The good Cornellians can do: Steve Sherwood MPS ’95

Since 2000, Steve Sherwood MPS '95 and his family have welcomed more than 30,000 Andean farmers to Urkuwayku, their farm outside Quito. There, Steve shows them firsthand how to convert degraded land into an oasis.

“For years, farmers in this region struggled with cangahua—severely degraded, sterile volcanic soil that is as hard as rock,” Steve explains. “By shifting their focus from ‘the soil feeds plants’ to ‘plants feed the soil,’ these farmers have learned to maximize photosynthesis through plant biodiversity, limit soil disturbance, and maintain continual cover cropping. In the process, they have actively multiplied the soil organic carbon by up to 6.5 times.”

Steve says the regenerative soil techniques he practices and shares with farmers were introduced to this region more than 30 years ago by Cornell faculty and students.

“It’s a fantastic reminder of the university's enduring global footprint,” Steve says. “In international agriculture and community development, one is continually surrounded and supported by the incredible work of Cornell graduates.”

Steve earned an MPS degree in international agriculture and rural development at Cornell. His thesis focused on helping Nicaraguan and Honduran farmers better understand and address plant diseases.

He remained at Cornell after earning his degree, serving as Central American coordinator for the Cornell Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) from 1994 to 1998. He then moved to the Andes, where he worked with colleagues to introduce the farmer field school methodology to seven countries across Central America and the Andes.

Cornellians around the globe are sharing how they do good in communities big and small. Share your own story.