Hey everybody! My name's Andrew Poole and this is my first season on the farm. I have worked 4 summers at the summer camp here and have been coming to camp since I was 12. I also have had previous experience on the farm from an internship at camp and Folk School. I love music and nature. I also love grape ice cream.

Hi! My name is Angela, I’m from Birmingham, Alabama and have been coming to Camp McDowell for several years now working at the EC and Conference Center. I’ve been traveling around doing seasonal work since college and find that it’s been a great way to explore and get to know myself and the world better. Recently came back from Jekyll Island where I was an environmental instructor there. In my free time I love to do whatever I feel like at the moment, lay in bed, go for a walk, look at a river, anything creative, find a piano at camp, ponder life and of course, catch a sunset at the end of the day. I feel so blessed to be apart of a camp that has so many different avenues and little adventures and looking forward to what the farm has to offer! : )

Hailing from rural Missouri, Autumn Shelton has always had a love for gardening, education, and sustainability. She recently graduated from Princeton University where she studied anthropology and archaeology. Her primary research interests centered around rural American cultures, crafts, and arts. In particular, her senior thesis research analyzed festival culture of the Ozarks - a region that encompasses southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas. Outside of academia, Autumn has worked as a writer at a Missouri newspaper, finished a farm apprenticeship in rural Maine, and completed a non-profit fellowship in Fairbanks, Alaska. In her free time, Autumn enjoys reading, baking coconut cream pies, and hand-building pottery. She is excited to join the Camp McDowell Farm School community this fall!

The last time Margaret was called down to Alabama from her home in Tennessee, it was to get a degree from the good people in Tuscaloosa. Inspired by the ecological diversity, storied dirt, and rich traditions of her Southern home, her school time was spent building a pathway towards a profession in eco-conscious disposition and green burial. Margaret found that where her love of God, planet, and people converged, there was a glorious heap of dirt! Her appreciation for the soil as source eventually led to many years spent working with plant medicine and healing foods. Her time in the wellness industry invited her to indulge all manner of curiosities regarding the natural world, and she cherished the opportunity to gather and give out such good gossip, all the magical secrets that the Earth holds. Margaret is so supremely delighted to be bringing her book learning down to the Farm and getting her hands dirty with a new generation of seekers and stewards!

Hi everyone! My name is Sari and I’m from Boston, Massachusetts. I graduated from college in 2023 with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Studio Art. Since then, I’ve been a hiking guide on a glacier in Alaska, and lived in New York City! In New York I have focused on environmental education, teaching gardening and nature classes, as well as guiding field trips at the city parks. I can’t wait to be working at Camp McDowell Farm School this school year!

Hey everyone! My name is Trinity. I was born in Alexandria, Virginia but moved out to the west coast, to Gig Harbor, Washington, when I was very little. I feel quite at home in those Western Washington foggy temperate rain forests and I am so excited to get to know the forest of Northern Alabama! I just graduated with a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara and have grown to be very fond of the SoCal sunshine and beautiful Coast Live Oak trees (I am a big tree girl if you couldn’t tell). Agriculture became a huge interest of mine in my time at UCSB as I began to learn more about how important regenerative food systems are for everyone’s -and the planet’s- health. I am so excited to learn more here and to share the joy and wonder of happy plant and animal communities with y’all!

Katie grew up on a small farm nestled in the magnificent, rolling hills and hollows of Virginia's Appalachian mountains. During her childhood, she got to experience the many wonders of rural farm life from helping baby ducklings hatch to participating in the family garden as soon as she could walk. Having had the privilege to grow up this way created in her a deep sense of connection and reverence for the land, as well as a feeling of responsibility to be an advocate and steward of it.She attended James Madison University where she majored in Psychology, with a focus in Ecopsychology. The summer before her senior year she interned at an equine-assisted therapy farm. In this position, she got to combine her passion for animals with her interests in alternative therapy and working with kids in a uniquely challenging, rewarding modality. She has also enjoyed the many years she has spent providing hands-on, outdoors-based childcare to local families. After graduating from JMU, Katie was fortunate to get the opportunity to spend a few months in Bolivia, South America, where she gained a lot of insight and appreciation for other ways of being in this world, and existing more simply and harmoniously with the land. Following her time across the equator, she arrived home to Virginia where she felt called back to her roots (literally!) She began working at a local farm where she got to dive hands-first into the world of regenerative agriculture. Prior to arriving at Camp McDowell, Katie spent time as a forest technician. She enjoyed collaborating with fellow tree huggers and going on wild expeditions in the woods, gathering data on these vital members of our ecosystem.

She is passionate about fostering a spark of curiosity in our natural world and food systems in people who may not have grown up with a relationship to the land. She believes the youngest generation plays a critical role in a societal shift back to interconnectedness with the Earth and is SO excited to join McDowell Farm School. She is ready to take on this new challenge and looks forward to having a lot of fun and laughter doing so!