Organic Consulting

Sam Malriat

Director, Organic Consulting

Sam provides on-site technical assistance to farmers, landowners, and businesses that are interested in transitioning land to certified organic and regenerative production systems. He earned a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences from Cornell University and has over 12 years of practical farming experience in Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. Sam is a Certified Crop Adviser and is IOIA Certified in Crops and Livestock.

Dave Campbell

Organic Advisor

Dave was introduced to organics in 1967 on a small diversified organic farm, when he began to sell organic meat to a health food store under the guidance of his father. Upon graduating from Western Illinois University with a teaching degree, he joined his father in their organic dairy cow operation located in northern Illinois, and later he operated an organic dairy in southern Wisconsin. In 1988, he began to transition the entire acreage of a conventional row crop farm near DeKalb IL (Lily Lake Organic Farm) to certified organic production, and he has been USDA certified organic for the past 34 years, along with Real Organic Certified for the past 3 years. Dave has served on numerous organic boards, and has presented many workshops on the topics of weed management, cover crops, and crop rotations. He has also served a 4-year term on the NCR-SARE Advisory Council as a grant reviewer. Currently, he serves on both the Policy Committee and Governing Council for OFA (Organic Farmers Assoc.)

Everett Codd

Organic Advisor

Everett grew up on a small farm on the Southern Oregon coast working cranberries, dairy, and oyster commercial operations. He raised hogs, cattle, and sheep through participation in 4-H for over 10 years. At Oregon State University he focused his education on agricultural sustainability, with a B.S. in Environmental Science and minor in Soil Science. Everett continued an agricultural career after college, working with the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), the North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDA) Agronomic Division, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), and the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). He volunteers as a Board member for the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). Everett has IOIA Crop training, Certified Crop Advisor and the owner/operator of Codd Agronomy based in Eugene, Oregon.

Idelfi Crespo

Senior Administrative Assistant, Consulting and Accounting

Idelfi is Senior Administrative Assistant to the Organic Consultancy and Accounting/ HR departments. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health, and her prior experience includes Health Care Management Administration. Having lived all her life in New York City, she has always been very passionate about accessibility to affordable healthy foods in the inner cities, clean eating and green spaces.

Sage Dennis

Pennsylvania Organic Consultant

Joining the team in September 2022, Sage is excited to be able to expand into Regenerative Agriculture bringing sustainable farming to the next level. He has been doing Organic Consulting for the past 5 years and is eager to continue to learn to better serve our farmers. Prior to his time in Organic Agriculture, Sage travelled through various countries as a travelling farmhand. Seeing different approaches, practices, and beliefs within agriculture is what ignited his passion of sustainable Agriculture and wishes to take these life experiences and use to better service our clients.

Dean Dickel

Organic Advisor

Dean was born and raised on an Iowa grain and livestock farm and has been connected to Midwest agriculture and rural communities ever since. Farm life included daily chores and active involvement in FFA as a young man.

Dean’s early farming career was cut short by the 1980s Farm Crisis and so he would pursue a degree in journalism and eventually go to work for weekly and daily newspapers in Iowa and Illinois, eventually ending up at the Dubuque Telegraph Herald as their agriculture reporter. The 1990s proved quite eventful as Dean met his wife Mary at the paper and covered controversial changes in agriculture such as the introduction of genetic engineered seeds and the dairy hormone BST. But, the Dubuque area was also home to organic farming pioneers such as Gary Zimmer and rotational grazing guru Charlie Opitz who provided a number of opportunities for the paper and Dean to promote this emerging alternative to chemical and industrial agriculture. By the late 1990s Dean decided to join the organic movement himself, and with wife Mary at his side, established New Century Farm producing and distributing organic eggs throughout Southern Wisconsin. After a successful 20-year run in the egg business, Dean and Mary sold the business and purchased a home in Mineral Point. Dean currently works as an independent organic inspector and Mary is a free-lance writer for the local paper. They have two grown children, Megan and Benjamin, both graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who live and work in Madison, Wisconsin.

Bridget Gilmore

Organic & ROC Market Coordinator

Bridget cultivates connections throughout organic & regenerative organic value chains. She grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and studied Leadership, Ethics, & Organizational Sustainability at Saint Joseph’s University. She has gathered food system experiences in different parts of the world with small scale farmers, a CPG company, and a national distributor. She is thrilled to propel her passions for regenerative organic agriculture and food sovereignty. Bridget joined the team in February 2022. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Nathanael Gonzales-Siemens

Pacific Regional Manager

Nathanael Gonzales-Siemens is returning to his roots and the spirit of discovery that first brought him back into farming after a decade of teaching in inner-city Los Angeles and in China and working for criminal justice reform on the West Coast. Nathanael spent his undergrad years studying Plant Genetics and Biology at UCLA and has a teaching credential for CSU Los Angeles. He grew up on a small farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley and founded two businesses there with his family. The first, now run by his brother, is focused on food justice and sovereignty and the second, operated by his wife, strives to implement regenerative farming practices and to equip and empower traditionally underrepresented groups.

Kegan Hilaire

Small Farms & Diversified Vegetable Consultant

Kegan was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley, before moving to Philadelphia to complete his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Temple University. After joining a CSA in the city, he was hooked on the production of fresh, local, seasonal food. It has led him from Sales manager of a 5th-generation dairy farm, to managing a diversified, organic farm, to the Rodale Institute Farmer Training Program, and finally to the facilities and landscape team at the Founder’s Farm Campus. Kegan also owns and operates a small organic farm in Emmaus, PA.

Samantha Hilborn-Naluai

New Mexico Organic Consultant

Samantha joined the Rodale Institute Consulting Team in January 2022 and helps New Mexico farmers transition to certified organic. She grew up in New Mexico and is from the Pueblos of Laguna and Acoma. Samantha has a M.S. in Horticulture and Agronomy with a specialization in plant breeding from University of California, Davis and a B.S. in Horticulture from New Mexico State University. Prior to joining the Rodale Institute, she was working as a staff research associate for the spinach breeding program at UC Davis. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge of crop production, creating connections between farmers and fostering food sovereignty in New Mexico and beyond. She is based out of Santa Fe, NM.

Ben Lehman

Midwest Organic Consultant

Ben grew up on an organic grain farm in central Iowa and is based in Slater, IA. He joined the team in February 2023, and is excited to help connect Midwest grain farmers with organic practices that work with their soils and management. Ben worked in on-farm research and extension while he pursued a B.S. in Crop Production from Cornell University. He moved back to Iowa to be near the family grain farm and work as an agronomist focused on helping farms evaluate new practices. He’s especially excited to help farmers find rotations, cover crops, and equipment that fit their operation.

Catherine Peebles

Pennsylvania Organic Consultant

Catherine joined the team in September 2022 and is excited to support farmers interested in transitioning to organic and regenerative practices. After training and working on a biodynamic farm in New York, Catherine pursued a Master’s from Cornell University in Soil & Crop Sciences focusing on payments for ecosystem services for small farmers. Prior to her Master’s, she worked in finance after earning her Bachelor’s in Economics & Spanish from Bucknell University. Catherine is thrilled to cultivate her financial experience and passion for resilient farming systems at an organization pioneering the regenerative organic movement.

Nic Podoll

Northern Plains Regional Manager

Nic is a lifelong organic farmer, having grown up and farmed with his family on their certified organic farm in southeast North Dakota, raising small grains and vegetable seed. Prior to working at Rodale Institute, he worked in Extension for the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University. He also served several years on the NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Review Committee. Nic is IOIA certified in crops and holds a Master’s in Agricultural & Extension Education from North Carolina State University. He is located in north-central Minnesota.

Shandrea Stallworth, PhD

Organic Consultant, Southeast Region

Shandrea Stallworth, PhD is taking a new approach to organic farming with more than 10 years of experience in agriculture. Shandrea specializes in Weed Science with Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Sciences from Mississippi State University and a M.S. in Plant Breeding from Auburn University. She is very passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she brings a breadth of knowledge and insight with respect to the inner workings of organizations and communities that serve underrepresented groups. Shandrea spends her free time advocating for women in STEM, and she volunteers her time supporting the development of programs to introduce agriculture to underrepresented minority groups. Most recently, Shandrea has been selected as a 2022-23 Young Agri-Food Leader with the Farm Foundation.

Léa Vereecke

Midwest Regional Manager

Joining the team in January 2021, Léa is thrilled to work with a renowned organization and connect with new farmers as an Organic Consultant based in Madison, WI. After growing up on a grain farm in Northeastern France, Léa earned an M.S. in Agronomy and Agroecology. For four years, she was a Research Specialist with Dr. Erin Silva at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, overseeing diverse research projects—including cover crop-based reduced tillage systems, organic row crops, small grains, cover crops, industrial hemp, and more. Léa has always been fascinated by sustainable agronomic crop production and values maintaining close relationships with farmers to motivate and inform her work.