Recorded by January 13, 2019

Phil Kauth, Seed Bank Manager at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, will take us from our own backyards to an underground seed bank drilled into a mountain 800 miles from the North Pole. Filled with lessons on everything from the practice of saving seeds to proper storage techniques, he will explain how, by working together in our own backyards and through seed swaps and exchanges, and as part of an international coalition working to store seeds collectively in Svalbard, we can all preserve the varieties we love and cherish. Phil joined Seed Savers Exchange in 2013 as a tissue culture lab manager and later transitioned to assistant curator overseeing the evaluation program. Currently as seed bank manager Phil leads the Preservation Department which maintains the nonprofit's vast collection of over 25,000 open-pollinated varieties. Phil has a MS and PhD in horticultural sciences from the University of Florida.