Connor is an ecological designer, farm business planner, climate educator, and organizational strategist based between western Massachusetts and the Hudson Valley. As principal and lead designer at AppleSeed, he works with farms and institutions around the Northeast US and nationwide to understand the uniqueness of their landscapes and successfully transition to industry-leading carbon farming and climate adaptation systems. His farm design work specializes in intensive agroforestry systems, diversified annual/perennial production, keyline water planning, and whole farm viability and profitability. He is lead faculty at the Omega Institute’s Ecological Literacy Immersion Program, an instructor and advisor in the University of Vermont’s innovative Leadership for Sustainability program, and speaks frequently around North America on regenerative agriculture and the climate crisis. Connor holds an M.S. in Ecological Planning from UVM.
AppleSeed Team
Connor Stedman
Principal, Lead Designer
Ethan Roland Soloviev
Founder, Lead Designer
Ethan is a farmer, entrepreneur, and author based in the Hudson River Valley. Having designed more than 10,000 acres of land, he now focuses on orchard renovation and regenerative agriculture at High Falls Farm. Ethan is the author of Regenerative Agriculture, Regenerative Enterprise, and the monthly Regeneration Newsroom; you can read his latest latest articles on agriculture, business, and life at ethansoloviev.com.
Dyami Soloviev
Co-founder, Lead Designer
Dyami is an ecological designer, farmer, seed keeper and mother based in her hometown in the Rondout Valley of New York. Dyami particularly loves when ecological design work goes from paper to practice. As lead implementation manager at AppleSeed, Dyami has supported countless projects in making the transition from the design phase to planting and on to management. With Dyami’s oversight the AppleSeed planting team has put thousands of multi-functional trees and shrubs into the ground. At her home farm, High Falls Farm, she manages a 1000-log shiitake operation supplying local restaurants, grocery stores and shiitake CSA members.
Kelsey Bearden
Designer
Kelsey has been an educator and gardener-farmer from Alaska to Arizona and from California to New Hampshire. She received her BA in Biology and Spanish from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and will soon complete her MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England, with certificates in Climate Change Education and Food Justice for Resilient Communities. Her primary focus is on leveraging agriculture for land and community health through regenerative practices and education.
Erin Kassis
Designer
Erin has farmed for over a decade on small diversified farms in Massachusetts, New York, and Alaska. She holds a degree in Plant, Soil and Insect Science from UMass Amherst where she focused on soil microbiology and plant disease. Her agricultural work has developed parallel to work in social systems. She helped create an Economics degree program at UMass for research supporting cooperatives and has diverse experience examining and creating organizational and governance structures that support effective work and healthy communities. She is a co-founder of TURN, a network that catalyzes climate action and racial reparations.
Julia Blyth
Administrative & Research Assistant
Julia is an avid gardener and observer of nature, with an interest in promoting ecosystems that support native wildlife and feed people at the same time. She holds a BA in English and Biology from Ohio Wesleyan University and spends her time curating collections in natural history museums, tending her gardens and orchards, volunteering in her community, and helping things run smoothly behind the scenes at AppleSeed.
Our Collaborators
To complement our design and farm planning services, AppleSeed can assemble powerful cross-professional design teams to complete projects requiring a wide range of technical capabilities, including licensed and deeply experienced architectural, landscape architectural, and engineering professionals. Our past project collaborations have included the leading firms below.