Brett Melone
Adjunct Faculty
- Office
- McCone Building
- bmelone@middlebury.edu
For more than 20 years, Brett Melone has been working with farmers in California and Latin America to support their business success and natural resource management, and leading nonprofit organizations that serve farmers. Melone grew up in South Florida, where his father managed hundreds of acres of avocadoes, limes and mangoes, and his mother owned a tropical plant nursery. The beauty and abundance, as well as the dark underbelly of agriculture that he experienced, had a major impact on his career path.
After obtaining his undergraduate degree and working for a few years, Melone obtained an MA in International Environmental Policy at the Monterey Institute, focusing on integrated coastal zone management, watershed management and sustainable agriculture. Following a Sea Grant Fellowship with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, and a Rotary Foundation scholarship with Tierra Viva, Agricultores Orgánicos de Chile, Melone worked on the implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Latin America, and served as the first executive director of CET Sur, a regional NGO focused on agricultural, rural and leadership development. Today he serves as the director of lending with California FarmLink, a community development organization that facilitates access to land for farmers, and access to capital for diverse ag, food and natural resource-based businesses.
Courses Taught
ENPG 8639
Upcoming
Sustainable Ag--Regenerative
Course Description
This two-weekend workshop explores sustainability in agriculture, and the policies that have shaped our current agriculture and food system. The course applies a comparative policy analysis lens, through lectures, discussions and group work in the classroom, and field trips to farms and other relevant places across the Salinas and Pajaro Valleys – our outdoor classroom. The Monterey Bay Region is an ideal location to see firsthand the effects of policy interventions that have impacted or supported agriculture. The learnings from these visits will be applied to other domestic and international cases we will be exploring during the course. The role of agriculture as a contributor to climate change, and its potential to support adaptation and mitigation will be a central focus of the course.
Important notes:
• Time in class will be split roughly evenly between field trips and lectures/discussions in the classroom.
• A modest amount of outside class work will be required, more on this below.
The course schedule and deliverable expectations are below.
In-person Class Time:
Fridays (Oct 2 & 16) 6:00 - 9:00 pm | Lectures, discussions and group work
Saturdays (Oct 3 & 17) 9:00 am - 5:00 pm | Field trips
Sundays (Oct 4 & 18) 9:00 am - 3:00 pm | Lectures, discussions and group work
Work outside of class:
~ 4 hours of reading
2 writing assignments:
• ~ 3 pages each
• some additional research time will be required
Terms Taught
IEPG 8593
EcoRestoration in Colombia
Course Description
This course Exploring Sustainable Agriculture Transitions in Rural Colombia will consist of an 8-day visit to the town of Libano, Colombia, over spring break March 16-24, 2024 with an additional travel day on each end of the trip.
The creation of a sustainable global food system is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. High-input, animal-based, industrial agricultural practices drive land concentration, deplete soils, and generate deforestation, including the loss of soil and forest carbon -In total, the agri-food system accounts for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Promising innovations are emerging, especially around the principles and practices of regenerative agriculture, in both developing and developed countries. The overarching aim of regenerative agriculture is to create farming and grazing systems that are in harmony with nature while generating sustainable livelihoods for farmers. It is a whole-of-ecosystem approach, with soil health at the center. Healthy soils have a high level of biodiversity and capacity to store both water and carbon.
This “exposure tour” in Colombia will provide students an opportunity to explore how an agricultural community in a developing country is grappling with the challenges and opportunities to transition to regenerative agriculture in the context of global and local supply chains, as well as a country engaged in post-conflict reconciliation.
Terms Taught
IEPG 8639
Sustainable Ag--Regenerative
Course Description
An introduction to the theory and practice of sustainable agriculture, this course takes an interdisciplinary approach, supporting the student’s journey to define the concept and identify indicators and metrics according to industry best practices, a robust social movement, and their own informed criteria and values. The course will explore topics such as organic agriculture, climate change and agriculture, food systems, food justice, corporate social responsibility, certification, food safety, and international development, as they relate to sustainable agriculture. The course will be conducted using both the lecture and case methods, while guest speakers and field trips will be integral to the learning process, adding critical perspective and contact with “real world” cases. Students will conduct research into practices and policies that support and detract from sustainability in agriculture. The course will culminate in an individual or team research project related to a topic of interest to students. Active student participation is both encouraged and required.
- This course has a combination of In Person class meetings, required Field Trips, and Asynchronous sessions. Please refer to the syllabus for dates
Week Date Modality Hours
Week 1 9/8 Classroom 4
Week 2 9/15 Asynchronous 2
Week 3 9/22 Field Trip 4
Week 4 9/29 Asynchronous 2
Week 5 10/6 Classroom 4
Week 6 10/13 Asynchronous 2
Week 7 10/20 Field Trip 4
Week 8 10/27 Asynchronous 2
Week 9 11/3 Classroom 4
Week 10 11/10 Asynchronous 2
Week 11 11/17 Field Trip 4
Week 12 11/24 Thanksgiving Week - No Class 0
Week 13 12/1 Classroom 4
Week 14 12/8 Classroom 4
Week 15 12/15 Classroom 3
Terms Taught
IPMG 8698
Directed Study
Course Description
Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.
Terms Taught
Areas of Interest
I am motivated and inspired in my work by people – those who produce our food, innovate new systems and ways of doing business, steward natural resources, create and advocate for policies that will drive change, educators, scientists who interpret the complex processes that make our world work, and consumers and eaters who make change through their actions.
Our ability to manage and adapt is in our collective hands. My work at the intersection of agriculture, fisheries, community development finance and teaching aims to contribute to the common good by amplifying knowledge and capacity, and enabling promising business models to succeed.
Academic Degrees
- MA in International Environmental Policy, Monterey Institute of International Studies, 1999
- BA in International Relations, Business and Spanish, University of San Diego, 1991
Professor Melone has been teaching at the Institute since 2011.
Publications
- “In the Fields of Salinas: Cultivating Intercultural Leadership,” Whole Thinking Journal, No. 6, Winter 2010-11.
- Grassroots Guide to the Farm Bill, Editor, Spanish, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, 2011.
- Farmer Education Program Curriculum Resource Guide, ALBA, 2011.
- Farm Incubator Toolkit, ALBA, 2011.
- Farming for the Future – Contributor, Editor and Translator for ALBA’s quarterly print newsletter.
- Organic Agriculture Education, Crop Management, September 2006.
- The Face of Food on the Central Coast: A Community Food Assessment, ALBA, 2006.
- Local Agenda 21 in Latin America: An Analytical Look at 10 Cases, ICLEI, 2000. (collaborator)
- Tribal Wetland Program Highlights, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000.