Interns Archives - Organic Farming Research Foundation

Amanda Abraham (she/her/hers)

Development & Policy Intern

email: amanda[at]ofrf.org

Amanda Abraham (she/her/hers) joins the OFRF team as the Spring 2024 Partnerships and Policy Intern. She is an undergraduate student studying Sustainability Science at Arizona State University. She has an immense passion for uplifting the well-being of people and the planet, which she achieves through her compassion for others, willingness to learn, and overwhelming curiosity about how the world works.

Amanda also loves to cook. She adores the relationships she has fostered through learning to cook from others, and sharing her own creations. It is this love for food that has led her to the organic agriculture space, as she is eager to inspire others to learn more about where their food comes from and express her gratitude for the people who cultivate healthy and nutritious foods. Amanda aspires to evolve into a leader who encourages equality, promotes farmer and consumer well-being, and educates others about the importance of sustainable food practices.

Outside of her role as a full time student, Amanda enjoys every opportunity she can to be outside whether that is meditating, swimming, or watching the sunrise and sunset. In her free time, she loves to read books and spend time in the company of family and friends.

By Elizabeth Tobey|2024-03-27T15:23:58+00:00March 27th, 2024|Interns|

Annika La Fave (she/her/hers)

Annika La Fave policy intern fall 2023 b&w

Policy & Communications Intern

email: policy[at]ofrf.org

Annika La Fave (she/her/hers) joins the OFRF team as the Fall 2023 policy & communications intern. Annika is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on public health communications & food systems policy.

Annika began farming in 2010 while completing her B.A. in Education at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. She has since had a varied career in sustainable agriculture raising livestock, vegetables, and cut-flowers, teaching organic farming and small business management at Clackamas Community College, founding her own small vegetable farm business promoting food equity in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University, and, most recently, managing Baltimore County’s Agricultural Center.

Annika is passionate about land stewardship and the pursuit of occupational tenability for small and beginning farmers. She aspires to help create a more equitable food system for producers and consumers. She spends most of her spare time walking and running with her two energetic greyhounds.

By Elizabeth Tobey|2024-03-27T15:21:58+00:00January 9th, 2024|Interns|

Marina Vergara (she/her/hers)

Research & Education Intern

email: research[at]ofrf.org

Marina Vergara (she/her/hers) joins the OFRF team as the Fall 2023 Research and Education intern. Marina is a graduate student at the University of California, Davis studying International Agricultural Development. Her interests lie in exploring participatory agricultural extension and ways to better support marginalized farmers. Her research examines a participatory silvopastoral extension program in Panama, and the ways in which this model facilitates an informal knowledge exchange amongst model farmers and farmers newly entering the program.

Marina discovered her passion for food and agriculture in college after being drawn to the interdisciplinary nature of food systems. After graduating from Cornell University in 2018 with a BS in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, Marina moved to Panama to serve with the U.S. Peace Corps as an Agriculture Extension Agent, working with small-scale, organic cacao farmers in product development, marketing, and sales. Marina then served with AmeriCorps VISTA in South Texas, where she focused on coalition building for increasing food security and youth curriculum development for food justice and sovereignty in the Rio Grande Valley.

Marina is passionate about supporting marginalized farmers, through collaboration in projects and increasing equity in access to extension support and materials. In her free time, you can find Marina outside hiking, biking, or lounging with her dog Claudia, at the local coffee shop with a good book, or trying something new and tasty to eat.

By Elizabeth Tobey|2024-03-27T15:23:07+00:00January 9th, 2024|Interns|