Science Story Speak

Amy & Michele guide you with 50+ years of experience...

About Amy

Amy Hays focuses on ecology, agriculture, and conservation strategies that affect both urban and rural landscapes. She has spent over 25 years of her career determining where to combine environmental learning, adult learning theory, and science to assist in the discovery of paths to land stewardship.

Amy is well-known for her lectures on "environmental ethos," or people's perceptions of their role in the environment. She believes in working lands as a solution to difficult environmental problems and has worked on a national level to support the outreach of the farming and ranching communities. She has helped to shape professional programs that teach others how to collaborate effectively with the agricultural community by delivering science in meaningful ways.

She has trained individuals, agencies, and organizations in Generational Intelligence to work cross-generationally to build capacity to apply long-term management solutions across landscapes. Amy specializes in strategy development for those involved in agriculture and conservation.

Her degrees are in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Rangeland Ecology and Management. She has spent most of her career in outreach and engagement with working lands, the majority in public service. She currently lives in Ardmore, Oklahoma on a small ranch that grows meat goats and custom grazes cattle.

Meet Michele

Michele Payn, CSP, connects the people and science of food and farming as principal of Cause Matters Corp. She is known for being a community catalyst, a passionate advocate for global agriculture – and touching hearts to move minds. Michele equips people to have tough conversations, whether about science, farming, food, or mental health.

She has raised millions of dollars for FFA and 4-H, worked with farmers and ranchers in more than 25 countries and built a business to serve the people of agriculture for 22 years, earning the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation given to only 900 people in the world. Her training work has centered on science communications, agricultural advocacy, critical food issues, and mental health.

Michele is the author of three books: IPPY gold medal winner and Amazon best seller Food Bullying, IPPY bronze medalist Food Truths from Farm to Table, and No More Food Fights!. She also co-hosts the Food Bullying podcast to help bring the science of farming to the nutrition space. Michele most recently created Agriculture's Growth Journal to help address mental wellness in the agricultural community.

Her degrees are in Agricultural Communications and Animal Science from Michigan State University, where she also worked in the Reproductive Physiology Labratory. She is a lifetime Holstein breeder, an avid Spartan living on a small Indiana farm with her 'city slicker' husband, and a mom chasing her runner daughter around the country. Michele connects farm + food, brains + behavior, and science + story on social media as @mpaynspeaker.