Join IOA with Steve McLaskey on March 25 at noon for a presentation about Maharishi International University’s Regenerative Organic Agriculture program! Register below to learn more about the history of MIU, their degree programs, and current research on their commercial farm in Fairfield, IA.

ABOUT MIU’S REGENERATIVE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PROGRAM:

MIU is a 501(c)3 nonprofit university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. They are located in Fairfield, IA, and offer a variety of degree programs, from computer science to cinema to enlightened leadership. Their Regenerative Organic Agriculture (ROA) program offers on-campus or online BA degrees and an online MS degree option. The goal of the ROA program is to create social entrepreneurs with the skills to take on the growing opportunities in regenerative organic agriculture. In-person students gain hands-on experience by working on MIU’s two-acre farm, which is currently managed by program alumni and sells produce to local farmers’ markets. Class subjects range from ecology and regenerative systems to holistic farm management, and the program culminates in an internship opportunity with a regenerative farm or organization.

ABOUT STEVE MCLASKEY

Steve became interested in organic farming and environmental issues long before they were popular. He grew up on his family farm in Illinois, which his great-great-grandfather bought in 1836. His father was the first farmer in the area to adopt conservation practices such as contour plowing, and Extension Agents would often bring other farmers over to show them how to adopt those practices on their own farms. Steve’s family sold their farm when he was fourteen, so he never got to farm that land. But farming is in his DNA and he has always had a sense of conservation and care for the land. 

Steve learned Transcendental Meditation near the end of high school and spent many years teaching and working for TM organizations, eventually ending up at MIU. In 1989, he enrolled in graduate school at Cornell University in New York State where he studied vegetable crops and earned an MS and PhD. He returned to MIU in 1997 and has been farming and teaching agriculture there ever since.