I am often asked

to share my unique experience of traveling the world and researching rare edible plants. If you would like me to speak at your event, please get in touch with me via this contact form.

A small list of past appearances includes:

• Hawai’i Institute of Pacific Agriculture | Kapa’au, HI

  The Fruit Explorer

• SEED: The Untold Story, World Premiere | Washington D.C.

• University of Pikeville | Pikeville, KY

• Trinity College | Hartford, CT

  Edible Plants of Italy

• Hampshire College | Amherst, MA

  Embracing Earth’s Diversity

• Southern Connecticut State University| New Haven, CT

  Embracing Earth’s Diversity

• Greentech Summit 2016 | Amsterdam, Netherlands

  Opening a New Epoch for Humanity: the Eco-Culinary Era

• Caux Dialogue on Land and Security 2016 International Conference | Switzerland

  Holistic Solutions in Land Restoration, Sustainable Land Management and Trust Building to Address Migration

• Food for Thought: Slow Food Consortium | Portland, OR

  An Interview by Evan Gregoire at Providore Fine Foods

• Murabilia Italian Garden Show | Lucca, Italy

   The Adventures of Joseph Simcox, World Food Plant Ecologist

• Ignite Berlin | Berlin, Germany

  The Unsuspected Future of Food with Joseph Simcox

• Yale Food Systems Symposium | New Haven, CT

  The Real Future of Food with Joseph Simcox

• Permaculture Voices PV2 | San Diego, CA

  Cannibals, Kings, and Charlatans

• San Francisco Flower & Garden Show | San Francisco, CA

  Cavemen, Kings, and Cannibals: Why We Eat the Plants We Eat

• University of Hartford, School of Communication | Hartford, CT

  Controversies of Food Today: GMOs, Chemicals and a Better Way

• Trinity College | Hartford, CT

  Seeds of the Italian Landscape

• Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection | Hartford, CT

  Food Security: A Local Context that Makes Sense

• Harvard University | Cambridge, MA

  The Botanist Explorer: Searching the Globe for Edible Plants

• TEDxAruba | Aruba

  Wonders of Eatable Nature

• National Tropical Botanical Garden | Kauai, HI

  World Food Plant Explorations

• NPR | KZYK, Mendocino, CA

  “Farm & Garden Show”

• Global Forum For Innovations In Agriculture | Abu Dhabi, UAE

  Pan Global Survey of  Crops for Domestication for Arid and Desertic Lands of the World

• WRV Finland, Germany, Israel Technologies | Berlin, Germany
  Visions in Resource Technologies Panel

• Global Conference on Aroids | Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India

  Genetic Diversity of Cyrtosperma and Alocasia in the South Pacific | Lesser Known Aroids for Food and Nutrition: A World Survey

• Pan American Conference on Childhood Obesity | Palm Beach, Aruba

  Creating Healthy Environments and Healthy People, Agriculture and Childhood Obesity

“Listening to Joe Simcox’s tale of searching for and discovering edible, sustaining plants among indigenous populations around the world and seeing his fantastic slide show was mind-expanding! He is fascinating, incredibly knowledgeable, and unique among any speaker one would find at a Garden Show. He gave me an entire new view of “edibles” and aroused my curiosity to learn more!” 

– Marilynn Gilmore, San Jose, California

“I’m a green building specialist and I met Joseph few years ago when he visited Taiwan. I’ve never met any once like Joseph who is so passionate about rare plants and knows very well about how to implement green nature into the our living environment. Joseph also like to share his knowledge about plants and his unique and interesting presentation skill always motivate the audience and make them enjoy the learning.”

– Johnny Chen, Taipei, Taiwan

“I listened to Joseph at Comstock Ferre & Co, while touring his gardens. His knowledge and enthusiasm is truly amazing. He had a story for every plant that he walked by, the history, and how he came to get it. He shows great passion in sharing what he has learned and seen with others.” 

Tony Putkowski, Suffield, Connecticut

“I am a Director of Photography who has worked with many top international TV companies and their presenters over the past 25 years. Some of these networks and broadcasters include Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channels, BBC, Travel Channel USA and many more. I had the privilege of working on a TV show about plants that was presented by Joseph Simcox. His enthusiasm, passion and knowledge combined with his ability to enthrall the audience by bringing the story of plants to life was very impressive. Joseph Simcox certainly rates with some of the top TV presenters and contributors that I have worked with during my career. A man who can talk about flora and make it sound far more interesting and exciting than our fauna, with a passionate conservation message of high educational value, is a rare individual and speaker.” 

– Greg Nelson, Cape Town, South Africa

Joseph’s exuberance is infectious! He holds an intrinsic knowledge of plants that is beyond comprehension. He is a brilliant speaker that captures the hearts and minds of all those seeking plant wisdom.

His anecdotes of world travel allow the audience to live vicariously through his photos of jungles, rainforests, woodlands, prairies, deserts and savannahs around the globe. He brings culture to life, sharing stoic photographs of elders in which he sources the history and folklore behind each rare plant.

His mission is a game changer. His goal is to encourage biodiversity through the preservation of plant species worldwide. Joseph is intelligent, humorous and highly engaging. I have yet to witness a speaker so passionate about their work that it permeates the air in the room. Joseph is a true inspiration, a steward of the earth and an absolute pleasure to learn from. I now have become obsessed with learning and remembering the botanical names for plants and become extremely enthusiastic about growing some of the varieties of plants Joseph mentioned that grow well in our region.”

– Crystal Stevens, Godfrey, Illinois

“Joseph is an incredible speaker, but even better, he is a storyteller. Telling stories about travels, people, place and plants is one thing: Joe goes a step further and weaves it all together, illustrating relations! The unique interweaving of local ecology, people, place and the way in which those people particularly relate and utilize various plants for food, medicine, fiber, fodder, beauty and just plain old fun! What is even better is that many of the plants Joseph points to give those of us who live in drylands hope in growing more diverse crops that require far less inputs and water than conventional crops. Joseph is a walking encyclopedia! Don’t miss a chance to hear him speak.” 

– Chris Lopez, Carmichael, California

 “Joseph Simcox has visited our Centre two times. On his first visit, he gave a talk on underutilized tuber crops. His talk was so absorbing and the information flowing was so valuable that it kept all of us spell bound. While visiting our farm, he was fascinated by the potential of Elephant foot yam and suggested us to conduct an International conference on Aroids. We did conduct the Global Aroids Conference during 2012 and Joseph Simcox was kind enough to attend the conference. He presented two papers and chaired a session. He has god gifted power of a great speaker and he supplements it with his enormous knowledge about the plants, which he always keeps updating. Besides he has traveled almost every part of the globe during his exploration trips.”

– Dr. R.S. Misra, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

“Mr. Simcox has a passion for talking about edibles that oozes through his pores. His mission is to share, share, share and teach us about food alternatives that go way beyond what is available at the supermarket. As if that wasn’t enough, he motivates us to plant and grow new varieties of edibles in our home gardens.

Completely engaging, you do not know where time goes when he is doing a presentation. He is so fascinating, and his stories about how he acquired his seeds are captivating.

Mr. Simcox shared a few colorful beans with me several weeks ago. I never knew edible beans could be so beautiful! I never knew anything like that existed. Little does he know that when he put those bean seeds in my open hand, he’d turn me into a serious bean collector immediately. I could not read enough about beans and learn enough about unknown varieties and their origins. It takes more than a good speaker to touch a life like that. Thank you so much, Mr. Simcox, for your commitment and dedication. You are truly an inspiration and it is an honor to live in your era.”

– Wanda Torres, Middletown, Connecticut

“Joseph gave me the impression that he is living his dream. It really shows that he is doing what he is passionate about, he is really knowledgeable about the topics of which he speaks of. The information that he makes available is essential to our progress as a species. He is talking about our sustenance, our connection with what keeps us alive. I think it is amazing that we have people like him in the world that are helping humanity regain consciousness to things that actually matter.

I fully support Mr. Simcox in his journey to find more sources of food, to expand our knowledge and palates from the conventional idea of our westernized diets to a more global diet that will allow us to keep our minds curious and our hearts pleased. Thank you Joseph for your contribution to bringing our society out of the dark ages, and into the age of enlightenment.”

– Peter Zapata, Bridgeport, Connecticut