother of 5, campesina mezcalera and ejidataria. Over her lifetime, she has driven and managed the crafting & creation of approximately 360 batches of traditional mezcal (100-400 liters per production), from all different types of wild and domesticated agave sourced with fellow villagers in Chichicapam and other pueblos.She works with and maintains relationships with hundreds of people from different villages and has received thousands of people in her home. She is an ejiditaria in her village. participating in the local “usos y costumbres” rights & responsibilities of her village exchanging service for land rights

Silvia is co-founder and General Director of Mezcaloteca, the famous tasting room located in Oaxaca City that is dedicated to the preservation of traditional mezcal. Silvia has 20 years immersed in the world of mezcales, educating consumers from all around the world to preserve the culture and tradition of the spirit, she is also a partner in the project Mujer Agave which seeks to help other women on a daily basis on personal and business matters.

Sandra Ortiz Brena has been a spearhead in the world of mezcal for many years. It was in her house where she hosted frequent tastings and discussions with friends that predicted much of what we understand as the “mezcal boom” today. Sandra is the founder, owner, and curator of InSitu Mezcaleria which houses a world-renowned selection of agave spirits. She owns and manages her own palenque in Yeguesia, producing agave distillates under the label Mezcasiarca, a personal project where she hopes to recreate flavors in mezcals before they are irremediably lost.

Sivia Angeles Carreño is the fourth generation of mezcal producers in her family and their brand, Real Minero. Her family has always been innovators in the mezcal industry, and she continues to maintain the family’s autonomy and respect among consumers and peers alike. In her own words, “In my life, mezcal is the only way to define the world and I consider it to be the greatest passion I can have. In my community, I am one of the few women of my generation who was able to study, so I also have the responsibility of paving the way for the generations that come after the mine.” Since 2008, she has been the General Manager of her family operation Mezcal de Los Angeles as well as responsible for production and marketing along with her brother Edgar and sisters Miriam and Adriana. She is also a mother to her two children.

Clayton J. Szczech is a sociologist and entrepreneur who has been studying traditional Mexican beverages since 2006. He has operated the educational tour company Experience Agave since 2009. He co-founded La Cata, the first brand-independent tasting room in Tequila, Jalisco, in 2016. In 2023, he published his first book, "A Field Guide to Tequila," and was selected as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. He holds numerous certifications related to tequila and mezcal, is a permanent legal resident of Mexico, and is pursuing a Ph.D. and studying Nahuatl at the University of Utah. His doctoral dissertation research focuses on Mexico's nascent Denomination of Origin for Raicilla.

A member of the Hualapai Tribe, Jorigine Paya has been actively working with Hualapai tribal youth in cultural heritage preservation, language revitalization, and traditional arts and crafts. She also teaches singing and dancing. She has been employed with the Peach Springs Elementary School District for 35 years. Upon her retirement at the school she began working for the Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources as a language program manager where she also participates as an elder instructor of the Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project. Jorigine is also a title holder for Elder-Pai and Pai Woman for the Yuman-Pai Affiliated Tribes where she represents her community.

Cannon is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, and also of Oglala Lakota, and German ancestry. She has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and an M.S. in Resource Management. If you wish to connect with Carrie you will need a fast horse, by weekday she fills her days as a fulltime Ethnobotanist with the Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, by weekend she is a lapidary and silversmith artist who enjoys chasing the beautiful as she creates Native southwestern turquoise jewelry.

Dr. Mae Hey organizes weekly gatherings to help people build or return to their relationship with Land. Her work consists of teaching people to recognize plant relatives, to see opportunities with them, and to reciprocate care to them. Additionally, she teaches cooking workshops to promote sustainability through kincentric ecology and close wellness inequalities involving food. She also serves Virginia Tech as an Assistant Professor, a Faculty Fellow for their Office of Inclusion and Diversity, a Faculty Affiliate for their Food Studies Program, and a Faculty Fellow for their Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation.

Owner of Tequila Cascahuin. His passion for Tequila began in childhood as he grew up at Destileria Cascahuin, where since its establishment in 1904 the Rosales Family has made Tequila. Salvador left the distillery to pursue a degree in Industrial Engineering with a Masters in Tequila Processes. Upon graduating he returned with a newfound knowledge of his passion. Salvador is not afraid to push the boundaries in the category of Tequila. In 2015, Destileria Cascahuin installed a stone pit oven to embrace the historical flavors of what Tequila was nearly 300 years ago, and in partnership with David Suro, created Siembra Valles Ancestral. Recently, Salvador has added a Tahona for crushing the agaves to the family distillery as a continuation of the search for bold flavors that can only be achieved through a more rustic approach. Salvador Rosales Trejo represents the future of Tequila Production and a new wave of young producers ready and willing to preserve the culture of making quality Tequila.

Asís Cortés is a sixth generation of the Cortés Hernández family of mezcaleros from Santiago Matatlán. His family has been producing Mezcal since 1840 and it is under this lineage that Asís began to promote the culture and spiritual essence of mezcal more than 15 years ago. Since 2008, he has founded and collaborated in different projects related to the education and awareness of Mezcal. He worked with brands such as Agave de Cortés, Nuestra Soledad, and El Jolgorio. He also co-founded Mezcalogia in 2014 which contributed to the strengthening of knowledge and appreciation of Mezcal. In 2015 Asís and his family joined with the Saravia family of Durango to begin a new project that was in balance with the pristine ecosystem at Rancho El Ojo in Durango. They now make mezcal that shows a deep respect for the Mother Earth. Asís Cortés continues to share the culture of mezcal with respect, love, and responsibility. This is the passion that the history of his family has carried for two centuries. DIXEBEE!

Pedro is a visual artist who uses experimental film and documentary as his tools. His work has been screened at film festivals in several countries across the world. He started researching agave culture in 2005 and then, in 2009, opened a mezcaleria in Guadalajara called Pare de Sufrir… Tome Mezcal. At a controversial moment in agave spirits legislation, he directed the documentary Viva Mezcal with the intention of turning people’s eyes to the mezcal situation. He also founded Mezonte, an organization and tasting room that aims to preserve the traditional agave spirits culture creating partnership with 13 producers and families from across Mexico. He has given seminars, screenings, tastings and forums in Mexico and USA. He is a member of the Tequila Interchange Project (TIP) and board of the BatFriendly Project. He continues to spread the word and work of producers and academics for others that want to know and appreciate the agave culture from Mexico.

Origen Raíz represents a partnership between two distinct sets of Mexican roots: the Saravia family of Durango, who have a long history of working to improve the local economy through business, and the Cortés family of Oaxaca, who contribute six generations of knowledge to the world of mezcal production. The families were brought together by their sons, Asis Cortés and Bildo Saravia, through cultural passion and respect for each other’s heritage.

Born in Mexico City, Vinik Jure is an independent researcher in agriculture and food. In 2014 he founded a project called Expresiones del Mezcal to educate about and strengthen the biocultural diversity of maguey (agave) and mezcal. He has done research in anthropology of the senses and ethnoecology in agave communities. He currently lives and works in Oaxaca and collaborates with networks of farmers, artists, and cultural promoters.

Francisco Terrazas started bartending in his desert hometown of Tucson, Arizona at a small craft cocktail bar called the Red Room. From there he moved to Austin, Texas where he got a job bartending at one of the city’s premier restaurants, FINO. For over ten years he has focused on Mexican spirits. First as General Manager of world-famous mezcalería The Pastry War in Houston Texas. In 2015 he began working with Mezcal Vago in several roles, including Operations Manager, Brand Ambassador, and National Agave Educator for Vago and their sister brand, Tequila Ocho. He is recognized as an expert in spirits from throughout Mexico and is currently a partner in Paranubes Oaxacn Rum, Programming Director for the Agave Heritage Festival, and a freelance writer.

Diana Pinzón Co-founder of Zinacantán Mezcal with Fabiola Torres, is a Colombo-Mexican Forest Engineer and conservationist who has worked on ecological restoration projects in Mexico for more than 15 years. This approach, together with respect for the tradition of Agave distillates from Mexico and the heritage of Faby and her family in the elaboration of Mezcal for more than 400 years, is what gave birth to Zinacantán Mezcal. At Zinacantán Mezcal, our production route is guided by respect for the land, recognition of the work of producers, their tradition, and the dignity of their mezcal trade through fair payment. We produce small batches of unique and unrepeatable mezcal. Zinacantan is the conservation mezcal-100% Mezcal Poblano.

Gary Paul Nabhan is an internationally-celebrated nature writer, agrarian activist and ethnobiologist who tangibly works on conserving the links between biodiversity and cultural diversity. For such work, Nabhan has been honored as a pioneer and creative force in the “local food movement” and seed saving community by Utne Reader, Mother Earth News, New York Times, Bioneers, and Time magazine.

Laura Espinoza Alonso is currently the president of the Association of Women of Bacanora and Mexican Maguey in the state of Sonora, Mexico. With more than 30 female members from all levels of business, she is charged with overseeing the bright future of the burgeoning Bacanora Industry. Educated in both the United States and Mexico, Espinoza Alonso returned to her hometown and was inspired to preserve its nearly lost culture.

Doug Smith is an Arizona native and owns Exo Roast Co. in Tucson. His Ph.D. research in cultural anthropology examined agricultural history in several Mexican states. Exo’s mezcalería not only connects guests to the spirit itself but educates them on the cultural matrix and production methods of mezcal. Research trips to Sonora, Chihuahua, and Oaxaca keep Doug in contact with mezcaleros and sotoleros and allow him to explore agave’s potential in ecological and economic regeneration. He sits on the Board of Directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH and Borderlands Restoration Network.

Ben Wilder’s research is broadly focused in desert ecology and botany. He is the acting director of the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill. Wilder also works with Dr. Christopher Scott in the administration of CAZMEX, the Consortium for Arizona-Mexico Arid Environments. Wilder values the incorporation of diverse perspectives and the powerful results made possible via collaboration. In his role as director of the Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers, he strives to create opportunities for collaboration across borders and disciplines and a more holistic understanding and appreciation for the Sonoran Desert.

The artistic presentation of the breads produced by Don Guerra is only outdone by their stellar taste. As owner/baker of Barrio Bread, Guerra uses flour and water to build connections to make the world a better place. Guerra began his career 32 years ago in Flagstaff where he was hired as a bread-baker. He opened his first bakery there in 1995, and another in Oregon two years later. He eventually returned to Tucson and became a teacher but also was experimenting with bread baking, starting Barrio Bread in his garage in 2009. He chose the name because Barrio is Spanish for neighborhood, and the name emphasizing his commitment to his community. His naturally leavened bread is made with a French method using wild yeast, producing breads that are delicious, easy to digest and have a perfect crust. With his naturally fermented breads he promotes biodiversity and drought tolerance, and enhances the nutrition and flavor profiles of the regional food supply. When Guerra founded Barrio Bread, he had a vision to revive native and heritage varieties of grains in order to build a sustainable grain economy in Southern Arizona. Today, his bakery is a model for the future. Guerra unites regional farmers and millers in bringing healthy whole grains, flours, and breads to consumers, expanding the meaning of Tucson’s gastronomy.

Guerra has won numerous awards, including the 2022 James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker and a 2022 MOCA Local Genius Award, Tucson Hispanic Business man of the Year. Other accolades include being named one of the Top Ten Bakers in America by Dessert Professional magazine, a Leveraging Your Localness award from Bite Magazine, and other kudos from Good Food Finder and Local First Arizona. He shares his knowledge through interactive workshops and in the classroom with schoolchildren, at Tucson Village Farm and the University of Arizona. He collaborates with brewers, restaurateurs, and retailers to bring new foods and drinks to life. He recently opened a Barrio Bread location in Gilbert in partnership with Hayden Flour Mills.

Leading the Borderlands Restoration Network’s Native Plant Program, Francesca hails from a family forage crop farm in Calexico, CA where her family has strong roots on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. She started working with native plants at the UC Davis Arboretum while in college and after graduating with degrees in Native American Studies and International Agricultural Development continued as a manager, assisting with propagation research and organizing plant sales. In 2013 she moved to Patagonia for an internship with Native Seeds/SEARCH and shortly after founded and started managing the nursery for Borderlands Restoration. Francesca is passionate about increasing accessibility and enthusiasm for native plants, and promoting partnerships between nurseries and plant programs on both sides of the border. She serves on boards of the Sweetwater Center in Cascabel, AZ and the Arizona Native Plant Society’s Santa Cruz Chapter, and is an elected councilperson for the town of Patagonia.

Susan is a long time marketing and communications strategist in the sustainable food & beverage worlds. She is the co-founder and director of Mezcalistas, a media, events and marketing company dedicated to spreading the gospel of mezcal. Previously, Susan was the Director of Marketing and PR for CUESA, the organization that runs the world famous Ferry Plaza Farmers market in San Francisco. She was also a co-founder and former director of the Eat Real Festival, an annual food event in Oakland and Los Angeles, CA.. Susan was also part of the marketing team for the groundbreaking Slow Food Nation event in 2008 in San Francisco which brought together food activists, farmers, food crafters and chefs from around the world. She was most recently named a 2019 Drink Innovator by SevenFiftyDaily. She has a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Jesús García was born and raised in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico. Since 1991, he has been associated with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, where he is a Research Associate, teaching natural history and cultural programs throughout southern Arizona and northern Sonora. He holds a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Cultural Anthropology. He has been Director of the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project for over ten years and his many interests include conservation biology, art, cultural ecology, language, music and gardening.

Community organizer, farmer, husband & dad.

Having family from Sasabe, Sonora and also Cuyamelito, Honduras has shaped the way I view the world, tackle injustices, and build community. Co-Founder of Flowers & Bullets Collective and Dreamer of Tucson Agave Project in Tucson, Az. Using Sustainability, Art and the spirit of resistance as a tool, Maiz and the Cultura around maiz guides us through a regenerative way to build community, grow crops, and create a safe space in Barrio Centro.

Alexandra has more than 20 years of leadership and management experience working on conservation and natural resources management with extensive experience in Mexico and Central America. She is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion and has developed several programs for the inclusion and professional development of women of color.

Through her experiences with different organizations and as a facilitator, she has successfully formed partnerships with multilateral organizations, federal and state governments, NGOs, local communities and academia to promote local conservation outcomes.

She has a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University and an M.A. focused in International Environment and Resource Policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Her passion for conservation was borne out of growing up between two cultures with a mother from Argentina and a father from Boston. Since she was a child, she has returned to Cordoba, Argentina and has witnessed how land-use, land ownership and stewardship, and cultural practices are easily lost if they are not actively conserved.

Michael Zellner joined the Sonoran Institute as its Chief Executive Officer in October 2020. Mike has 30 years of experience building award-winning collaborations for global organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, Dow Jones & Co., and Euromoney. Before joining The Nature Conservancy, Mike worked for more than two decades as a business journalist in Mexico and the Americas. He helped to launch the editorial operations of Dow Jones & Co. and Euromoney in Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Miami. At the end of the 1990s, Mike made the shift from editor-in-chief to owner, buying Miami-based business magazine Latin Trade. At Latin Trade, Mike led the publication to 27 editorial awards in seven years, as well as the growth of the Bravo Business Awards into the premier awards ceremony in the Americas. Mike studied Economics at Tufts University and speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently. Mike, his wife, artist and photographer Eugenia Vargas-Pereira, and their dog Batuco enjoy trekking, travel, and cooking.

Artist and planner Alex White has lived his last 10 years in Oaxaca, Mexico. He led an initiative using his public art and public space practice Artefacting to facilitate the evolution of a club of active neighbors into a peri-urban community center in Viguera Oaxaca (Patria Nueva/Lugar Común 2015-2017). In 2017 he began Rezpiral, a spirit label, project, and fair-trade practice that brings the highest quality traditional artisanal single-batch (non-certified) Mezcals into the US. The project aims to respect and support the multi-generational knowledge, independence, flavors, lands and methods of each mezcalero family; it upholds quality and value, bringing to market an eclectic selection of spirits. These ethics seek to contribute to the countering of industrial standardization and cultural appropriation of this family & pueblo produced spirit and culture of excellence. This Agave Heritage Festival Alex brings us Rezpiral's latest collaborative cultural residency project, a two-part short film "Temporadas de Lluvias/Rainy Seasons" to be projected in various sites.

My origins are from Oaxaca, Mixtec on my father side and Oaxaca valley on my mother’s. I’ve been working on the food and beverage industry for over 12 years. In late 2018 I started to work for Mezcal vago in hospitality and operations, nowdays I run National sales and hospitality in Mexico, communication strategy on social media and responsible initiatives to keep improving the brand practices. Recently I started with my partner Carlos Soulspirit Oaxaca a project to work with artisanal craft spirits, currently as an educational platform for the industry in Oaxaca. I feel very passioned about working and serving on the craft spirit industry, because it allows me to be part of the respect and proud that the producers have for their land and tradition, and it’s something that has gathered two of my biggest passions: the world of spirits and the education and communication of the cultural importance that gives origin, sense and perdurance to our heritage.

Misty first stepped behind the bar while studying theology at Harvard Divinity School outside Boston. Upon graduating, she realized what most excited her about the Bible was the passage where Jesus turns water into wine. She soon helped launch Boston’s B-Side Lounge, the first bar in the city to focus on classic cocktails and vintage spirits and continued making her mark on the city’s hospitality scene during stints at Green Street, Brick & Mortar and Barbara Lynch’s award-winning Drink. In 2007, Kalkofen founded Boston’s chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of the Endangered Cocktail, fulfilling her desire to “cocktail for a cause.” Collectively, the ladies of LUPEC raised more than $40,000 for local Boston women’s charities by throwing the best parties in town. In 2013, Misty signed on as a cultural liaison and brand representative for Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal. There, she learned the ins and outs of not only the spirit but the people, customs, and cultural considerations that go into its production. Featured in the likes of Bon Appetit, Imbibe, Wine Enthusiast, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe, to name just a few, Misty also racked up American Bartender of the Year and International Bartender of the Year nominations and an American Brand Ambassador of the Year award from Tales of the Cocktail, among other industry accolades.

Issel Campos is a Brooklyn-based, Mexico City native with more than fifteen years in the food and beverage industry. While pursuing her interests in music promotion, and representing musicians from Mexico, Issel took on a day-job at renowned restaurant, Hecho en Dumbo. At HED, she worked as GM and Event Curator at its music forum Salon Hecho. It was at Hecho where Issel's agave spirit education began. In 2016, Issel became National Brand Ambassador for Artisanal Distillates (Mezcal de Leyendas, Peloton de la Muerte, and Fabriquero Sotol). These brands are all heavily focused on bringing to the forefront, the importance of the Maestros Mezcaleros/Sotoleros, and educating consumers on Mexican spirits' unique terroirs and flavor profiles. Over the years, Issel has been able to form close ties with the families who produce these spirits and, further enrich her personal relationship to her native culture. She has traveled through the US leading educational sessions that focus on the unique environments and the people who kindly share their culture with the world through distilled beverages. She is currently co-directing a documentary, on pioneering Mexican psychedelic band, los Dug Dug’s. Issel believes that mezcal, art and music go together naturally.

Danny Childs is the author of the book Slow Drinks and the founder of the company of the same name. Before stepping behind the bar, Danny trained as an ethnobotanist in various parts of South America. He draws on this experience when creating beverages, embodying the flavors and traditions of the mid-Atlantic by utilizing ingredients foraged from the wild, picked from his cocktail garden, and sourced from local farms. Childs teaches others how to create drinks in this manner through his consulting business, educational workshops, and his role on the Slow Food Ark of Taste committee.

Oscar was recognized as a Magna Cum Laude after graduating with a specialization in Nutrition, Diet & Health Science. He attained multiple college degrees in Travel & Tourism, Meeting & Events Planning, Food & Beverage, and Hospitality Management; Oscar’s background in Food Service and Hospitality started long ago however, as he was part of family-run restaurants throughout his childhood. Oscar is a co-founder of the Agave Spirits Institute, where he maintains an Academic Spirits Advisor role and Directorship of Alumni Relations. Additionally, he is a Certified Executive Fine Spirits Sommelier & Executive Chef of Wine Arts by the International Wine & Spirits Guild, where he is also a Certified Senior Wine & Spirits Instructor and received the Title of Guild Master Candidate – leading Guild introductory and advanced wine and spirits seminars and courses in Texas.

Shad Kvetko is a native of Phoenix now living in Dallas, TX where he is a co-owner of Las Almas Rotas, a James Beard nominated mezcalería. What began as a group of friends with a shared interest in mezcal developed into Dallas’ first bar dedicated solely to the spirits of Mexico, with an emphasis on education as well as celebration. Shad considers it a “love letter to Mexico” and a continuation of a lifelong passion for the country, its people and cultures.

Fabio Trigo Raya, PhD, is a biotechnologist and geneticist whose unwavering passion lies in agricultural production within semi-arid areas, with a special focus on agaveculture. Since 2016, he has immersed himself in the world of agaves, driven by the goal of producing biofuels and other sustainable bio-renewable compounds. His work in this field encompasses a wide spectrum, including cultivar rescue, biomass characterization, molecular phytopathology, and plant biotechnology. Currently, he serves as the researcher overseeing Agave genetic resources and breeding at BRAVE - the Brazilian Agave Development Program, a partnership between the University of Campinas (Unicamp), the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency of Brazil (ANP), and Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda.

Chef Tanner Fleming’s passion for the culinary arts began at a very early age. Already driven to learn, in high school Tanner entered and excelled through CCAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) competitions which earned him a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Tucson culinary arts program. Upon graduating he worked his way up at Dante’s Fire to Chef de Cuisine. Tanner then went on to work with Janos Wilder at Downtown Kitchen and Cocktails where he was Chef de Cuisine for three years. In 2020 Tanner became the Executive Chef at The Coronet. He presides over all three entities, Coronet Restaurant, Coronet Cafe and Nightjar. In his free time Tanner is an avid rock climber and loves to spend time outside with his girlfriend and their cat Jet.

Tyler has worked as a wildlife biologist for over 25 years mostly in the National Park Service. This includes work at Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP. From 2014 to 2018 he was the wildlife program manager at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and is currently the Natural and Cultural Resource Manager at Organ Pipe Cactus. He obtained undergraduate degrees at the University of Utah and a PhD in biological sciences from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT.

Josevaldo Nim Artista, educador e gestor cultural com mais de 16 anos de experiência, fundador do projeto Som do Sisal e produtor artístico da Orquestra Sisaleira. Graduado em música pela Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana possui experiência em produção cultural na área da música e projetos de inclusão social de crianças, adolescentes e jovens. Já realizou intercâmbios internacionais em Portugal, México e Espanha. Vencedor do Prêmio Laureate Brasil Jovens Empreendedores Sociais 2013 (YouthActionNet®️, da International Youth Foundation) e do Concurso Ideias Inovadoras da Economia Criativa – SEBRA/SECULT/2016.

Dan Collins says that his fondest childhood memories are of the desert. He grew up in Southern California, where his family would escape the smog-clouded clamor of the LA basin to vacation under the clear skies and quiet of the Mojave Desert. There he and his sister would eagerly explore the desert environment, and excitedly share their discoveries when returning to the family campsite. It was only natural that when he retired, Dan and his wife Sue would decide to return to the desert. But then, wanting to escape the maddening excess and expense of California, Tucson, Arizona would become their new home. Eager once again to explore this new environment, Dan received his initial certification as a Sonoran Desert Naturalist in 2011, and in 2018 he earned his designation as an Arizona Master Naturalist. He devotes most of his volunteer hours at Saguaro National Park - West, where he helps visitors plan their activities and presents interpretive programs on our native fauna and flora, including the agave.

Dr. Luke Cole is the director of the Santa Cruz River program at Sonoran Institute. Luke joined Sonoran Institute in 2018 and manages the ongoing projects on the Santa Cruz River, working with staff and collaborators to restore and enhance this Living River in the heart of southern Arizona and northern Sonora. Prior to joining the Sonoran Institute, Luke worked for the Washington, D.C. city government tracking the District’s green infrastructure and water quality improvement programs with a focus on coordinating tree planting programs and policy. Luke has a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia, an M.S. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and a B.A. in biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

SANDRO CANOVAS is an adobero and Sotol activist in the borderlands of West Texas & Northern Chihuahua dedicated to the defense of the designation of Sotol that exists since 2002 for Chihuahua, Coahuila y Durango in Mexico. He also spends his time advocating and educating people about how the tradition and patrimony of Sotol is affected by the appropriation efforts and newer steps towards industrialization in Chihuahua. He is currently working on a documentary on Sotol and helps Maestros Sotoleros and their families attend festivals and to find markets for their destilado Norteño.

Currently a Postdoc in the Botanical Garden UNAM, Mexico City. I was born in the southern and marginalized region of Mexico City in a municipality known as Xochimilco. This region is known for its traditional wetland agricultural systems, the chinampas (raised beds), which were able to feed most of the city population. The fact that I grew up there made me aware of the relevance of agricultural systems and the conservation of these systems. I studied Biology at the Metropolitan University in México city, then I got master’s studies at the Institute of Ecology UNAM and a research stay at Kyoto Sangyo University in Japan, studying developmental process on different plant species under climate change scenarios. Then I got a PhD at the Institute of Sustainability at UNAM, in Michoacán with the main goal to understand the plants that are used to produce traditional fermented beverages. Subsequently, I specialized in yeast communities related to these fermented environments. These recent years I have been collaborating with several producers of traditional fermented beverages, doing workshops with them in order to visualize the relevance of the microbial communities as a part of the agrobiodiversity that is managed and domesticated by them, “this invisible world”. As well, I have been promoting the conservation of local traditional fermented beverages not only as a significant part of biocultural heritage, but also the consumption of these beverages as a mechanism to improve human health. One of my current main interests now is assessing the challenges for climate change in the fermentation process and how producers perform activities to cope with these challenges. Finally, in the current year I am proposing a novel field in ethnosciences, ethnomicrobiology. This relevant research field is a transdisciplinary approach that allows us to rethink the human-microbes interaction, highlighting the significance of we are holobionts.

Since my background has been closely related to nature and the lack of access to some resources my main goal is to look for equitable access to resources for marginalized communities. Looking for social and ecological justice through the study of traditional fermented beverages.

Proud Arizona native Demion Clinco has been serving our community in a variety of roles for decades.

Demion Clinco is co-owner of Sonoran Wines, a vineyard located in the Willcox Basin in Cochise County. He also serves as VP of Catalina In-Home Services, a family owned healthcare business that has provided services in Southern Arizona for four decades.

Clinco was appointed to the Arizona State House of Representatives in 2014. During his time in the State House he worked to advance economic development legislation, and advanced a state historic tax credit program. He served on the House Financial Institutions and Government committees and Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

Clinco developed numerous community-based preservation initiatives, programs, and projects including working to preserve Tucson neon signs, a model program that was replicated throughout the United States. Clinco was the primary author for numerous National Register of Historic Places individual and district nominations including the Sunshine Mile, Miracle Mile, and Indian Ridge. Clinco has served on numerous foundation and nonprofit boards including the Board of Directors of Archeology Southwest and The Gregory School, and Pima Community College.

Yadi has his own unconventional approaches to life. He is a first generation immigrant, first one in his family speaking other languages other than Chinese, and a full time first generation farmer. After careers being a financial portfolio advisor, a chemical and process engineer, and a soil water researcher, Yadi entered the agricultural arena to continue his father-in-law's legacy of land stewardship and community relations. In the past three years, he has brought over 150 species back onto a 12 year fallow land at Oatman Flats Ranch, one of the hottest and driest areas in the US Southwest. His farming principles range from minimizing soil disturbance, multispecies annual and/or perennial cover crops, agroforestry, holistic animal grazing, heirloom seed saving and planting for epigenetic development, using absolutely no chemical, no nitrate based fertilizer. As a result, he has found paths to bridge the water cycle and carbon cycle while increasing his never ending appreciation and learning desires among nature, culture, and values. Yadi co-founded Development of Regenerative Yields Cooperative in hope to engage with all community members through sensible collaboration and education in exchange for the health of the ecosystem and all life.

Valeria Cañedo, a biologist from the University of Sonora, Mexico, has been working in conservation and sustainable development since 2017, protecting migratory pollinators and their habitats in Bacanora-producing communities in Sonora. She has led projects such as "Bacanora for Bats," "Fondo del Bacanora para el Desarrollo Sostenible," and "Empowerment of Rural Women through the elaboration of Bacanora by-products," among others, in collaboration with organizations such as Bat Conservation International, Borderlands Restoration Network, Biophilia Foundation, and the Consejo Sonorense Regulador del Bacanora, among others. She currently serves as Vice President of Centro de Colaboración para la Ciencia y Cultura S.C. Valeria's goal is to inspire positive change and empower communities to thrive in harmony with their environment.

Hugo Gonzalez is the Agave Educator for ODIN Mezcaleria in Oakland, California. Originally from Xochimilco, Mexico City, he started his mezcal journey in 2015 and is the National Ambassador for Of Spine and Vine Imports and part of the Maestros del Mezcal Collective.

Greg Barron-Gafford, Ph.D., is an ecologist and Earth System Scientist who has been building the field of 'agrivoltaics', which is the colocation of agriculture and renewable energy production from photovoltaics (solar panels). Greg began this work in southern Arizona to study the benefits across the food-energy-water nexus, and over the years has developed a national and international program connecting with researchers and rural community leaders across the American Southwest, Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, and Israel. Recently, he has secured funding from the Departments of Energy and Agriculture to explore the potential of growing agaves and other climate-smart crops within solar farms. Working to develop science-based solutions to help people adapt to the increasing pressures that come from a changing climate is a personal and professional goal.

Rachel joined Bat Conservation International as the Agave Restoration Coordinator in 2023. As part of the Endangered Species Intervention team, Rachel works with the Agave Restoration Program on applied conservation for nectar-feeding bats in the southwestern United States. She collaborates with native plant growers, land managers, land owners, and other stakeholders to promote a resilient landscape for nectar-feeding bats.