Speaker: Paul Abbott
Sessions: Conference Opening Welcome, evening Keynote Speaker, and General Session

Paul, Reuben, and Jackie Abbott started researching lavender for our farm on the Isle of Wight England in the early 1990s in 1995 we planted our first batch of Lavender.
1997 say us produce our first batch of Lavender Oil based products. With the increase in awareness of the benefits of Lavender we are constantly increasing the range of products available.
In 1999 we started to show the Lavender Plants we grew. Our first Show was the Balloon festival in Southampton. This led to us showing at various local shows then the smaller Royal Horticultural Society Shows.
2003 was the turning point for our business when we displayed our Lavender at Chelsea Flower Show. We also had a spot on the BBC Preview to Chelsea Show.
We have continued to increase the Lavenders we hold and the Plants we Show now having a National Collection of Lavandula with some 250 different cultivars.
2006 saw our first RHS Gold Medal and Best in Show for Most Creative Design. This year we are showing at Malvern Spring Show, RHS Chelsea Flower Show and BBC Gardeners World Live along with expanding the Lavender Farm at Home.

Speaker: Andy Van Hevelingen
Sessions: Lavender Varieties, propagation, and diseases in Lavenders

Andy Van Hevelingen – Owner of Van Hevelingen Herb Nursery, grows and sells over 100 varieties of lavender, plus dozens of other herbs. He is a lavender breeder who has developed 5 unique and popular lavender varieties. He is also a regular garden writer for The Herb Companion Magazine.

Speaker: Susan Harrington
Sessions: Internet Marketing and Web pages that produce results

After retiring from more than 20 years in business management, Susan Harrington reclaimed a backyard overrun with Scotch broom and blackberries to grow a small-scale, “surprisingly successful and profitable” lavender business. Harrington shares her simple resources that took Labyrinth Hill Lavender sales from the Kingston Farmers Market (Kingston, WA) via the Internet to the New York City Ballet and throughout the country without adding employees or hiring a consultant.
Harrington’s workshop, Lavender: From Soil to Sachet, has been presented at Washington and Oregon community colleges and nurseries and is now a popular online course being delivered nationally, in Canada, and Europe.
A perpetual student, Susan Harrington received her Associate Degree in Arts and Sciences from Olympic College, Bremerton, WA. She completed coursework and is designated as a WSU Master Gardener and Native Plant Advisor in Kitsap County, WA and is currently attending the 12-week Kitsap County Extension Sustainable Farming Business Course. She participated in the 2000 & 2006 North American Lavender Conference. Susan has completed horticulture coursework in Plant Botany, Herbs, Plant Propagation and Nursery & Greenhouse Management at Edmonds Community College (Edmonds, WA).

Speaker: Annie Harman
Sessions: Hydrosols - Current Research, and working with Hydrosol

Ann Harman is owner of Morning Myst Botanics. She is a Botanist, Herbalist and Artisan Distiller. Ann studied botany at Colorado State University. She has been making herbal products for 25 years and distilling hydrosols for over 10 years.
She provides Herbarium vouchers for several laboratories for research. She has taught distillation and herbal classes for Bastyr University in the herbal Sciences dept. She also teaches workshops throughout the winter months.
Ann is currently involved in ongoing research with hydrosols. She has written several articles for international Aromatherapy publications.

Speaker: Reitha Weeks
Sessions: Cosmetic regulations, labeling, and safety testing

Reitha S. Weeks has a B.S. in Home Economics, Foods & Nutrition from Oregon State University and received her Ph.D. in Genetics from University of Washington (1987). She worked in research and the biotech industry in Seattle for 16 years at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cell Therapeutics, Oridigm Corp. and MediQuest Therapeutics.
She progressed from bench scientist into management positions. Reitha served as Director of Biological Sciences at MediQuest, where she was responsible for new assay development, contracting animal and toxicity testing, and communicating the company's science to investors, collaborators and the Board of Directors.
Reitha has been the Resident Scientist and Program Manager at Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR; www.nwabr.org) since Nov. 2004. She develops new science curriculum for middle and high schools, presents teacher workshops, manages science outreach programs, and coordinates educational conferences.
She has developed a curriculum focusing on personal care products, such as lotions, which explores the science, regulations and ethical issues surrounding cosmetics. Over the past year alone, approximately 3000 students have been introduced to the lessons and the accompanying lotion-making lab.

Speaker: Chef Andre Mercier
Sessions: Cooking with Lavender

Master Chef Andre Mercier - You will not find another Chef in the Northwest that is as talented and with as many years of experience as this man has under his Chef hat.
Andre has been in the culinary field since he was a teenager. This Chef has the classical training that you can only get in Europe. He is well know for being the only French Chef to turn down the Executive Chef position at the White House!
In addition, he was the personal chef to noted vintner Robert Mondavi, providing gourmet meals for the wine elite of the world.

Speaker: Dr. Curtis E. Beus
Sessions: Agri-tourism: What you need to know

Curtis Beus is the director WSU Extension in Clallam County, Washington.  His B.S. degree is in Animal Science; his master's degree is in adult education; and his PhD is in Rural Sociology; all from Washington State University.
He worked for three years as a rural development specialist for Texas A&M University.  In 1996 he returned to Washington to take over the Extension Program in Clallam County.  Since returning to Washington much of his time has been spent on developing programs aimed at revitalizing a rapidly declining local farm economy, developing alternative agricultural systems and products, direct marketing of farm products, farmland preservation, and promoting agritourism and other diversification strategies for farms in a rapidly changing economy.

Speaker: Cathy Lucero
Sessions: Weed Control

Cathy Lucero has been the Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Coordinator for the past ten years. She studied botany at the University of Washington, but finished with a degree in Environmental Science from Western Washington University.  A long time resident of Clallam County, she loves her job because there is always some new and interesting plant to learn about. Sadly, Cathy spends most of her waking moments thinking about weeds, how to kill them, and thinking about ways to tell other people how to kill them.