People

Ruth Mischler is your instructor for Animal Husbandry and the Crop and Soil Management classes of your Agroecology Summer Intensive. She grew up in Zelienople, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA. As a child she had an affinity for soil and developed a love of gardening from her mom and that special joy of picking fresh strawberries in a small, backyard garden. While studying Environmental Science at Lipscomb University she connected with the World Hunger Relief Farm in Waco, TX and fell in love with goats! Her next steps took her to Penn State University where she earned a Master of Science in Agronomy and studied organic, no-till systems using cover crops and roller crimpers. Her passion for learning about the connections between people and their environment through food, took her to Zambia with the US Fulbright program. She learned about Zambian culture and a food system with staples of cassava, fishing, and sweet potatoes in the Luapula Provence. Ruth has worked across the front range of Colorado on various diverse, market-garden bases farms, micro-goat dairies, and completed the North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program. She is also a certified Permaculture Design Consultant. Ruth is a mom of three (human) kids, who she enjoys homeschooling. She love spending time with her family, hiking, running, canoeing, reading, learning, and fostering growth in people, plants, animals, and communities!

• Faculty Profile

Kaeli joined the Merry Lea Team as the new farm manager in November 2019. Kaeli is a graduate of the 2011 Agroecology Summer Intensive program and a 2014 Public Relations graduate of Goshen College. She was the founder of Goshen College's Trackside Community Garden through the GC Class of 2013 gift committee. Her earlier professional career revolved around communications, marketing, and events after working with Goshen's First Fridays. She married fellow GC grad, Jackson Beck, in 2014 before moving to Athens, Georgia. She spent two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the University of Georgia, serving as the assistant coordinator of the university's Campus Kitchen program - a hybrid food waste diversion, soup kitchen, and meals on wheels organization powered by students. After moving to Pittsburgh, she took graduate courses in Food Studies at Chatham University and worked in partnership with the University farm and the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to begin growing food on campus for their mobile grocery truck. In the summer of 2019, she and her husband happily moved back to their favorite city of Goshen after Jackson was hired at a law firm. They each enjoy relaxing at home after a long work week, snuggling their cat named Sassy.

...which means what?

My job is to make sure you all have a safe, fun time here during ASI! How, you ask?

• Getting you oriented when you arrive

• Being your go-to person for any questions or needs that arise during your time here

• Building a supportive communal environment through weekly Community Meetings

• Helping to craft your learning experiences

  • Planning and leading field excursions

  • Guiding excursion briefing and debriefing discussions

  • Delivering select Culinary Arts and Spiritual Ecology Practice sessions

I love my job, and pledge to give a healthy amount of myself to you all in ASI! Here are some other things I love that receive my time and attention:

• My family! Spouse Amy, daughter Felicity, son Rowan, sweet dog Lexie

• Our home, which we've named "Asher Glen" - 3.5 acres of experimental ecological restoration. Ask me about it, or better yet, come visit!

• Our church family at Community of Hope. A few foundational Bible verses for me:

  • Isaiah 58:6-12

  • Micah 6:8

  • Leviticus 25:24

  • 1 Peter 4:10

• Hiking - so fortunate to live near Merry Lea, Chain O Lakes State Park, and Crooked Lake Nature Preserve (among others!)

• Canoeing - nothing gives me a greater sense of peace than being on the water

• Cooking - creativity in the kitchen is my jam (not literally, well, sometimes)

• Ice hockey - So fun! Been doing it since elementary school

My faculty webpage, FYI