Elaine Solowey was born in 1953 in California. After studying agriculture she came to Israel. In 1974 she joined a new kibbutz in the Rift valley south of the Dead Sea called Ketura. There she met and married her husband Michael. Michael and Elaine Solowey have six sons. Her work at Ketura has revolved around the planting and domestication of water thrifty perennial plants including palms, many desert trees, herbs and medicinal bushes. She has worked cooperatively with USAID and the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC); the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC); Ben Gurion University of the Negev; The International Program for Arid Land Crops(IPALAC); the National School of Agriculture at Meknes, Morocco; JUST of the Kingdom of Jordan; General Motors (GM); Hadassah Medical Center and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Dr. Elaine Solowey teaches sustainable agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Dr. Elaine Solowey is the author of two books on Sustainable Agriculture and the domestication of wild plants: Supping At God's Table: A Handbook for the Domestication of Wild Trees for Food and Fodder Small Steps Towards Abundance: Crops for a More Sustainable Agriculture In 2005 Elaine took over the plant collections and the seed bank of the Rare Trees Trust. Broadening the base of the organization and finding permanent homes for the plant collections has been a priority project since then.