Women's Environmental Institute Events

Sunday November 2 9:30am - 3:00pm CST

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Reclaiming the Journey of Death and Dying: Green Burials in Minnesota

Course Description: On May 24, 2024, Governor Walz signed a bill legalizing natural organic reduction (human composting) in Minnesota, making us the 11th state to legalize this new option for people to return to the earth naturally, with fewer harmful environmental impacts. Starting July 1, 2025, licensed providers will be able to offer this service in Minnesota. With green burial options come a new way of thinking about death and the dying process. This unique class provides an introduction to green burial options in Minnesota, given by a leader at the forefront of the state’s green burial movement. This is paired with an exploration of what it means to reclaim the dying process, death rituals, and new ways of understanding the historical, social, cultural, political, spiritual, and ethical contexts that influence our views of death and dying. In addition to learning about human composting, water cremation, and green burial, the class will explore emerging/returning practices of keeping people at home during the dying process, home vigils, and family/friends directed funerals/rituals. We will end with a variety of local and national resources. This class will include a morning session, hour+ lunch break with time for a walk outdoors or relaxing stroll through the farm, and an afternoon session. What to Bring: Please bring your own lunch, notebook and pen. Optional: Feel free to bring an object to place on the centerpiece that represents an experience you’ve had with death. All are welcome – WEI classes are open to everyone. Instructor Bios: Carol Geisler, Ph.D. is a professor who teaches in the Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies at St. Catherine University. She has been interested in the journeys of death and dying for over 30 years in her roles as a nurse, psychologist, and spiritual seeker. She is passionate about consciously reclaiming the dying process and educating people about available choices. Taelor Johnson is the Communications Director for Interra Green Burial by Mueller Memorial and helped Interra become one of only two funeral providers in Minnesota to be certified by the national Green Burial Council. She recently testified before the MN House and Senate as part of the successful effort to legalize NOR in Minnesota, and is working to make sustainability-focused disposition options more accessible. If you would be interested in staying overnight at WEI before and/or after this class, please reserve accommodations through our FarmStay. WEI has an annual scholarship fund to support cost-accessible programming. Please see scholarship application instructions in the registration form below.

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Saturday November 8 9:30am - 3:00pm CST

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Creative Stitching, Mindful Mending

Course Description: If our hand stitching tells a story, what would your stitches say about you? Join us as we explore the benefits of mindful stitching and introduce techniques commonly used in a stitching practice. Basic needlework skills like threading a needle, a va......More

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Saturday November 8 10:00am - 4:00pm CST

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Cider Saturday

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED. NEW DATE IS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8. Bring your own bottles or jars, washed and sterilized, and we will supply the #3 cider apples for cleaning and pressing. Participants can take home some cider for an immediate beverage or for freezing. T......More

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Saturday November 15 10:30am - 4:00pm CST

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Introduction to Growing and Crafting with Hazel

Course Description: Spend a day learning the basics and benefits of growing hazel in the Upper Midwest. We will discuss the various species that grow in our region ecosystem benefits of these plants strategies for establishment, maintenance, harvest, and processing and ......More

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Sunday November 16 1:30pm - Sunday May 17 4:00pm CDT

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Aquaponic Farming: From Fingerling to Fish Fry

A Seven-Month Training Course in Aquaponic FarmingDATE CHANGE: The First Class will be Sunday, November 16 (original date was 10/19) Are you interested in pursuing a career in aquaculture, or diversifying your farm with aquaponics? Growing fish and greens together provides both fresh organic greens and uncontaminated protein from fish. This 7-month course will give you the foundational knowledge you need to build a functioning aquaponic unit and manage the system through the life course of your fish. We will be using yellow perch in a hoophouse at Amador Hill Farm as our lab. First Class: November 16, 1:30pm-4pm. Time: Every third Sunday of the month 1:30-4:00p November 16, 2025 through May 17, 2026 All Class Dates: November 16December 21January 18February 15March 15April – tours of UMN aquaponics system dates TBDMay 17Location: Classes meet at WEI’s Amador Hill Farm & Orchard just outside North Branch unless otherwise noted. What is Aquaponics? Aquaponics is the art and science of cultivating fish and plants together in a constructed, re-circulating closed-loop ecosystem, utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish wastes to plant nutrients. WEI’s aquaponic training program is a seven-month lecture and hands-on experience course. The class will begin with basics in aquaponics and aquaculture. Each month we will explore a new topic of study as it relates to aquaponics. The topics will range from aquaponic water chemistry and fish ecology, design and equipment for aquaponic tubs, fish and plant health, planting techniques for growing aquaponic vegetables, system maintenance and equilibrium, equipment resources, lighting/energy efficiency, spawning and fish ribbons, harvesting and market planning, and state regulations for aquaponic farming in Minnesota. This 7-month Training Course will provide you with basic knowledge and skills for building and managing a living aquaponic system. Readings, homework and take-home exam. You can go as deep as you want in this class in pursuit of your learning experience. The assigned readings will give you background information for the class. You can complete these readings or save for a later day. Chad’s teaching technique is packed with knowledge, years of experience and a wide understanding of aquaculture and climate activism. If you read the assigned articles, you will have a good chance to ask Chad informative questions. We are hoping that each of you may develop a small mini-aquaculture home system or start designing a larger one. The course requires volunteering at least one day at WEI’s winter farm to help take care of the aquaponic system. Students will be given the opportunity to complete a take-home exam to review and write about what they have learned. An optional individual mentorship meeting with Chad will cap this extra effort. Upon successful completion of the class, Chad and Jacquelyn (WEI Director) would be happy to write a letter of support for your future steps into aquaculture. Instructor bio: Chad Hebert owned and operated the Urban Farm Project for more than 10 years. The Urban Farm Project successfully raised more than 30,000 pounds of yellow perch and almost 50,000 pounds of vegetables. For the past nine years, Chad has participated in a cooperative research agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Science. Chad has completed his HACCP training for both AIS and seafood processing. The Urban Farm Project was involved in a number of aquaponic projects including the project at WEI. Chad is currently working with EPNI to coordinate and implement a larger scale operation. Chad Hebert started the Urban Farm Project with the belief that there was a need to build sustainable food systems that could be available to all people while protecting the planet we live on. We have one textbook for the class, Sylvia Berstein’s Aquaponic Gardening, which will be issued to students at the beginning of the class.

Women’s Environmental Institute, 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN, 55056

Women's Environmental Institute

View details

About Us

Contact Information

About Us

Contact Information

Reclaiming the Journey of Death and Dying: Green Burials in Minnesota

Creative Stitching, Mindful Mending

Cider Saturday

Introduction to Growing and Crafting with Hazel

Aquaponic Farming: From Fingerling to Fish Fry

Group Results

Tag sale

Pelham Jewish Center

Women's Environmental Institute

View details

About Us

Contact Information

About Us

Contact Information

Reclaiming the Journey of Death and Dying: Green Burials in Minnesota

Creative Stitching, Mindful Mending

Cider Saturday

Introduction to Growing and Crafting with Hazel

Aquaponic Farming: From Fingerling to Fish Fry

Group Results

Tag sale

Pelham Jewish Center

This is Burbio

Forgot Password

Oops!