Our Team
Land Operations
Julie Mettenburg
Chief of Land Operations and Co-Founder,
The Provenance Co.
A 6th-generation Kansas farmer, Julie brings a decade of direct land management and a lifetime of farming experience to The Provenance Co.
Beginning in 2014, Julie converted her family farm – a diversified operation of multispecies livestock grazing, row cropping and hay – to Holistic Management. Insights from this experience led Julie and her sister, Leslie, to originate the Regenerative Rewilding business model, based on their shared learnings about ecological and financial transition across the supply chain.
Julie oversees all aspects of execution of The Provenance Co. land strategy, from day-to-day operations to forging strategic relationships.
Among these long-term strategic partnerships is the Savory Institute. As founder in 2014 of one of the first Savory Institute-accredited Hubs, the Tallgrass Network, Julie subsequently has influenced more than 10,000 acres around the Midwest. In 2022, she earned the highest level of professional certification for the Savory Institute, joining only 12 individuals worldwide at the rank of Master Field Professional.
Prior to 2014, Julie served for five years as a program coordinator and Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center, the only organization providing sustainable agriculture education and advocacy in Kansas. She is committed to modeling a pathway of grasslands regeneration that will empower humans to thrive.
Dan Phelps
Ranch Manager, Wallace Project
Dan Phelps has spent nearly 2 years site-building and managing the inaugural Provenance Co. project in Wallace, Western Kansas. Prior to moving to Wallace, Dan and Cole operated their own urban farm, MAD Farm, in Lawrence, Kansas, since 2010.
Dan is responsible for operations on our 2,740 scale pilot project, overseeing day-to-day activities, as well as participating in the long-term vision and planning for the company.
Prior to his time at Provenance, Dan served as educator at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California; garden coordinator for the West Middle School garden project in Lawrence, Kansas; and specialty crops educator across the state for the Kansas Rural Center.
When not at work, Dan can be found loving his family, soaking in hot springs, making art, and/or getting down on the dance floor.
Brian Derry
Ranch Hand, Wallace Project
Brian combines his background in environmental science with his experience in human systems to bring an integrated approach to his work with The Provenance Co..
After receiving the “Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow” scholarship at the University of Kansas, Brian worked for two years as a Field Research Assistant specializing in prairie ecology. This experience informed his later work in landscape design and maintenance.
In 2018, Brian began his work as a DCF/TANF Advocate with the Kansas YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment, where he specialized in connecting survivors of trauma with legal and emotional support resources.
Brian’s experience in crisis intervention, human health and safety, and systems management allows him to bring a unique perspective to his work on recovering land in remote environments.
Cole Cottin
Special Projects, The Provenance Co.
and Cow Whisperer, Wallace Project
Cole’s work combines the day-to-day operations of the Wallace Project with the long-range vision and development of The Provenance Company.
In Wallace, Cole brought housing to the off-grid High Plains through regional community engagement, informed by her background in cultural systems. She also participates in the long-term development of company capacities through talent development and visitor relation communications and design.
Before Provenance, during her time as Program Coordinator for the Kansas Rural Center, Cole worked as primary writer and analyst for the report Feeding Kansas: A Statewide Farm & Food System Assessment with Recommendations for Public Action.
Prior to her agricultural work, Cole obtained a BA in Anthropology with honors from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2007 and has been engaged in diversified agriculture and human health ever since.
Provenance Co. Administration
Natalie Fullerton
Administrator, The Provenance Co.
Natalie brings over ten years of experience in administrative management and food system policy to the Provenance Co..
After obtaining her BS in Horticulture and MS in Public Horticulture Administration, Natalie volunteered with the Dominican Sisters of Peace and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition to tackle food, farm, and land issues across the US.
At the Kansas Rural Center, Natalie created community-building opportunities, including the annual farm and food conference and worked with community leaders to advance policy solutions which would incorporate Kansas farms into the supply chain.
Natalie’s work focuses on the intersections of agriculture, health, and policy.
Carla Bienhoff
Financial Manager, The Provenance Co.
Carla brings 35 years of financial management experience to The Provenance Co..
In addition to her prior work as a Chief Financial Officer, Carla obtained her BS in Business from Fort Hays University, as well as her MS in Management from Baker University. She is responsible for regular, timely reporting of financials out to Provenance Co. investors and pertinent stakeholders.
A wearer of many hats, Carla has learned Regenerative Agriculture through her work with Provenance, and has become an inspired rookie farmer in her own right. Currently, she is exploring a new passion for honeybees.
Chloe Burns
Communications Manager, The Provenance Co.
Chloe uses her combined experience in Film & Media Studies and Holistic Land Management to tackle the complex stories of land regeneration.
The 7th generation in her family to farm Kansas land, Chloe obtained her training in Holistic Management in 2014 and graduated with her degree in Film and Media Studies in 2018.
Her 2016 film about the Tallgrass Network was featured by the Savory Institute for the United Nations Day to Combat World Desertification, and her most recent short documentary about the Provenance Company will be entering the film festival circuit in fall 2022 with a focus on environmental film festivals.
The goal of these films is to provide an image of what climate resilience can look like, both for the land and the people who depend on it.
Leslie Moore
Chief Strategic Officer and Co-Founder, The Provenance Co.
Leslie works with The Provenance Co. to develop and further the company’s long-term Regenerative Rewilding business and investment model.
Leslie was instrumental in the 2-year creation of the Regenerative Rewilding business model with her sister Julie, from 2017 to 2019.
Prior to co-founding The Provenance Co., Leslie founded Farmer Girl Meats. In addition to delivering accessible, sustainable meat to families across the Midwest, FGM also implemented groundbreaking technology in agricultural supply chains. Leslie holds her BA in organismal biology from the University of Kansas and her MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Now, she studies The Provenance Co.’s outcomes to translate ongoing operational learnings into further refinement of the Regenerative Rewilding model. Ultimately, Leslie expects to apply her experience in consumer packaged goods to brand management for The Provenance Co. food and fiber products at scale.
Contracting Consultants
Ryan White
Ecological Monitoring and Greenhouse Gas Accounting
Ryan White is founder of the regenerative ecological monitoring company Snaplands.
As a rangelands specialist, his vision for working landscapes comes from over 20 years of professional work in grassland restoration and ecological accounting projects for ranches, farms, NGOs, and government agencies.
Ryan and his company of scientists lead Provenance Co. ecological monitoring strategy, performing baseline measures as well as providing annual and comprehensive follow-up data collection and reports over the 10-year project timeline.
Ryan is a trained carbon accountant holding a MS in Greenhouse Gas Management and Accounting from Colorado State University. He is also a certified Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, Smithsonian Scientific Illustrator, and rangeland EKG-Pro specialist.
Amber Lehrman
Permaculturalist
Amber Lehrman is a certified Permaculturist lecturer, farmer, and consultant.
She provides analysis and recommendations to The Provenance Co. on soil, water and energy strategies that can be used to accelerate the Regeneration process on our land projects, aligning with the Regenerative Rewilding model as well as the transitioning soil biology and plant communities.
In addition to her BS and MS in Industrial Engineering, Amber holds a Permaculture Design Certification from Midwest Permaculture, and has been teaching permaculture courses since 2015. She is currently a board member and educator with the Kansas Permaculture Institute and teaches the full Permaculture Design Course at the University of Kansas. She mentors multiple new permaculturists through her farm internship program and does freelance design work on small and large properties in eastern Kansas.