ENVIRONmental media FELLOWship program

Emily is a Vermonter who believes that the best way to connect people to issues that need addressing is through storytelling. Her love of exploring the world through food and her background in ecology and policy has led her to view conservation and human health problems through a food systems lens. Ultimately, she sees creating a more sustainable, equitable food system as central to mitigating climate change and ensuring a more just future for all. Her past experiences have ranged from studying endangered bats and writing policy memos to volunteering on organic farms and getting people excited about discovering lady beetles in their backyards. Outside of work, she loves to go on adventures in the outdoors and experiment with new plant-based recipes.

Dená Brummer is a cook, food stylist, teacher, and writer—epitomizing the modern chef. What ties these roles together, besides an immersion in the world of food, is her unyielding desire to educate and empower her community through health-focused cuisine. After a 15-year career in communications & marketing, she decided to take a detour into the world of food and enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Education to study Health Supportive Culinary Arts. Since 2018, she has been on a journey to combine her two passions—food and storytelling—with the intent of creating work that inspires, creates community, and raises cultural, social, and environmental awareness. When she is not consumed with all things food, you can find her gardening, hiking, and exploring the world with her 13-year-old daughter.

Lee is a chef de partie at restaurant Benu in San Francisco. He was born on a homestead in rural New Hampshire, studied philosophy and critical ethnic studies in Michigan, and then followed his older brother to the Bay Area. During the Covid-19 shutdown, he enjoys walking through the Santa Cruz mountains, playing boardgames with his housemates, and reading. He hopes to cook and write for a better world. He hopes the rapid change of our era will disrupt our insatiable consumption and bring us to shift towards a more sustainable relationship with our earth.

Francis is an aspiring young farmer from California who interns at the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. She and her team there believe in using an ethic of care in public service and employ a “creative” approach to bureaucratic procedures, investing in BIPOC-led, community-based food sovereignty organizations and making red tape more equitable. Francis has a degree in Biology from Swarthmore College and a master’s in Food Studies from New York University, and is currently accepting advice on woodworking apprenticeships. Her favorite insect is Chalybion californicum, the blue mud wasp, and she wishes to one day own a small farm with an extensive pollinator meadow. She invites you to think about food choices in terms that are meaningful from the perspective of the farmworkers, the land, and the very things that are consumed.

Jared is a professional chef aspiring to be a writer and good food activist. He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio but has traveled around the world working as a chef, cooking in restaurants across the US, in Bermuda, in Singapore, and in Australia. He attended culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina, earning degrees in culinary arts and foodservice management. After school, Jared helped open a farm-to-table food truck in Charlotte that highlighted local ingredients. While living in Australia, he witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by their worst-ever bushfire season and realized he must do more to combat climate change. As someone who has spent his career working in professional kitchens, he is deeply committed to helping reform the restaurant industry to be more sustainable and environmentally-conscious. Jared currently lives in Northeast Ohio with his girlfriend. In his spare time, he can be found exploring the local parks system and attending to the incessant demands of his cat.

Ariana recently changed career directions after spending the last six years in entertainment working for talent agents and producers. She is now headed to NYU’s Food Studies graduate program in the Spring. A lifelong foodie, Ariana began to wonder where her food was coming from and how it was produced, and the information she found sparked a fascination in food systems and food sustainability. She is a strong believer in the power of marketing and hopes to build those skills and use them to further the good food movement. During her free time, she loves to tackle complicated cooking projects while listening to true crime podcasts, go on long hikes with her pup, and get lost in a good book.

Cailyn recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in Music and Conservation and Resource studies. A foodie and environmentalist at heart, she has spent the last few years trying to reconnect people to nature through building community gardens at her old high school and college co-op. These experiences as well as her extensive education in global food systems showed her the powerful roles that food and agriculture play in cultivating a more just society and environment. In her free time Cailyn plays classical piano, participates in a Javanese Gamelan ensemble, does yoga, cooks, gardens, and reads. She currently resides in Monterey, CA.