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Advisory Councils help set the standards for CNG certification, and carefully consider when improvements might be made to CNG’s allowed and prohibited practices, products and operations. We are grateful to these practitioners for sharing their expertise.

Members of each council can be found below. 

Apiary Certification

Apiary Advisory Council


Pam Fisher

Beekeepers Guild of SE Virginia, founder
Bees Knees Apiaries
Chesapeake, Virginia

Nick Hoefly
Astor Apiaries
Cornell Master Beekeeper
NYS Apiary Industry Advisory Committee Member
Long Island Beekeepers Club Board Member
Queens, New York

Seneca Kristjonsdottir
Queen breeder, researcher, past positions with
Washington State University, University of Colorado Boulder
Apiculture & Ecology major, Goddard College 2013
Founder, Urban Pollination Project, Denver 2011
Arkansas state apiary inspector, 2010
Flagstaff, Arizona

Buddy Marterre
Dr. Buddy’s Bees
Instigator and lead author of CNG Apiary Standards
EAS Master Beekeeper, NCSBA Master Beekeeper
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Jennifer Mercer
Black Dog Bees & Maple Trees
Cornell Master Beekeeper
Queen breeder, educator
CNG Senior Inspector
Lebanon, NH

Jon Zawislak
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension, Apiculture
EAS Master Beekeeper
Arkansas Beekeepers Associationex officio board member
Little Rock, Arkansas


Aquaponics Certification

Aquaponics Advisory Council


Cecilia (Cissy) Bowman
Owner/Consultant, Center Valley Organics
Advisory Council member, Farmed Here
President, Hoosier Organic Marketing Education
Clayton, Indiana

Gina Cavaliero
Co-founder, Aquaponics Association (retired)
Co-founder and former Manager, Green Acre Aquaponics
Brooksville, Florida

Rebecca Nelson
Co-founder and Co-ower, Nelson and Pade
Author, Aquaponic Food Production
Adjunct Instructor, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Montello, Wisconsin

John Pade
Co-founder and Co-ower, Nelson and Pade
Adjunct Instructor, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Montello, Wisconsin

Tawnya Sawyer
Director of Education and Business Development, Colorado Aquaponics
Denver, Colorado


Mushroom Certification

Mushroom Advisory Council


Tradd Cotter

Author, Organic Mushroom Cultivation and Mycoremediation
Director of Cultivation, Research & Product Development, Mushroom Mountain LLC 
Easley, South Carolina 

Steve Gabriel
Author, Farming the Woods: An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests
Farmer, Wellspring Forest Farm
Former Specialty Mushrooms & Agroforestry Specialist, Cornell Small Farms Program
Ithaca, New York

Dr. Peter Hartel
Professor Emeritus, Soil Microbiology, University of Georgia, UGAgarden
Founder, UGA certificate program in organic agriculture
Athens, Georgia  

Mark Jones
CEO (Cohabitating Ecological Organism), Sharondale Mushroom Farm
Cismont, Virginia

Nicholas Laskovski
Farmer/Instructor, Get Love Ski (was Dana Forest Farm)
NE SARE Grant Recipient (2012, 2014) for Organic Shiitake Cultivation and Market Research
Roxbury, Vermont

John C. Michelotti
Co-owner, Catskill Fungi
Member, Amazon Mycorenewal Project
Big Indian, New York

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