Forest to sea: URI regenerative agriculture conference welcomes attendees interested in land-to-sea connections

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 7, 2026 – Farmers, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders will gather at the University of Rhode Island this May for the second annual Rhode to Regenerative: From Forest to Sea conference. This year’s conference, scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 28, will bring together those at the forefront of the growing field of regenerative agriculture.

Tarshire Battle, Roots2Empower, and Heather Angel, Narragansett Indian Tribe, are return presenters at this year’s conference.

This year’s conference will spotlight ocean farming and its vital connection to terrestrial agriculture, examining how forests, farms, and coastal systems interact through shared watersheds. Programs on financing agroforestry, virtual farm mapping, funding, increasing farmland biodiversity, carbon and climate-smart forestry, Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and building support for Indigenous agriculture in the Northeast, will be part of the conference’s agenda.

Attendees will also get to learn about and see the University’s new silvopasture, taking shape at Peckham Farm. (URI Photo / Peckham Farm)

The conference’s first day will focus on regenerative agriculture talks and breakout groups. Then, on May 28, after a morning community tree planting at the URI Peckham Farm silvopasture, a small group of funders and food systems leaders will take a land and ocean farm tour across the state.

Their tour will include visits to Fidelity Investments’ campus in Smithfield, where attendees will see local agricultural innovation in action, as Fidelity feeds its employees and the surrounding community with an on-campus farm. Conference attendees will next visit Ocean Hour Farm in Newport, Blue Acres Aquaculture’s kelp farm in Narragansett, and nearby oyster farms.

URI Professor Laura Meyerson, a conference co-organizer, said the event merges academic expertise with grounded, land-and-sea-based knowledge.

She says URI hopes to build partnerships to create a Center for Agroforestry at URI, where researchers, farmers, and students from across southern New England can collaborate on regenerative land use practices.

Students are invited to share posters on connected topics and can apply by May 20.

“This is a great opportunity for local farmers and for URI students and faculty and our larger community,” Meyerson said.

Sponsors and partners include Tree Pro, Matunuck Oyster Bar, Fidelity Investments, Whalers Brewing, and Patagonia.

Discounts to attend the conference are available for farmers, veterans, and nonprofits. To learn more or to register, visit the conference’s website or email lameyerson@uri.edu.