Farming is a demanding but extremely rewarding activity. We are lucky to have a team of students and many volunteers from the community to grow with us!
Farm Team
Dr. Eli Wheat, Farm Director
Eli Wheat is a faculty member in the Program on the Environment at the University of Washington. Eli is also a core faculty member of the Food Systems Nutrition and Health Program. He is passionate about regenerative food production systems and teaches many courses in food production and sustainability. As academic director of the UW Farm Eli works closely with Perry Acworth to support activities at the UW Farm. He’s won numerous awards for his teaching and sustainability work including the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award, 2018 Husky Green Award, and the College of the Environment’s Outstanding Teaching Faculty award.
In addition to teaching sustainability and agriculture courses at UW, he owns and operates SkyRoot farm, a 20-acre, certified organic, integrated animal and vegetable farm on South Whidbey Island. In his spare time, Eli enjoys playing guitar, running, reading, and hanging out with his family.
Education:
PhD in Biology, University of Washington
MA in Education, MYU
BS in Biology, Union College
Hails from: Upstate NY
Hobbies: Farming, running, playing the guitar
Favorite vegetable or fruit that we grow at UW: Lettuce!
Farm Staff
Perry Acworth, Farm Manager
Persis “Perry” Acworth accepted the UW Farm Manager position in April 2018. In 2020, she received the UW Distinguished Staff, Award of Excellence.
Originally from Long Island, New York, Perry has a special place in her heart for the Northeast. From 1995-2012, Perry owned and operated a commercial grass-based sheep dairy, made farmstead yogurt and feta cheese, raised layer hens and grew vegetables in Union, Maine. In addition to running her own farm, she worked for five seasons at a greenhouse and nursery operation in Harpswell, Maine and a summer in the fisheries industry in Alaska.
Before becoming a farmer, she earned a BA in Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont, and an MS in Natural Resource Management and Public Administration at Antioch New England. This was followed with a position as one of the first recycling education coordinators for the Chittenden Solid Waste District in Vermont. After a stint in rural Idaho on a large-scale sheep and alfalfa ranch, Perry moved to coastal Maine and worked for Kelmscott Farm and Rare Breeds Foundation for critically rare and endangered breeds of livestock (1995-2002). While there she focused on education, grass-based rotational grazing and cared for nine species of livestock, horses, and learned to shear sheep.
In 2012, Perry sold her farm in Maine and moved to the PNW to pursue a graduate degree with the goal of becoming a farm educator to connect urban populations to the food system. Her first year of her M Ed was spent at IslandWood earning an EEC certificate. At UW’s main Seattle campus she TA-ed for professor Eli Wheat’s ever popular, ENVIR 240 course, The Urban Farm. Her and completed master’s project focused on Seattle Tilth’s (now Tilth Alliance), Seattle Youth Garden Works program.
Since earning her Masters in Education from UW in 2014, Perry has managed three student farms including Assistant Farm Manager at The Evergreen State College. She helped build (literally) the Viva Farms King County farm incubator in Woodinville, WA. This 10-acre farm incubator also includes a farm training program, land access and assisting small scale farm businesses. Perry has taught classes in sustainable agriculture, food safety, urban farm and business planning, and livestock management, as part of the Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAgE) certificate program at Edmonds Community College and Seattle Central College. She also helped build Morethana student farm for Antioch University.
Even though all her family is back east, Perry loves Seattle because of the mild climate, natural beauty of the Puget Sound, and proximity to so much hiking and many mountain ranges.
See the SEFS Employee Spotlight of Perry HERE and page 27 of the UW Magazine
Year at UW: MEd 2014
Hails from: Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Hobbies: bicycling, hiking and backpacking, and home cooking with the farm’s veggies
Favorite vegetable or fruit that we grow at UW: tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce and figs
Contact Perry: persis@uw.edu
Aisling Doyle Wade, Production Manager
Aisling returned to the UW Farm as production manager in April of 2023. Aisling started her journey with the UW Farm back in 2017 during her freshman year at UW. During her first week at UW she attended a Dawg Daze pizza bake at the farm and she was blown away by the bastion of food production located in the heart of urban Seattle!
Aisling was highly involved with the UW Farm while completing her undergraduate degree in Community, Environment & Planning in the College of Built Environments.
She worked as a student staff member for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, led the Dirty Dozen student farm RSO and even took on additional farm projects through fellowship funding. Her proudest accomplishment as a student farmer was completing the UW Farm Student Handbook – a comprehensive guide to the procedures of the farm which is still used today to help new student farmers learn how to perform various tasks.
After graduating in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, Aisling moved out to Whidbey Island, WA where she worked on SkyRoot Farm. SkyRoot is a 20-acre, organic & regenerative vegetable, livestock & fruit farm.
After two beautiful seasons on SkyRoot, Aisling decided to pursue a new challenge and when she heard that the UW Farm was hiring a production manager, she jumped on the chance to return to the UW and the farm that sparked her initial interest in food production!
In her position as Production Manager, Aisling manages our growing and distribution to campus and the community: order fulfillment and sales to UW Dining and Athletics, the CSA subscription program for households, deliveries to the UW food Pantry and area food banks, and over all management of the farm’s three growing sites on campus. Aisling is committed to continually improving the UW Farm’s food growing efficiency and capacity while never losing sight of the central missions of education and strengthening community around food production.
Year at UW: BA Community, Environment & Planning, College of Built Environments, ’21
Hails from: Seattle, WA
Hobbies: Cycling, mountain exploring, home gardening, cooking, woodworking
Favorite Vegetable and Fruit: All the winter squash!
Contact information: amtdw@uw.edu
Work Study Students
Food Sovereignty Liaison
Stephanie Wojciakowski, wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House Food Sovereignty Liaison
Stephanie is in her third year as an Undergraduate student at UW. She is majoring in Environmental Science (ESRM) and minoring in Quantitative Science and Oceania & Pacific Islander Studies. Stephanie is CHamoru from the island of Guam, but she grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Outside of work and classes, Stephanie enjoys attending concerts, hiking, reading, and trying new coffee shops.
At the UW Farm, Stephanie serves as the Food Sovereignty Liaison for the Native Garden, a role that aligns with her interest in Indigenous food sovereignty and sustainable food systems. She is passionate about strengthening communities relationships with traditional foods, agroecology, and preserving Indigenous knowledge through the UW Farm. After graduating, Stephanie hopes to do environmental research focused on conservation in Oceania, hopefully working with her CHamoru and Pasifika community.
Year at UW: Junior — BS in Environmental Science and Resource Management
Hails from: Grand Rapids, MI
Hobbies: going to concerts, hiking, reading, and trying new coffee shops
Favorite Vegetable and Fruit: sweet potatoes and coconut
Student Interns
Talia Ingham, 2026 Dani Elenga Intern, CSA Assistant Manager
Talia is beginning her fourth year at UW as an undergraduate student, studying for a double degree in Environmental Science and Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health. Outside of school, she loves getting outdoors through hiking, backpacking, and swimming, as well as traveling, reading, and baking and cooking for friends and family. She has always loved spending time in nature, and cooking nutritious food which drew her to the UW Farm during her freshman year. Since then, she has worked as a CELE volunteer and served as the Production Impact Intern in Spring 2025.
Talia is returning to the farm for the 2026 season as the Dani Elenga CSA Assistant Manager. In this position, Talia will help to support the UW Farm CSA program, providing local community members with weekly produce boxes. Talia is particularly interested in the intersection of sustainability and nutrition, and their influence on global public health. She believes that creating equitable, environmentally conscious food systems has the potential to drastically improve both human and ecosystem health. After graduating, Talia hopes to pursue a career that combines environmental science with public health to promote environmental justice and sustainability.
Year at UW: Senior – BS Environmental Science and Resource Management & BA in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health
Hails from: Oakland, CA
Hobbies: Hiking, Traveling, Cooking & Baking, Running
Favorite Vegetable and Fruit: Winter Squash and Mango
Outstanding Community Volunteers
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes at the UW Farm, and we’re grateful for all of the volunteers who help keep things running! If you’d like to volunteer with us, get info here.
RIZANIÑO REYES – Flower Production Mentor & Educator
Inspired by tropical fruits and flowers since he was a child, Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes is a garden consultant and floral designer in Seattle, Washington, known for creatively embracing horticultural diversity with a sophisticated style that belies his 30-something years.
His early passion for plants led him to the University of Washington (UW), where in 2006 he earned a degree in environmental horticulture and urban forestry with a specialization in public horticulture.
He then worked as a horticulturist at the UW Botanic Gardens Center for Urban Horticulture for several years, as well as operating a small nursery on the side where he propagated rare and unusual plants for Northwest gardeners.
In 2015, he took on his current role as gardens manager for the brew pub and hospitality company McMenamin’s Anderson School in Bothell, Washington.
Reyes also maintains his own enterprise, RHR Horticulture, overseeing private landscapes and designing cut flowers, in addition to teaching and lecturing for various garden clubs and professional organizations.
He began volunteering for the UW Farm in 2014. Part planting consultant, flower maintenance guide, and educator, Riz spearheads its cut flower program and mentors younger horticulturists from nontraditional backgrounds.
Joel Rosen, Field Volunteer & Operations Lead
Joel Rosen, a retired urban planner, and his wife Pam recently moved from California to Seattle to be closer to family. Joel fell in love with the UW Farm on first sight and immediately volunteered. Joel enjoys weeding, planting, harvesting, repairing farm equipment and pretty much any task where he can use his hands.
Joel also enjoys engaging with and mentoring students as they are beginning or ending their college journey and starting the next phase of their lives