Meet the Speakers
Lesley Kelly
Creator of High Heels & Canola Fields
A marketer by trade and entrepreneur, Lesley farms with her family on their 7000 acre grain farm at Watrous and is the head and heart behind the alias High Heels & Canola Fields where she dispels myths about agriculture and brings consumers and farmers together. She learned of the disconnect while building a snack food company using the grain grown on her farm. Lesley’s goal in being involved in agriculture beyond the farm is to build community and connection that help both the industry and consumers.
Lesley has been a leader in advocating for mental health in agriculture. She has been part of a Canadian campaign that has raised over $129 million dollars for mental health community initiatives across Canada and co-founded the Do More Agriculture Foundation whose mission is to break barriers, support all farmers in taking care of their mental well-being and bring much needed resources to the industry. She was recognized by the Regina YWCA with the Women of Distinction award for this work.
She is also a cohost of "What The Farm" podcast, Director for Saskatchewan Wheat and when Lesley isn't in the field, you can find her running to the hockey rink with her two sons, learning how to cook for a harvest crew and spending time with her husband.
Kallie Wood
Senior Indigenous Advisor, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture
Kallie Wood is the Senior Indigenous Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture for the Government of Saskatchewan. Kallie is Nakoda Cree and a member of Carry the Kettle Band First Nation located on Treaty Four Territory in Saskatchewan. Kallie is a mother to four beautiful children and kokum to 4 grandchildren. As a foster parent, Kallie has many children who call her mom. Her Cree name is namôya ochi askīy, meaning, not of this earth.
Kallie has her feet planted firmly on Mother Earth and realizes that the Creator has blessed us with the gift of each day. She is a lifelong learner with 30 years of experience in leadership roles with extensive experience in organizational change, strategic planning and program delivery. She holds a Masters in Leadership and Management.
Having grown up in a small community surrounded by friends and family in agriculture, Kallie is excited about the journey in supporting First Nation and Métis peoples in sustainable agriculture opportunities through listening, learning and implementing change. Kallie also sits on several Board of Governors across the nation, sharing a voice for Indigenous engagement and building relationships.
Kallie has received numerous awards for her time commitment to reconciliation. She is a recognized and sought-after keynote speaker and Indigenous Advisor on Indigenous issues. She is a recognized advocate, researcher and transformational change leader. Kallie is driven by harnessing the intrinsic value of every voice that fosters deeper conversations and a sense of belonging and appreciation in many contexts globally. She has a palpable ability to inspire and ignite a brighter future through Indigenous histories, stories, ways of knowing and being towards a better future for our children, grandchildren and those not yet born.
Kallie surrounds herself with a circle of influential change leaders and finds pleasure in building toward a better future.
Shawn Jacques
President & CEO, Saskatchewan Water Security Agency
Shawn became WSA’s Interim President & CEO on November 23, 2020, after working at Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) for nearly 29 years.
He started his career as a part-time adjuster out of the Preeceville Customer Service Office. During his career, he worked in other roles within the corporation, including Customer Service Rep, Manager of Customer Service and Executive Manager of Field Operations. In 2010, he was given the opportunity to be the Acting President and CEO, and in 2012 was appointed permanently to this position. He has always had a passion for agriculture, and that is what made his career at SCIC so rewarding.
Shawn has owned and operated a small mixed farm in the Preeceville area for the past 28 years. Being involved directly in agriculture has given him an appreciation of how the programs and services he helped deliver impacts our customers, the farmers and ranchers of Saskatchewan.
Shawn is deeply committed to providing excellent customer service to the citizens we serve.
Bridget Andrews
Executive Director, Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds
Bridget Andrews is currently the Executive Director for the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds Inc. She began her role in watershed stewardship by working as a Professional Agrologist to deliver the farm stewardship program and implement conservation projects for the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards in 2008. In fall of 2014, she moved into the role of Executive Director for SAW and has focused on growing integrated water management programs and project province wide. Outside of SAW, Bridget and her family own and operate a fourth-generation ranching operation southwest of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In her spare time, she spend endless hours at the box lacrosse rink watching her son play goal.
David Sauchyn
Director, Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative at the University of Regina
Dave Sauchyn is Director of the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative at the University of Regina. His research interests are 1) the climate and hydrology of the past millennium, and 2) planned adaption to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. Dave has given almost 500 invited presentations on aspects of climate change. He is lead author of the Prairie Provinces chapters in the current and previous national assessments of climate change. His grandsons live in Saskatoon.
Arlie LaRoche
Creator of Farm One Forty
Arlie LaRoche grew up on a cattle/grain farm near Yorkton, SK. After travelling and attending college she began working in the environmental consulting field. She and her husband, Brett LaRoche purchased their own farm near Saskatoon in 2007 where they started a family (they have two children). They began growing meat and produce for their own consumption which led to growing some extra for others. A workshop with Joel Salatin in 2013 gave Arlie the push she needed to turn the part-time farm into the business it is today, Farm One Forty.
Farm One Forty produces pasture raised pork, grass fed beef and lamb, honey, vegetables and grain. Agrotourism is becoming a bigger part of the business as well with tours and on-farm dinners. One of the goals of the business is to help reconnect people with their food and bridge the gap between urbanites and farmers.
Holistic management is key on the farm and Arlie is passionate about regenerative agriculture as she believes it will truly make a difference for the land, the animals and the people that consume the end products.
In 2019 the LaRoche's partnered with two others to create Odla Restaurant & Market on Broadway in Saskatoon. The restaurant uses ingredients from Farm One Forty as well as other local farms to create a menu that is simple and delicious and highlights the bounty of our province.”
Larry Durand
Owner/Agronomist, Field Good Agronomics Ltd.
Larry Durand was raised on a seed farm near Notre Dame de Lourdes, MB. Growing up on a seed farm, he spent a great deal of time with his father scouting fields for pests, roguing, and generally helping out in the fields and in their seed cleaning plant. While attending the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba, he spent his summers in various jobs ranging from crop research to sales of crop protection products. Throughout these experiences Larry realized how much he enjoyed working with farmers, specifically being involved with helping them improve their crop production options and practices. He has followed career paths that allow him to work with farmers ever since.
Larry achieved his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba in 1994 and went on to get a Masters of Science also from the University of Manitoba.
In 2001 Larry founded Field Good Agronomics Ltd., a crop consulting business in Humboldt, SK. Field Good Agronomics Ltd. provides farmers in the Humboldt area and ag industry a suite of crop consulting services including field scouting, crop planning, pest management planning, fertility planning, and forensic services.
Lynne Roszell
Program Director, Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds
As Program Director, Lynne is responsible for implementing and achieving SAW’s programming priorities. She is responsible for supervising staff, ensuring that programs are operating smoothly, and deliverables are achieved, as well as coordinating with partners and stakeholders to support watershed stewardship goals.
Lynne grew up on a mixed family farm south of Tisdale, Saskatchewan near Kipabiskau Lake. She attended the University of Saskatchewan and convocated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a major of agronomy and a minor in agriculture economics.
She began her watershed stewardship career in 2011 when she became the Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) Technician with the Carrot River Watershed Agri-Environmental Group Plan. She worked with the organization during the development of the Carrot River Valley Watershed Association (CRVWA) and their associated source water protection plan. This opportunity helped her to develop a deeper understanding of watershed stewardship and ignited a passion for watershed stewardship work and program delivery.
After about two years in the BMP Technician role, she moved to the Ministry of Agriculture Lands Branch, and returned to the CRVWA to take on the Watershed Manager opportunity just over a year later. Directly prior to joining SAW as the Program Director, Lynne was a Plant Health Officer with SARM working to deliver the Invasive Plant Control, Rat Control and Beaver Control Programs, as well as contributing to provincial crop disease and pest monitoring surveys. In April 2022, Lynne welcomed the opportunity to join SAW as the Program Director.
Graham Strickert
Associate Professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Graham Strickert (Graham) has roots in Saskatchewan. His great-grandparents homesteaded in Kisby and Ridgedale, Saskatchewan, but left Saskatchewan in 1975. As a result of his family moving to Ontario in search of work, Graham was born and raised in Scugog Township, Ontario which is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island and the Mississauga Nation.
Graham has had the privilege of a broad education: he earned an Honours Bachelor of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism & and BA in Geography from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay with minors in Music and Philosophy (in 2004). Later he attended Lincoln University where he completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Sciences specializing in Natural Resources Management and Ecological Engineering (2009), and then PhD in Complex Systems in the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design (2011).
Graham has worked with government agencies including LandCare Research – Menaaki Whenua in New Zealand, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. He has also worked in the private sector for Independent Grocers, Uretech Surfaces, Inamr Industries, and Johnson and Johnson (Janssen-Orotho Biotech). He has also worked as an ally to several indigenous communities in the Yukon, NWT, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
He is now an Associate Professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. Graham’s research seeks to better understand how different people think about and use water and how their thinking influences behavior and water use. In short, his work uses a range of social science tools to incorporate people’s values and attitudes into water sciences, artistic expression, and policy creation using experimental decision labs. He has also devoted considerable attention to effective communication of science and enhancement of community engagement through collaborations between artists, traditional and local knowledge holders, policymakers and scientists.
Blake Weiseth
MSc. P.Ag, Applied Research Lead, Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm
Blake grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Soil Science from the University of Saskatchewan and is a professional agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists. Blake also serves as Applied Research Lead at the Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm and holds a Research Chair with Saskatchewan Polytechnic, overseeing a number of applied research and demonstration projects with the goal of developing practical solutions for Canadian farmers. His research focuses on utilization of various data layers to optimize agricultural productivity while limiting adverse environmental impact.
Tristan Skolrud
Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan
Tristan Skolrud is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan. His research focuses on the intersection between farm-level decision making and agri-environmental policy. He is an expert in agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation policy, speaking frequently at government and trade events across Canada.
Tristan has published in the leading journals of agricultural and resource economics, including the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, and the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Two of his recent articles, one on the determinants of organic adoption in U.S. dairies and another on the subsidization of cellulosic biofuels, won best paper awards in their respective journals.
Born and raised in Washington State, Tristan received a PhD in economics from Washington State University in 2015 and an MA in economics from the University of Washington in 2011. At the University of Saskatchewan, Tristan teaches courses in agricultural finance and microeconomic theory.
Cara Drury
Irrigation Extension Agrologist,
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture
Cara Drury, has a bachelors in Environmental Sciences, through the U of S, college of Agriculture. She has been working for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture for the last 10 years, in various roles with the Crops and Irrigation Branch. Currently is working as an Irrigation Extension Agrologist with the ministry, based out of Outlook.