Rhode Island

Rachel coordinates the tri-state SARE program for CT-MA-RI, focusing on providing educational training to both agricultural service providers and farmers in the area of sustainable livestock production practices. Before joining the tri-state team in 2017, Rachel worked in the animal nutrition field at a Connecticut feed mill as well as a local feed retailer. Rachel grew up on a small family farm in Northeast Connecticut, raising beef cattle. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science and, in 2011, earned a Master of Science degree in Animal Science with a focus in animal nutrition. Rachel and her husband currently raise beef cattle, poultry and swine for local meat sales on his family's farm in southern Connecticut.

Currently, I work as a Director of the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Plant Diagnostic Laboratory and Northeast SARE Rhode Island State Coordinator. At the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, I help growers identify pests and diseases and make management recommendations to prevent and control plant health issues. I do farms and site visits, participate in twilight meetings, and conduct SARE, IPM, and Plant Pathology outreach and education training and activities. Growing up in Colombia, I was inspired by small farmers' sustainable agriculture practices who provided food for the local community. This motivated me to pursue a career in agriculture, study Agronomy first, and then pursue a Master's and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the University of Arkansas, focusing on soilborne pathogens and seedling diseases. In 2017, I joined the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extensions Service's Plant Health Clinic as a Program Associate, Diagnostician, and Instructor and worked there until 2022. I joined the URI Plant Diagnostic Lab in 2022 as a Plant Pathologist and Diagnostician.