ANR Staff

Cindy Folck, Ph.D. (Alcinda)
Ag and Natural Resources Program Leader

Dr. Alcinda “Cindy” Folck is the program leader of the Agriculture and Natural Resources in Central State University Extension (CSUE) has 30 years of experience in agriculture. She oversees the state-wide implementation of agricultural and natural resources programming and regional agricultural and natural resources extension educators. Her focus is programming to meet the needs of underserved, under-represented farmers in Ohio. She also promotes workshops and programming to improve sustainability, accessibility, and opportunity for those involved with agriculture and natural resource endeavors in Ohio. Folck is located on Central State University campus in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Prior to joining CSUE in 2019, Folck worked for 18 years for Ohio State University Extension in agriculture and natural resources and before then worked for 10 years with livestock commodity groups and soil and water conservation. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Agricultural and Extension Education. Folck and her husband currently operate a small farm raising strawberries, caneberries, peas and sunflowers. They also have a pasture-based farrow- to-finish hog operation.

937-376-6101
afolck@centralstate.edu

Marc Amante
Regional Educator: Southwestern Ohio

Marc is one of the Agricultural and Natural Resources Educators for the Southwest region. His background is primarily in working on and operating small-scale, diversified vegetable and fruit operations and greenhouse production of vegetable seedlings and bedding plants for commercial sale. He also has a little bit of livestock experience from some of his farm work, including working with sheep, alpacas, and pastured chickens and hogs. Additionally, he managed Central State’s demonstration aquaponics facility in his prior role with the University. He has a growing interest in agroforestry and non-timber forest products as well as experience with native habitat restoration. He has a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago and a joint Master’s in Agroecology and Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is in the process of turning his backyard into a microfarm.

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Denise Natoli Brooks
Regional Educator: Southeastern Ohio

Denise Natoli Brooks is the Southeast Ohio Regional Educator for Central State University Extension (CSUE). She has over 20 years of natural resource management and education experience. Her specialties include small-scale farms and farming, new and beginning farmers, pastured poultry, perennial crops, small fruits, cover crops and soil health, beekeeping, and conservation practices. Prior to joining CSUE in 2020, Brooks served as educator and director at various conservation organizations including the Wilds and Licking County Soil & Water Conservation District. She received her M.S. from Miami University of Ohio in Zoology with a focus on Community-based Conservation, and a B.S. from the Forest Resources Department at Utah State University. Brooks raises and direct-markets seasonal and perennial vegetables, has a small fruit orchard and pastures a flock of heritage-breed layers in Muskingum County, Ohio.

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Dana Hilfinger
Regional Educator: Southwestern Ohio

Dana Hilfinger has been an Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator with Central State University since 2020. Dana has over a decade of on-farm experience on diversified fruit and vegetable farms. She began apprenticing on small-scale vegetable farms across the country beginning in 2011, and eventually went on to manage a non-profit 10-acre urban fruit and vegetable in Columbus, Ohio, for four years. She has extensive experience with organic vegetable production, season extension (using high tunnels) and direct and wholesale marketing. Dana went on to get her Masters in Horticulture and Crop Science from Ohio State in 2019, where she studied high tunnel winter lettuce production methods. Before coming to CSU, she worked for two years with Ohio State’s Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation, where she developed a training program and supported a marketing cooperative for beginning urban farmers in Mansfield, Ohio.
In 2019, she began her own farm in Johnstown, Ohio, that grows vegetables through the winter using high tunnels and raspberries during the summer. She is interested in the diverse and creative ways that small-scale growers can best utilize their land and enhance their farm ecosystem, and in particular in cooperative approaches to addressing small-farm challenges. Areas of Interest/Specialization: High Tunnels and Season Extension, Organic Production, Integrated crop and livestock systems, Small farm food safety, Small-farm marketing, Co-ops, Urban Agriculture, New and Beginning Farmers.

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Phil Hollingshead || Resume (PDF)
Regional Educator: Southeastern Ohio

Phil grew up in southeastern Ohio working on his family farm where they raised quarter horses and show pigs as well as working on beef cattle operations. Hollingshead was very involved in the 4H and agriculture community all through his life. He received a BS in Animal Science from the university of Findlay. During his years at Findlay he worked as a herdsman at the university’s multi-species teaching farm and a harvest assistant for Legacy Farmer Coop. Upon graduating undergrad Phil worked as the head manager at Virginia Tech University’s teaching swine farm. Hollingshead’s specialties lie with livestock production, health, grazing systems, crops and forage management.

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Brian Kampman
Vegetable and Small Fruit Technician

Brian’s background is in landscape design and maintenance, grounds maintenance, and red raspberry production. He began his career working in a large retail/wholesale greenhouse operation where a love of plants grew in him. He has worked as a grounds supervisor/ manager at two local hospitals, and grounds manager at a local canning facility where red raspberries, a retail store/café, and large gardens were a draw to the local economy. Brian is a Certified Horticulturist and has plans in the works to improve the CSU Seed to Bloom Botanical Garden. He has an intensive knowledge of plants including tropicals, perennials, trees, shrubs, bulbs and annuals. He has an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science with a Landscape and Turf major from Clark State Community College. He is currently working on building an all-white flower garden at his home. He has also been doing genealogy for 42 years.

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Adam Regula
Regional Educator: Northeastern Ohio

Adam Regula is an Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator in northeast Ohio. Adam’s background is in forest and ecosystem management with an emphasis in silviculture and a growing interest in non-timber forest products such as mushrooms, ginseng, and botanicals. He provides programing, training, and technical assistance to underserved and underrepresented farmers, woodland owners, and other groups in urban and rural communities throughout the northeast. Adam received his M.A. in Geography from the University of Wyoming and M.S. in Forestry from West Virginia University. Prior to joining Central State Extension, he served as an agroforestry volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Senegal, worked as a consulting forester in the Adirondack region of New York, and most recently worked for the Ohio Division of Forestry.

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Clare Thorn
ANR Extension Associate

Clare Thorn is the Agriculture and Natural Resource Extension and her role will focus on youth and adult programming for Central State University’s newly opened Seed to Bloom Botanical and Community Garden.
She brings life-long career experiences as a naturalist, education coordinator, wildlife specialist and informal educator sharing her knowledge and passion for the natural world, horticulture and agriculture. Her roots have taken hold with state, local and private organizations with a mission in education, recreation and conservation.
Her time with CSU Extension began as a 4-H Youth Program Development Coordinator sharing her passion of Urban Gardening and Healthy Living with schools in Franklin County. Prior to working with CSUE in 2017, she worked at Bok Tower in Lake Wales, Florida; The Go Fish Education Center in Perry, Georgia; and with Ohio State University Extension, Montgomery County, managing the Master Gardener and Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist programs. Ms. Thorn has her M.S. and B.S. in Parks and Recreation from Ohio University, Athens, OH.

937-376-6627
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Michelle Wallace
Regional Educator: Northwestern Ohio

Michelle Wallace is the Northwest Ohio Regional Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator. Michelle has 25 years of experience in agriculture and natural resource management. Michelle’s horticulture journey began when she was a child and her family moved overseas. She grew up on a kibbutz in northern Israel where she worked alongside her dad in the kiwi vineyard and apple orchards. When she returned to the US, she received a BS in Horticulture and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University. She has over 10 years of experience working for NCSU Extension as a County Agriculture Extension Agent. Michelle also spent 9 years working as a landscape designer in the private sector. After moving to Ohio and prior to joining the CSUE team, she received a business degree from the University of Toledo and worked in the University of Toledo Computing Center in the Project Management Department.
Areas of Interest: New and Beginning Farmers, Business Planning and Marketing, Small Fruit and Orchard Production, Beekeeping, Cut Flower Production, Vineyards and Hops Production, Water Quality Management.

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Logan Walter
Regional Educator: Northeastern Ohio

Logan Walter is an Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator, located in the Northeast region of Ohio. He works primarily with new/beginning farmers, specialty crop growers, and with individuals, businesses, and organizations that are working to further develop Northeast Ohio’s local food economy. His areas of experience include fruit and vegetable crop production and integrated pest/disease management. Logan has both a BS in Sustainable Plant Systems (Horticulture) and an MS in Plant Health Management from Ohio State. Prior to joining CSUE, he worked as an agricultural research assistant for Ohio State at OARDC. Logan grew up on a small farm in Ashland County, Ohio, where he helped his family raise laying hens and beef cattle and produce grain crops.

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