Dr. Elaine Ingham

Dr. Elaine Ingham serves as the Soil Food Web School’s Founder, Principal Ambassador, and Science and Research Advisor. Dr. Ingham began her college career at St. Olaf College, where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts. She earned her Master of Science in Marine Biology from Texas A&M and her Ph.D. in Soil Microbiology from Colorado State in 1981. From there, she completed her post-doc at the University of Georgia Institute of Ecology before serving as an Instructor and later an Associate Professor for many years at Oregon State University. During her travels, she served as the first President of the Soil Ecology Society, the Program Director for the Ecological Society of America, and a member of the American Society of Microbiology. In addition to starting Soil Foodweb Inc. 26 years ago, Dr. Ingham owned and then sold the Soil Foodweb Institute in Australia and served as Chief Scientist at the Rodale Institute. Dr. Ingham’s research is global, and her scientific papers date as far back as 1982, with research concerning ultraviolet-induced autofluorescence of arbuscular mycorrhizal root infections. Seventy-six papers later, she focused on milk comparison between organic and conventional farms in the United States. Dr. Ingham has written 6 book chapters for published books, participated in research teams publishing 17 technical reports, and has been a speaker at agricultural conferences in Great Britain, Brazil, Australia, and numerous states throughout America. Dr. Ingham is the global leader in the Soil Food Web sciences and is highly respected worldwide for her achievements. In 2019 she teamed up with Luke Louka and created The Soil Food Web School (SFWS).