Michael Doane is the Managing Director of the Agriculture and Food Systems at The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization and the world’s leader in providing nature conservation efforts. Their mission is to conserve Mother Nature for future generations by buying lands to prevent plant and animal extinction and restoring otherwise ruined parts of nature back to its former glory. Michael’s responsible for ensuring industries that rely heavily on nature are managed and controlled. He primarily concentrates on projects involving soil health, sustainable forestry and ranching, and nutrient loss reductions.   Today, Michael Doane shares his company’s advocacies and their many projects. He discusses the company’s history and what made them become the leading conservation organization. He also explains some of their company’s many successful projects as well as their prospects, and how they prioritize which ones to fund first.   “As food demand grows, there will be some expansion. But, we also think it can be done in a way that does the least amount of harm to nature.” - Michael Doane       This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:    What the Nature Conservancy is all about. What led the Nature Conservancy to agriculture? The projects the company is working on. How they work with their investors and partners. Why they prefer to partner with the private industry. How they decide which strategic priorities to pursue. What it means to manage optimal soil health. How they build trust with their investors. What is the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator all about?   Michael Doane’s Words of Wisdom: There are special places and special species and plants that need protection. Management practice change can really address a lot of the current environmental problems. There's some very cost-effective emission reduction opportunities sitting right here in agriculture. Investing in nature is a good investment.   Resources Mentioned: Nature’s Own Hedge Fund, article by Bloomberg   Connect with Michael Doane:   The Nature Conservancy Twitter Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series   Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.   We Are a Part of a Bigger Family!    The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today.      Share the Ag-Love!    Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots!    Learn more about AgGrad by visiting:  Future of Agriculture Website AgGrad Website AgGrad on Twitter  AgGrad on Facebook  AgGrad on LinkedIn  AgGrad on Instagram