Year-Round Staff
Sam Arfer, Assistant Registrar
Sam has been with Farm & Wilderness since 1979, the year he first attended Timberlake. He was an F&W camper until 1983, and has been on staff since 1984, as a camp counselor, crew member, office staff member, and the cook at Saltash Mountain Camp. 2009 will be Sam's 20th year as SAM cook. Sam grew up in Hastings NY, attended Oakwood School, and has a BA from Marlboro College. He calls his upbringing 'quasi Quaker.' When not at F&W over the past decades, Sam worked as Customer Service Lead at REI, and a cook at the Putney Coop in Putney, Vermont. He is an avid gender-role-free Contra and English Country dancer, and also enjoys Vermont history and architecture.
Chantal Deojay, Farm Manager
Chantal was the F&W Farmer from 2001-06, and we're glad to have her back. She grew up in Putnam, CT, where she showed sheep professionally, raised two teams of oxen, and took vocational ag classes. She has a BA in Sustainable Agriculture from Sterling College. Before rejoining F&W she worked at Upwey Farm in South Woodstock as the Animal Health/Care Coordinator, and she is a NOFA-VT inspector. She runs Macora Farm in Woodstock, VT, with her partner Mike Hewitt and their daughters Mackenzie and Cora (as well as dogs Sawyer, Jake and Sadie, and Cassey the guinea pig).
Melanie Gander, Assistant Program Director
Melanie comes to us from Australia, where she received a BA in Economics and a BA in Asian Studies from Australian National University. Before coming to F&W, Melanie spent seven years working at Kieve Affective Education, Inc. teaching experiential education for the “Leadership School.” Melanie has tons of energy and a store of random extraneous knowledge of 1980's pop-culture.
Karen Ganey, Farm Education Program Coordinator
Karen was born in Colorado but raised in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where she grew to love forests, mountains and rivers. She holds a self-designed BA in Social Engagement in Environmental Awareness and Human Rights from Western Washington University. Before joining us at F & W in spring 2008, Karen was the Assistant Farmer/Milker and Farm Education Coordinator at Cedar Mountain Farm in Hartland, VT. While there she milked 15 cows, helped grow vegetables for an 80 member CSA, and coordinated farm tours and educational workshops. She has also worked as a campaign organizer for Forest Ethics in Portland, OR. Karen's interests include eco-philosophizing, gardening, reading, Qi Gong, social re-evolution, and puppeteering.
Marianne McGee, Bookkeeper
Marianne grew up in Long Island and attended SUNY at Farmingdale for her AA in Administration. Marianne has lived in Vermont for the past 21 years, working at Killington Training Center and Ski Club. She has a rich and varied worklife, including teaching and creating designer handbags. Marianne has been married 19 years and has a daughter, Anna Colleen.
Courtney Porter, Human Resources Manager
courtney@farmandwilderness.org
Courtney grew up in the Puget Sound area and attended Seattle University for a BA in Philosophy. She moved to Vermont from Seattle in the fall of 2008, and says she knew she wanted to be a part of F&W as soon as she saw Indian Brook campers circle up before lunch. Before joining us, Courtney worked as a Portfolio Adminstrator in the University of Washington Real Estate office, and as a contractor for StewardshipsSpecial Projects at the Cascade Land Conservancy. Courtney and her husband Matt have a young son, Miles, who will be at the Barn Day Camp in 2012. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, snow shoeing, skiing, and back country camping.
Silos Roberts, Forester
Silos grew up in Vermont and graduated with a BS in Agriculture from the University of Massachusetts. Silos was a dairy farmer in VT for 20 years before coming to F&W as staff in 1992. He and his wife, Camille, worked together at F&W for many years as the farmer team, and his two kids, Cody and Molly, were long-time F&W campers. Silos’ interests include alternative energy, backcountry skiing, sustainable forestry, and trail work.
John Strickland, Program Operations Coordinator
John hails from Gainesville, Florida and received his education in Spanish Language and Literature at Earlham College. He also studied at the Centro de Estudios Colombo-Americanos in Bogota, Colombia. John was the Assistant Director at Timberlake for four years, then Assistant Registrar, then Summer Operations and Staffing Coordinator. Now, finally, we have the year-round benefit of John, as Program Operations Coordinator. John loves foreign language and travel and is a home improvement and design junkie.
Janet Stocker, Hubster (Front Desk)
Janet is the pleasant voice you hear on the phone when you call F&W! Janet grew up on Long Island, NY and has worked at F&W since 2002. Janet has an AA in Secretarial Science. She loves music, swimming, hiking with her cats and riding her motorcycle.
Becka Warren, Communications Editor
Becka grew up in New York City and southern Vermont. She was a counselor at Indian Brook and the Barn Day Camp in the early 1990's. She has been living in Seattle since 1994, working as a writer, small farm advocate, and teacher of organic gardening. She writes 'Ask Umbra,' an online environmental advice column. In the fall of 2007 she, her partner Jason and their daughter Clementine returned to Vermont, and Becka returned to Farm & Wilderness. She edits the Interim (and deals with the web site), and eagerly awaits your writing and art submissions. Becka is excited to be able to cross-country ski and hike out her front door with Clementine on her back. Other realms of current excitement are yoga, printmaking and as always agriculture.
Kyle Watrous, Maintenance Coordinator
Kyle grew up in Niantic, CT, and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science from Southern Vermont College. He has extensive training in plumbing and mechanics. Kyle enjoys living in Vermont, where he can pursue all of his outdoor passions such as fishing, hunting, camping and skiing. Kyle has a son, Connor.
Peggy Whiteneck, Development Manager
Peggy grew up on a farm in New Hampshire, and received her BA in English from the University of New Hampshire. She went on to The Catholic University of America, where she earned her MA in Liturgical Studies. She learned Spanish from living 12 years in Miami and later spent almost a year as a missionary in Ecuador. Peggy is a free-lance writer and owns her own business,"All Write, Already" (http://www.allwritealready.com/). She began at F&W in 2003 and has become indispensable as a writer, editor, database wizard, and all-around jill-of-all-trades. Peggy loves cats (and other animals) and has the most contagious laugh in the office.