Omaha Organics Lawn Care with Paul Tukey and Dr. Nick Christians
Omaha Organics Lawn Care Video
Check out Omaha Organics lawn video with Paul Tukey, founder of Safelawns and Dr. Nick Christians, professor at ISU.
Paul Tukey
Paul Tukey, 53, is an American journalist, author, filmmaker, TV host, consultant and motivational public speaker, who is internationally recognized as a leader in landscape sustainability. Winner of the prestigious Horticultural Communicator of the Year Award from the American Horticultural Society, Mr. Tukey is lauded for his ability to turn a mundane subject — the landscape — into a rousing public discourse. He has been featured in thousands of media outlets from Good Morning America in the U.S., to the CBC in Canada, as well as National Geographic, Readers Digest and the New York Times, which called him “The godfather of the natural land care movement.” He recently accepted the position of Chief Sustainability Officer at Glenstone in Maryland, where he plans to help create a “living classroom” on the grounds of the magnificent modern art museum founded by Mitchell and Emily Rales.
Life & Career
Mr. Tukey spent the 1980s as a newspaper journalist before launching his own landscape contracting business in the 1990s. In 1994 he developed Acute Chemical Sensitivity from the products he applied to lawns, so in 1995 he launched an environmentally oriented media company, People, Places & Plants, which published a magazine and a television show broadcast internationally on the cable network HGTV from 2003-2007. In 2006, Mr. Tukey launched SafeLawns Foundation (www.SafeLawns.org) and in 2007, he wrote the best-selling book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, and produced an award-winning video series titled “Making the Organic Lawn Care Transition.” In 2009, he produced and starred in the award-winning documentary film, A Chemical Reaction, centered on the first town in North America — Hudson, Quebec — that ever banned lawn and garden chemicals. In 2012, Mr. Tukey co-authored a book, Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn games and the campaign, Lawn Games for Life. He also launched an international consulting firm, Organic Green Pros to help businesses, municipalities and others maintain their landscapes naturally. Since late in 2012, Mr. Tukey has been spending the majority of his professional life as a sustainability consultant for Glenstone, a museum in Potomac, Md, founded by Maryland businessman Mitchell Rales.
Speaking
The essence of Mr. Tukey’s award-winning presentations is to bring hands-on environmental stewardship into the minds of private homeowners, political and business leaders. Mr. Tukey’s audiences have included environmental groups, universities, hospitals, law clinics, corporations and elected officials as diverse as: Harvard University, EcoJustice Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society, America in Bloom, Longwood Gardens, Women in Medicine, the Environmental Protection Agency, L.L. Bean, Walt Disney World and the state of New Hampshire legislature.
Topics
Mr. Tukey’s talks are always customized to meet the needs of a particular group, but generally fall under the following headings:
- Safe Lawns: How & Why to Create a Beautiful, Natural Landscape
- 10 Words: Essential Dialogue for Saving the Planet
- The Precautionary Principle: A Better Safe Than Sorry Approach to Environmental Law
- Yes You Can!: Effective Community Action Starts with You
- The Truth About Kids, Cats, Dogs & Lawn Chemicals
- Why Organic, Why Now?
The Film
In 2008 and 2009, Mr. Tukey produced and starred in a documentary film, A Chemical Reaction: The Story of a True Green Revolution. The film’s world premiere at the prestigious World Film Festival of Montreal was soon followed by appearances at other major North American film festivals, as well as thousands of private and public screenings at various events across the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Tukey often attends openings of the film and offers a rousing question-and-answer session thereafter.
Book Signings
Where appropriate, Mr. Tukey offers signings of his best-selling books, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, or Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games, at the conclusion of his presentations.
Contact & Booking
Phone: 207-252-0869 Email: kathryn.tukey@gmail.com
Milestones
In 2013, Paul became the first Chief Sustainability Officer for Glenstone, a museum in Potomac, Md., that features a 100 percent organically maintained landscape.
In 2012, Paul co-authored a book, Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games and launched a national campaign, Lawn Games for Life, aimed at addressing America’s sedentary lifestyle.
In 2009, Paul produced and starred in the Emmy nominated documentary film, A Chemical Reaction, from PFZMedia, LLC (http://www.chemicalreactionmovie.com/) about the origin of the anti-pesticide movement that has swept across Canada and into the U.S.
In 2007, Paul authored The Organic Lawn Care Manual from Storey Publishing, which quickly became the best-selling lawn book through 2010.
In 2006, Paul founded SafeLawns, an international coalition of for-profit and non-profit organizations promoting environmentally friendly lawn care and resource conservation.
In 2002, he launched an Emmy nominated TV show titled People, Places & Plants, which was co-hosted by Roger Swain. Aired for two years on HGTV, the show is now available worldwide as a 46-episode boxed set.
In 1995, he founded “People, Places & Plants”, which was widely regarded as the finest regional gardening magazine in the United States.
Other Honors
In 2007, Paul received the Quill & Trowel Award for Best Electronic Media from the Garden Writers Association of America for his video collection titled Organic Lawn Care: Making the Transition to Organics.
In 2006, Paul was named the nation’s Horticultural Communicator of the Year by the American Horticultural Society.
In 2002, Paul was awarded the Silver Medal of Honor by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for Contributions to Regional Horticulture.
Dr. Nick Christians
Awards/Special Recognition
- Membership in College of Agriculture and Life Sci. Advising Academy, 2011
- Iowa State Horticultural Society “Honor Award”, 2009
- Sigma Xi membership , 2006
- Appointed to Musser International Turfgrass Foundation Board of Directors, 2004
- Iowa State University Foundation Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, 2004
- Agriculture College Faculty Member of the year, Veisha, 2002
- Named University Professor, 2000
- Fred Grau, Turfgrass Research Award from Crop Science Soc. of America, 1999
- Iowa Inventor of the Year Award, 1998
- Distinguished Service Award from the Iowa Golf Course Super. Assoc., 1997
- Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, 1996
- R & D 100 Award for development of new technology, 1996
- Extension Education Aids Award from ASHS, 1995
- Iowa Horticultural Society Certification of Merit Award, 1995
- Nebraska Turfgrass Foundation President’s Award, 1995
- Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, 1995
- Elected as board member of Crop Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, 1994-1996
- Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Service Award, 1994
- Chosen as one of three editors for the International Turfgrass Society Journal, 1993
- International Turfgrass Society, Exceptional Editorial Service Award, 1993
- American Society for Horticultural Science Outstanding Undergraduate Educator Award, 1991
- Pi Alpha Xi Horticulture Honor Society, 1990
- Louis Thompson Advisor Award, ISU, College of Agriculture, 1989
- Iowa Legislative Teaching Excellence Award, 1989
- Elected Chair, Crop Science Society of America, Div. C-5, 1989
- Meritorious Service Award, Iowa Turfgrass Institute, 1987
- Best Paper Award, C-5 Division, American Society of Agronomy, 1979
- Sigma Delta Agricultural Honor Society, 1979
- Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, 1976
Research Focus
Dr. Christians’ area of research interest is in the development of naturally occurring herbicides for the turf industry. U.S. Patent 5,030,268 on the use of corn gluten meal as a natural herbicide was issued in 1991. The patent was reissued in 1993 with broader claims that cover the use of corn gluten meal on field crops and home gardens under number RE #34,594. Two additional patents were also issued in 1993 on the technology. Patent # 5,290,749 on the use of hydrolyzed proteins from corn and other grains that were shown to have higher levels of herbicidal activity than the corn gluten meal was the first to be issued. Patents were also filed in the US and Canada in 2011 on improvements on the corn gluten technology. Christians is also involved in several other projects, including the use of coproducts from the biofuel industry in the turfgrass industry.