Three New Members Join Our Team

The Cornell Small Farms Program is excited to announce an expansion of our team with three new additions: Jamie, Molly and Nina. Each has been involved in our program’s work in some way over the years, and we are glad to now have them as formal members of our team.

Jamie Johnson will be the first dedicated multimedia assistant on the Cornell Small Farms Program team. He has worked with us since 2017 to support storytelling about our Farm Ops project. In this new role, he will be expanding video and audio content produced by the program. His work will include filming educational videos for online classes, profiles of farmers working with our programs, and managing the production of a new podcast.

Molly Riordan worked with us from 2015-2017 as the Urban Agriculture Specialist leading the research and writing of The Promise of Urban Agriculture. She is rejoining our team for the next phase of our Urban Ag project, which includes curriculum development. Her work will illustrate how policymakers, city planners, and urban growers can create thriving urban agricultural communities, and invest in an equitable and sustainable food system.

Nina Saeli spent the majority of her adult life moving around the county during military service. She moved to Central NY in 2013 to work as a public health preparedness coordinator, and in 2015 she and her husband began developing their farm business in the rural community of Locke after participating in one of our Farm Ops project’s trainings. Now, Nina is joining our team as a veterans project associate to assist other veterans interested in exploring opportunities in farming.

Kacey Deamer

Kacey is the Communications Manager for the Cornell Small Farms Program. In this role, she manages all storytelling and outreach across the program’s website, social media, e-newsletter, magazine and more. Kacey has worked in communications and journalism for more than a decade, with a primary focus on science and sustainability.