Joshua Faulkner | Project Principle Investigator, Co-Project Lead, Vegetable and Small Fruit Lead Author

Dr. Joshua Faulkner is a Research Assistant Professor for University of Vermont Extension. He has coordinated the Farming and Climate Change Program in UVM Extension’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture for the past six years. He does applied research, outreach, and education on soil, water, and nutrient related issues across the state and region. He also works with farmers on practices and innovative solutions to improve the management of these resources and enhance farm resilience to climate change. His focus spans across all agricultural sectors, and from the farmstead to the watershed scale

Lily Calderwood | Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Dr. Lily Calderwood’s is the Wild Blueberry Specialist and an Assistant Professor of Horticulture at the University of Maine. Her research and education program aims to provide whole farm approaches to lowbush (wild) blueberry production. Current projects include organic blueberry fertility and weed management, a lowbush blueberry weed survey, biological control of weeds, pest and crop decision making tool needs assessments, aging farmer interviews, and the improvement of blueberry quality measures. Her program is focused on connecting farmers to stakeholders through applied research and education.

Daniel MacPhee | Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Daniel raises seed crops, perennials and grafted nursery stock along with his partner and two kids at Blackbird Rise, their certified organic farm in Palermo, Maine. He produces wholesale organic seed for a number of regional distributors, select stock seed and conducts on-farm breeding related to his passion for bioregionally-adapted crops, medicinal and perennial herbs, and native plants for pollinator habitat. Off the farm he has pursued his passion for experiential, community-based programming, peer-to-peer education and mentorship in agriculture across a range of settings including working within urban public schools, city government, public and private colleges, and nonprofit organizations. He is currently managing a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE-SARE) initiative to strengthen the social sustainability of family farmers in ME-NY-MA.

Daniel serves on the board of directors of the national Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), Bowsprit Foundation, and Ecology Learning Center. Over the years, his off-farm work has allowed him to apply his passion for experiential, community-based programming, peer-to-peer education and mentorship in agriculture across a range of settings including urban public schools, city government, public and private colleges, and nonprofit organizations—including 4 years as the Director of Educational Programs for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

Roger Noonan | Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Roger Noonan is the President of the New England Farmers Union and an organic farmer in New Boston, New Hampshire. Middle Branch Farm is a diversified family farm with operations ranging from maple syrup production, greenhouse production, organic vegetable production, organic hay and forage crop production, livestock production and on-farm composting. Middle Branch Farm markets its produce through its own CSA, a co-operative CSA, direct store and restaurant deliveries, national food chains, and wholesale outlets.

Roger is also active in New Hampshire’s agricultural community. He is a founding board member of Local Harvest CSA, a co-operative of eight organic farms. He is a supervisor for the Hillsborough County Conservation District, President of the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts, and a member of the Government Affairs Committee for New Hampshire Farm Bureau. He serves as the Agricultural Representative on the New Hampshire Rivers Management Advisory Council and is his county’s representative to the New Hampshire Agricultural Advisory Board. As a certified organic producer, Roger has experience with the national organic standards program and understands the issues and barriers to certification for transitioning farmers. Most recently, Roger has been a national leader on food safety and speaks around the country on the Food Safety Modernization Act and other policy issues that affect family farmers.

Rachel Schattman | Project Co-PI, Curriculum Literature Review Team, Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Dr. Rachel E. Schattman is a Research Fellow with the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, and an Affiliate of the UVM Extension Vegetable and Berry Program. Her research focuses on climate change perceptions and how they influence on-farm management decisions, as well as water use efficiency in northeast vegetable systems. She completed her doctoral work in social science and agroecology at the University of Vermont in 2016, where she investigated farmer perspectives on climate change adaptation and risk management. She has been the leader on several USDA Climate Hub research and outreach projects, including a National survey with USDA field employees on their understanding of the risks associated with climate change. She has published on best practices for designing educational climate change curricula for adult learning audiences, drawing upon her history as an Extension specialist and researcher.

Dan Ward | Vegetable and Small Fruit Team

Daniel Ward currently works at Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, a unit of Rutgers University, in the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. He is Research Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Extension Specialist in Pomology. Daniel does research in Agricultural Plant Science and Horticulture. His work is in applied Pomology especially serving the wine grape and fresh fruit industries.