9:00:  Check-In
9:30:  Opening

9:45 - 12:30: Session 1: wastED opportunities in Recycling

Decentralized Composting in NYC Panel Discussion
Lia Lucero (Community Engagement Manager; Lower East Side Ecology Center), Domingo Morales (Compost Consultant, Founder & CEO; Compost Power), Nando Rodriguez (Senior Manager for Environmental Programming; The Brotherhood Sister Sol), Ashera Schwartz (Grants and Outreach Coordinator & Microhauler; BK ROT), Dior St. Hillaire (Worker-Owner; GreenFeen OrganiX; Director of Strategic Partnerships; BK ROT), Daniel Wendlek (Product Development and Organics Recovery; Big Reuse), Abigail Schoneboom (Moderator; Newcastle University)

The NYC 2026 Solid Waste Management Plan
Kate Kitchener, Director; Resource Recovery, Solid Waste Management, NYC Department of Sanitation, presentation title

Dead Hedge, Living Ledge
Grayson Bo Guthrie, Educator, Landscape Designer, Floral Farmer; Founder, Alchemist Flowers

12:10: Exhibit Presentations

Leaves of Grass: Spontaneous Rewilding & Radical Reclamation of the Urban Scape
Constance Maleszynska, Sustainability Cultivator; Bramble NYC

The 4th R: Relationship
Gisela Sanders Alcántara, 13 times NY-Emmy winner, media creator, educator, disability activist, Senior Producer/Editor; CUNY TV

Community-Powered Soil Remediation using Plants and Fungi, an Introduction
Natalie Soleil, Urban Sustainability Advocate, Founder; Tasting Awareness

Interactive Exhibition
(See final tab for contributors)

Urban Soils Institute Table

12:30:  LUNCH

1:20 - 4:30:‍ ‍Session 2: wastED opportunities in reclamation & remediation

1:20: Exhibit Presentations

Young as the Worms, Old as the Soil
Vasudev Vashisht, Visual Artist, Photographer

Hyperscaling Soils and the Deep Time of Intelligence
Dominika Ksel, Interdisciplinary Artist, Founder; Buena Onda Art Collective; Assistant Professor; Baruch College

Cookbook for When the Sun Goes Out
Elizabeth Demaray, Sculptor, Professor; Rutgers University

Soil Culture: Hidden Architectures of Waste and Invisible Futures
Maria Patricia Tinajero, PhD (Visual Thinker, Artist, Philosopher of Soil); Julie Poitras Santos (Artist, Writer, Curator, Director of Exhibitions; Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D)

2:05: Session Presentations

LAMP PCR based Bio Sensor for Heavy Metal Detection
Karolina Sulich, Researcher, Adjunct Professor; NYU Tandon School of Engineering

The Clean Soil Bank – Successes and Pragmatic Challenges
Zach Schreiber, PhD; Assistant Director; Office of Environmental Remediation, Mayor’s Office City of New York

Redefining Urban Soils
Brendan Hannon, PhD, Deputy Director of Strategy and Long Term Planning; NYC Environmental Protection, Office of Energy and Resource Recovery Programs

(Title TBA)
Elizabeth Hénaff, PhD, Computational Biologist; Assistant Professor, Technology, Culture and Society Dept., NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Interactive Exhibition
(See final tab for contributors)

Urban Soils Institute Table

4:45: Exhibits and Poster session

5:00:  Closing ceremony and Happy Hour

9:00:  Check-In
9:30:  Opening

10:00 - 12:30: Session 3: wastED opportunities in reclaiming soil and food sovereignty

Laying the Groundwork: Supporting Urban Ag Growth through ACCD's Urban Soils Program
Hayley Hoch, Community Agriculture and Soils Program Manager; Allegheny County Conservation District

From Your Kitchens – Through Our Hands – Into The Earth – Onto Your Plates
Marion Yuen (Green Infrastructure Professional; President, The MYA Group), Samuel Pressman (Holistic Landscape Designer, Builder, Educator; Founder, Samuel's Food Gardens), Winson Wong (Entrepreneur, Co-Founder & CEO; Afterlife Ag)

Reclaiming Urban Soils: Linking Food Security and Urine Recycling through Bionutrient Sovereignty
Marisa Manheim, PhD (Assistant Professor; Department of Environment & Sustainability, University of Buffalo); Katie Pfohl (Soil Enthusiast, Farm Manager; Massachusetts Avenue Project Buffalo); Tatiana Schreiber (Soil Research Director; The Rich Earth Institute)

Generating system sustainability through RE: Claiming, Mediating, Cycling
Brian Fath, PhD, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University

12:10: Exhibit Presentations

Tides of Green: Reclaiming Medians as Living Infrastructure
Camila A. Morales (Artist, Designer, Educator; Co-Founder & Director, Valé), Corinne Sommer (Construction Management Consultant (Sustainability and Renewable Energy); Re:Build Designs LLC)

PenLee Farm Art Yard: PFLAY:  + Flatbush, BK
Sarah Olson, Painter, Performance Artist

The life-force of dirt
Marina 'heron' Tsaplina (EcoPuppetry Artist, Writer, Disability Culture Activist); Isabelle Groenewegen (Urbanist, Project Manager; Care Lab at Parsons School of Design, the New School)

Interactive Exhibition
(See final tab for a full list)

Urban Soils Institute Table

12:30: LUNCH

1:20 - 4:45:‍ Session 4: wasteD opportunities in reuse, rescue, and upcycling

1:20: Exhibit Presentations

The DIRT Project
Emilie Houssart, Artist, Curator, Sustainability Faculty Fellow; SUNY New Paltz

Entangling; Socio-ecological praxis for environmental justice (through the lens of soil)
Isabelle Groenewegen, Urbanist, Project Manager; Care Lab at Parsons School of Design, the New School

Interactive Exhibition
(See final tab for a full list)

Urban Soils Institute Table

2:05: Session Presentations

Microbial activity and CO2 emission from young Arctics Technosols: effect of material type
Maria Korneykova, PhD,Soil Scientist, Researcher; SUNLAB, People’s Friendship University (RUDN)

University Campuses as Living Labs to study Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in Urban Green Infrastructure
Slava Vasenev, PhD, Assistant Professor of Soil Geography; Wageningen University

Waste Materials in New York City Soils: Pedogenesis in a Concrete Jungle
Richard Shaw, PhD (State Soil Scientist (ret.), USDA-NRCS); Elizabeth Phillips (Environmental Science Undergraduate Student; Brooklyn College); Zoey Russo (Environmental Science Undergraduate Student; Brooklyn College)

Earthen Materials in Construction: An Urban Metabolism Approach
Lola Ben-Alon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Director; Natural Materials Lab, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP)

4:45:‍ ‍Exhibits and Poster session

5:00:  Closing ceremony and Happy Hour

compost collage (working title)
Elena Tinschert, Volunteer Program Manager, NYC Compost Network at Big Reuse

Composters
Zachary Tan Strein, Composter, Environmental Science Undergraduate Student; Brooklyn College

Cookbook for When the Sun Goes Out
Elizabeth Demaray, Sculptor, Professor; Rutgers University

Corpo-graphy
Sara Hodaie, Artist, Writer, Farmer, Gallery Assistant; BioBat Art Space

Entangling; Socio-ecological praxis for environmental justice (through the lens of soil)
Isabelle Groenewegen, Urbanist, Project Manager; Care Lab at Parsons School of Design, the New School

Hyperscaling Soils and the Deep Time of Intelligence
Dominika Ksel, Interdisciplinary Artist, Founder; Buena Onda Art Collective; Assistant Professor; Baruch College

Leaves of Grass: Spontaneous Rewilding & Radical Reclamation of the Urban Scape
Constance Maleszynska, Sustainability Cultivator; Bramble NYC

PenLee Farm Art Yard: PFLAY: + Flatbush, BK
Sarah Olson, Painter, Performance Artist

Soil Culture: Hidden Architectures of Waste and Invisible Futures
Maria Patricia Tinajero, PhD (Visual Thinker, Artist, Philosopher of Soil); Julie Poitras Santos (Artist, Writer, Curator, Director of Exhibitions; Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D)

Soil stories
Noelani Kidder, Filmmaker, Director; Lotte Productions

Soil Story (Film)
Olivia Acuña (Filmmaker); Kiana Fernandez (Interdisciplinary Artist, Art Director & Content Creator; Wieden+Kennedy NY); Laura Alvear Roa (Independent Researcher, Multidisciplinary Artist, Associate; Culture and Animals Foundation); Shakti Mb (Filmmaker, Founder; Two Shiny Coins)

The 4th R: Relationship
Gisela Sanders Alcántara, 13 times NY-Emmy winner, media creator, educator, disability activist, Senior Producer/Editor; CUNY TV

The DIRT Project
Emilie Houssart, Artist, Curator, Sustainability Faculty Fellow; SUNY New Paltz

The life-force of dirt
Marina 'heron' Tsaplina (EcoPuppetry Artist, Writer, Disability Culture Activist); Isabelle Groenewegen (Urbanist, Project Manager; Care Lab at Parsons School of Design, the New School)

Tides of Green: Reclaiming Medians as Living Infrastructure
Camila A. Morales (Artist, Designer, Educator; Co-Founder & Director, Valé), Corinne Sommer (Construction Management Consultant (Sustainability and Renewable Energy); Re:Build Designs LLC)

Urban Soils Institute Table
George Lozefski, Director of Education & Field Investigations, Urban Soils Institute 

Young as the Worms, Old as the Soil
Vasudev Vashisht, Visual Artist, Photographer