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.

Heather Faubert is a research associate with the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension where she has been working with farmers, particularly fruit growers, on pest management since 1981. Heather also runs the University of Rhode Island’s Plant Protection Clinic where she diagnoses plant diseases, pests and other problems that southern New England growers battle each year.