The Northland Bioneers will hold its fourth annual conference on October 24 and 25, 2009, again at Willey Hall on the west bank campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. We held our third annual conference in the Twin Cities last November 15 and 16, 2008 at Willey Hall.

The Twin Cities will again be a satellite site for this annual conference held in San Rafael, California, now in its twentieth year. The Bioneers Conference is an annual report card on the health of the ecosystem of planet earth.

At our local conference we will see videos of the plenary sessions from the California conference plus workshops, speakers and entertainment at our live local event here in the Twin Cities.

If you would like to join our effort as a volunteer and attend the 2009 conference at a discount, sign up on the volunteer page at our website.

Founded in 1989, the Bioneers conference is an opportunity for nationally reknowned speakers to present inspiring lectures on the state of the environment. These experts have focused on how we can solve the problems created by humankind's heavy footprint on the earth's ecosystem.

Speakers at plenary sessions over the years have includeded such nationally known figures as: Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine;" Janine Banyus, biomimicry expert; Amy Goodman, host of "Democracy Now;" Paul Stamets, mycologist extraordinaire; Tom Linzey, co-founder of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and "Democracy Schools;" Van Jones, social activist; and Paul Hawken, pioneer of socially responsible businesses.

The purpose of the Bioneers is to educate, empower and inspire people to work together for the purpose of restoring balance to our ecology and to improve our relationship with the earth and with each other. Topics have included bioremediation, biomimicry, and the many ways that Mother Nature maintains balance and restores herself. Paricipants were inspired to network and to learn how to use these same principles to restore balance in our own lives and the life of the planet once again.

Oram has attended and helped coordinate past Bioneers satellite conferences and has participated the past three years in the Northland Bioneers effort in the Twin Cities. He had an Exhibitor's Booth in 2006 and was the Facilities Co-coordinator in 2007 and 2008. Oram is co-producer of the 2009 conference.

DVD copies of lectures presented at the plenary sessions in previous years in San Rafael are available on the Bioneers' website.