Kim Williams-Guillen, TOPP Specialist
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EmailKim Williams-Guillen, TOPP Specialist
As a TOPP specialist, with Alex Cacciari at Washtenaw County Conservation District (WCCD), Kim provides direct technical support for Michigan farmers transitioning to Certified Organic growing practices and for the experienced organic farmers providing mentorship and training to those beginning the process. She is working via the Transition to Organic Partnership Program, funded by the USDA's Organic Transition Initiative. Kim grew up in northern California before moving to New York City to pursue a Ph.D. in primatology. During this period, she developed a passionate interest in sustainable agriculture and its role in biodiversity conservation, which led her to a postdoctoral position at the University of Michigan.
She has studied bats, primates, parrots, large predators, and sea turtles in Central America, always with a focus on how agriculture and food systems affect wildlife conservation. In 2017, she and her partner (WCCD's MEAP technician) purchased their own small hobby farm in Wayne County, where they raise livestock in a native species silvopastoral system inspired by the biodiverse tree-based agroecosystems she studied in Nicaragua and Mexico.
Contact Kim at 313.930.6301 or kim.williams-guillen@washtenaw.org.