Thorsten Arnold: Scientific Advisor, Writer, and Researcher
Thorsten has dedicated his work life to promoting climate resilience in its various facets. With his wife Kristine Hammel, he co-owns Persephone Market Garden, an ecological vegetable farm that produces healthy, fair and simply good food. They are slowly building this into a community hub, having integrated a summer farm camp, farming workshops, and now a private farm & forest school that offers holistic education in sustainable living. He offers workshops on planning for Climate Resilience on farms, and as a speaker who raises awareness on the soil sponge and the biosphere’s ability to self regulate the climate.
Thorsten has a PhD in watershed sciences and agricultural economics from the University of Hohenheim, Germany; a Master’s degree in Marine Environmental Science from the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Sea at the University of Oldenburg, Germany; and an undergraduate degree in environmental and process engineering (BTU Cottbus). His academic training uniquely bridges various aspects of climate dynamics: global greenhouse gas forcing, oceans, and the role of regional land use and agriculture.
Resilience in, and adaptive governance of, a changing world are the guiding pillars of Thorsten’s life. He has advocated against selling public water utilities to international investors and against destructive aspects of global trade deregulations, and worked with national and international development agencies.
His master's thesis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research focused on multi-causal stressors on land-use change in Mexico. As a scholar for the Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development (SARD) Initiative at the Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, he instigated work in scaling up SARD. During an internship, Thorsten was invited to attend the 2001 UN conference on the Kyoto protocol in Marrakesh.
He studied equity impacts of water rights with increasing climate variability in Chile. He published on adaptive management in watershed agencies in Ontario.
Thorsten works as food system advocate, analyst, and design consultant. He is the founder of the successful farmer-driven cooperative Eat Local Grey Bruce. Projects range from socio-economic-environmental impact assessment (e.g. Fresh City Farms), environmental monitoring on farms, business analysis for wholesaling meat (both for Eat Local Grey Bruce and for the Organic Council of Ontario), traceability in food chains, and recently a climate resilience assessment of farms (with EFAO and Arrell Institute, University of Guelph). Thorsten writes for various publications (including the US-based Growing for Markets) on collaborative marketing and resilience planning.
Thorsten is a well-connected ecological food and farming systems advocate. He is currently a board member with the Organic Council of Ontario, past “Strategic Initiatives Coordinator” at the Ecological Farmers of Ontario, presenter with the Local Farm & Food Cooperatives network, advisor to Sustain Ontario, past board member of the Grey County chapter of the National Farmers Union, contributor to the Organic Value Chain Round Table, and convenor/presenter at the Living Soil Symposium of Regeneration Canada and numerous other events.
Thorsten’s other professional interest is in the governance of numerical modelling of watersheds, as assessment and decision tools in a changing climate. He co-authored one of the first model management guidelines ever for the Oak Ridges Moraine Coalition and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority. He also developed a pragmatic yet model-based approach to assessing drinking water threats (Arnold 2015), an assessment of Ontario’s institutional lessons on watershed modelling (Arnold & Marchildon 2018), and recently a generalized framework for the management of numeric models in the public sector (Arnold et al., 2020). The work on model management in public sector agencies builds on his academic work during his PhD and his work experience in diverse government institutions in Chile, Germany, Peru, Ontario, and at UN level in Rome.
In private life, Thorsten values time with family and farm and garden projects. Thorsten has learned Aikido for 20 years and has also taught small groups. As aficionado of Argentine Tango, he and his wife taught in Owen Sound for four years. Thorsten is also an avid juggler and enjoys offering workshops for youth and at music festivals.
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Ph.D., Irrigation management at watershed level, University of Hohenheim, 2010
MSc., Marine Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 2002
B.A. eq, Environmental and Process Engineering, Brandenburger Technische Universitaet Cottbus, 1998
Thorsten has a PhD in watershed sciences and agricultural economics from the University of Hohenheim, Germany; a Master’s degree in Marine Environmental Science from the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Sea at the University of Oldenburg, Germany; and an undergraduate degree in environmental and process engineering (BTU Cottbus). His academic training uniquely bridges various aspects of climate dynamics: global greenhouse gas forcing, oceans, and the role of regional land use and agriculture.
Resilience in, and adaptive governance of, a changing world are the guiding pillars of Thorsten’s life. He has advocated against selling public water utilities to international investors and against destructive aspects of global trade deregulations, and worked with national and international development agencies.
His master's thesis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research focused on multi-causal stressors on land-use change in Mexico. As a scholar for the Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development (SARD) Initiative at the Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, he instigated work in scaling up SARD. During an internship, Thorsten was invited to attend the 2001 UN conference on the Kyoto protocol in Marrakesh.
He studied equity impacts of water rights with increasing climate variability in Chile. He published on adaptive management in watershed agencies in Ontario.
Thorsten works as food system advocate, analyst, and design consultant. He is the founder of the successful farmer-driven cooperative Eat Local Grey Bruce. Projects range from socio-economic-environmental impact assessment (e.g. Fresh City Farms), environmental monitoring on farms, business analysis for wholesaling meat (both for Eat Local Grey Bruce and for the Organic Council of Ontario), traceability in food chains, and recently a climate resilience assessment of farms (with EFAO and Arrell Institute, University of Guelph). Thorsten writes for various publications (including the US-based Growing for Markets) on collaborative marketing and resilience planning.
Thorsten is a well-connected ecological food and farming systems advocate. He is currently a board member with the Organic Council of Ontario, past “Strategic Initiatives Coordinator” at the Ecological Farmers of Ontario, presenter with the Local Farm & Food Cooperatives network, advisor to Sustain Ontario, past board member of the Grey County chapter of the National Farmers Union, contributor to the Organic Value Chain Round Table, and convenor/presenter at the Living Soil Symposium of Regeneration Canada and numerous other events.
Thorsten’s other professional interest is in the governance of numerical modelling of watersheds, as assessment and decision tools in a changing climate. He co-authored one of the first model management guidelines ever for the Oak Ridges Moraine Coalition and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority. He also developed a pragmatic yet model-based approach to assessing drinking water threats (Arnold 2015), an assessment of Ontario’s institutional lessons on watershed modelling (Arnold & Marchildon 2018), and recently a generalized framework for the management of numeric models in the public sector (Arnold et al., 2020). The work on model management in public sector agencies builds on his academic work during his PhD and his work experience in diverse government institutions in Chile, Germany, Peru, Ontario, and at UN level in Rome.
In private life, Thorsten values time with family and farm and garden projects. Thorsten has learned Aikido for 20 years and has also taught small groups. As aficionado of Argentine Tango, he and his wife taught in Owen Sound for four years. Thorsten is also an avid juggler and enjoys offering workshops for youth and at music festivals.
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Ph.D., Irrigation management at watershed level, University of Hohenheim, 2010
MSc., Marine Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 2002
B.A. eq, Environmental and Process Engineering, Brandenburger Technische Universitaet Cottbus, 1998