Dr. Heather Darby:

Heather Darby is an Agronomist for UVM Extension.  Heather has been developing the Northwest Crops and Soils Program since she came to UVM 6 years ago and provides leadership to the team.  Heather’s passion for sustainable agriculture and the enthusiasm she receives from Vermont’s farmers and professionals have fueled the expansion of her program, which covers the state of Vermont, and brings her around New England, across the country, and beyond to places like the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark and Washington DC.  Her goal is to provide sound research based agronomic information for the farmers of Vermont. Her varied interests and the enthusiasm lead her to work with a variety of agronomic crops including forages and specialty crops.

Debra Heleba:

Debra Heleba coordinates the organic dairy team for eOrganic, a national project that provides on-line education on certified organic agriculture. In addition, Deb is the Vermont state SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) coordinator where she provides sustainable agriculture professional development for agricultural service providers as well as helping Vermonters learn about NE-SARE, a USDA competitive grants program. Currently, she is working with a northern New England team to help Extension and other educators learn more about local grains production and farm energy alternatives. She has worked on a variety of Extension programs over the past 18 years, including the Women’s Agricultural Network, Farm Transfer Network of New England, and the University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Erica Cummings:

Erica Cummings is a small grains enthusiast whose work at Extension is focused on weed management in small grains through integrated pest management and enhancing the capacity of regional farmers to produce high quality organic bread wheat.  She has helped develop the NW Crops and Soils Team Lab and to equip it with high tech equipment to test flour for baking quality.  The research she is involved in looks at grain quality, cultivar resources, weed management in organic cereals, disease management and fertility of organic bread wheat and harvest management for quality wheat.  She has worked for UVM Extension for three years and comes to us from the UVM Agriculture Testing Lab.

Rosalie Madden:

Rosalie Madden studied Environmental Science and Food Production and found her calling doing research for UVM Extension’s NW Crops and Soils Program.  Rosalie works closely with the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) and SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) on ways to improve oilseed production and harvesting practices in New England.   She also works with specialty crops, most notably hops.  The research she is involved in helps to address the critical needs of the locally resurging hops industry.  Particular focus is being paid to variety selection, fertility management, pest-predator relationships, disease management, and final product quality control.

Brian Trudell:

Brian Trudell is the northern representative of the Agronomy and Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP). The program will serve to provide direct technical assistance to animal agriculture operations in the Lake Champlain watershed regarding farm practices that will reduce export of soil and nutrients. The goal of ACAP is to provide consultation services on crop production, production facility best management practices, livestock dietary and whole-farm nutrient balances. Brian will collaborate with farmers in the Northern Lake Champlain Basin to identify high priority projects for their farms, and find financial resources and technical assistance to install conservation practices.

Susan Monahan:

Susan Monahan joined the Crops and Soils Team in 2010 after finishing her masters in Plant and Soil Science at UVM. Susan is passionate about sustainable agriculture and local food, fiber, and fuel production. She is excited to be a part of the NW Crops and Soils team and help out with the great projects providing information for Vermont farmers.

Hannah Harwood:

Hannah Harwood is a member of the Crops and Soils Team who is working on a number of projects. Her tasks include oilseed research, working in our Wheat Quality Laboratory, writing and editing, and collaborating with farmers and bakers and the Northern Grain Growers Association to compile knowledge on grain production and marketing.  Hannah studied Gender and the Environment in college and worked with rural Maine farmwomen on her self-designed independent study. After working on many small vegetable and fruit farms, doing ecological field research, and hiking and traveling extensively, she joined the team in 2011 and is excited about good, local food, agricultural communities, and providing meaningful assistance to farmers in Vermont.

Amanda Gervais:

Amanda Gervais is a player on the UVM Extension’s NW Crops and Soils Team. Current projects you can ask her about are Designing a Sustainable Corn Silage Cropping System for Vermont, a USDA-CIG project (US Dept of Agriculture Conservation Innovation Grant), and Reducing Fuel and Fertilizer Costs for Corn Silage in the Northeast with Cover Crops, a SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) project. Amanda has worked for Extension for 5 years focusing on water quality and nutrient management.

Philip Halteman:

Philip Halteman’s interests in the sustainability of farms and in writing and outreach are serving him well in developing an agronomic manual for producing oilseed crops in the Northeast. In that pursuit he’s equally likely to be visiting with oilseed producers, catching and identifying insect pests, or trying to understand out how to make old (or new) farm equipment work.

Savanna Kittell-Mitchell:

Savanna Kittell-Mitchell is currently studying at the University of Vermont with an interest in agricultural sciences. She grew up sugaring in rural Vermont and was Vermont Maple Queen in 2009. She is learning all aspects of the beer, bread and biofuel research conducted by UVM Extension’s NW crops and soils team.  This September she was featured as one of UVM’s Student-Athletes.  Read the article here!

Katie Blair:

Katie Blair started working on the team in the spring of 2011 as a crops and soils intern.  She grew up in Northwestern Vermont surrounded by farms.  In addition to working at the research farm in Alburgh, tending plots and compiling data, Katie has focused on the agronomic aspects of barley for malting.  She is finishing up her high school stint this year and will be well-equipped to go into any field she chooses.

Chantel Cline:

The Franklin County’s Training Interns and Partnering for Success Program matched Chantel Cline with the Crops & Soils Team because of her love of agriculture.  As well as working at the research farm, Chantel focused on research trials that took place on-farm, and enjoyed putting research to work in real life situations.  Working closely with an agronomist all summer has given Chantel her focus.  She plans to pursue a college career studying agronomy.  When Chantel is not working for UVM Extension, you’ll find her in the woods or with her prize-winning draft horses.

Amber Domina:

Amber Domina originally came to us through Franklin County’s Training Interns and Partnering for Success Program, which matches high school students with technical career paths.  Amber finds this a good fit because she enjoys working outdoors and has learned a lot since her start here.  Amber was involved in all aspects of conducting agronomic research on the farm from weeding the hopyard to collecting data to harvesting small grains.  Amber has focused on oilseed production, particularly canola.

Borderview Research Farm:
Borderview Research Farm is a private facility located on the Canadian border in Alburgh, VT.  Roger and Claire Rainville own and operate the 235 acre farm which, aside from over 2,000 research plots, is also a dairy replacement operation and biofuel facility.  The Rainvilles milked cows here for 26 years before they diversified into these current ventures.