Our Team
Meet the brains and brawn behind the mission. From our Leads, to our Core Team, and our Earthtenders, Drylands Agroecology Research has many hands to make light work.
The Eyes Behind the Vision
Dedicated to revitalizing ecosystems across the globe, Nick and Marissa are listening for the needs of their immediate community and Earth herself.
Drylands Agroecology Research has become an unlikely reality in the arid foothills of the Rocky Mountains and continues to focus on researching and documenting how it truly is possible to create abundance where there may be little to no water or hope.
Executive Directors
Hailing from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Nick is a regenerative designer, farmer, and builder. Inspired by indigenous culture and ancient farming practices, he works passionately to design the future of living systems. In 2015, Nick began farming on a barren and desertified 14 acre parcel of land in rural north Boulder County, now called Elk Run Farm, and the pilot research project for Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR). Today, Nick is working to develop climate change solutions through regenerative farming, working with private and public landowners across Boulder County.
Nick DiDomenico
Nick DiDomenico
Executive Director
As a graduate of Environmental Studies and the Psychology of Health and Healing at Naropa University, Marissa is passionate about igniting the innate human-earth connection within herself and others. She runs Folk Farm at Elk Run, encouraging play and the importance of intuition. A trained Doula, skilled herbalist, and cultural advocate, Marissa continues to evolve through practicing ritual, embodiment, and communication with the unseen.
Marissa Pulaski
Marissa
Pulaski
Executive Director
Leadership team
Azuraye grew up in Boulder, and has experience in entrepreneurship, cross-cultural communications, and nature-based people systems. She has returned to the land to help steward the test pilot for DAR’s “full stack” regenerative systems design & implementation at the Yellow Barn.
Azuraye Wycoff
Azuraye Wycoff
Director of Operations
James is an eco-social designer, applying the wisdom of nature to improve human systems. In over thirty years of creative problem solving in business, education, and media, James has kept his focus on helping organizations craft strategies to meet the needs of greater social and environmental wellbeing while reaching their goals for operational efficiency and profitability.
james edwards
James Edwards
Managing Director
Amy’s interest in food systems was originally born out of a degree in cultural anthropology. After five years farming on the East Coast, Amy served on the board of a forming urban ecovillage, worked at Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery, and founded an ecological landscaping business. Amy is also a teacher and facilitator for the Boulder Permaculture Design Course, which she graduated from in 2018. She is deeply passionate about local history and ecology and how dryland agriculture can regenerate the land and communities of the arid west. Amy lives and homesteads in Niwot.
Amy Scanes-Wolf
Amy Scanes-WolfE
Community Outreach Director
Core Team
Rachel is originally a desert being who grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix. She was introduced to sustainable agriculture during her two years of living in rural Panama, coffee farming and growing veggies with children. After another two years of working on food sovereignty with the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota, Rachel finds herself soaking up every permaculture-imbibed moment at Elk Run Farm. A sister, a daughter, a farmer, a coffee lover, and a cat mom, it is her utmost honor to be Farm Manager this agricultural season. Her favorite vegetable is broccoli.
Rachel Beglin
Farm Manager
Rachel beglin
Certified as a Director with the Colorado Office of Early Childhood, Jessica has been teaching children ages 1-8 for seven years and has been a part of the Folk Farm Family since 2021. She received her B.S. in Human Development from the University of California San Diego and is a lifelong student of regenerative child raising practices. She holds the container of developmentally appropriate education through growing authentic connection, building responsive systems, and ensuring quality care.
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Jess Walters
Folk Farm Director
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Jessica Walters
TBD
Carlos carascal
Project Manager
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carascal
Nelson Heider-Kuhn is originally from Virginia but has been a Coloradan for 11 years. His degree studies are in soil conservation sciences and food systems sustainability from Colorado State University. With eight years of farming experience under his belt, Nelson embarked on a remarkable journey of running a one-acre soil focused neighborhood farm experiment alongside his husband for five of those years.
Recognizing the fundamental importance of soil as the essence of life itself, Nelson is wholeheartedly committed to harnessing the inherent powers of nature through extensive research and a holistic vision
Nelson
heider-kuhn
Research Manager
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Nelson Heider-Kuhn
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Vida is a bilingual agroecology instructor, soil health nerd, and urban farmer. She is also a bold, tenderhearted everyday person who can barely contain her VERY enthusiastic fascination with Mother Earth’s beauty. When she’s not assisting DAR with operations support, she’s raising composting worms, learning to speak Comanche, and spreading love for Mother Earth.
Vida chavez-garcia
Cultural Advocacy Coordinator
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
VIDA chavez-garcia
Shaqaula Habinsky is an experienced digital marketing strategist who specializes in utilizing data-driven methods to achieve desired outcomes. She carries a fervent desire to infuse her wisdom into the nonprofit domain, particularly by working with DAR. By employing her authentic and in-depth approach to marketing, she aims to amplify our mission and assist us in reaching our funding goals. Shaqaula is from Colorado and has a deep respect for disseminating information on food injustice. She knows firsthand the importance of educating marginalized groups about food sovereignty. She believes that access to fresh, nourishing food is a right, not a privilege.
Shaquala Habinsky
Marketing Strategist
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Shaquala habinsky
Keila Hoover is originally from the Texas Panhandle where she grew up as a farmer's daughter. Running her hands through the dirt created a passion for nature, and because she grew up eating from the land, she recognizes the importance of accessible fresh food. As a UX Developer and Designer, Keila enjoys using her skill set to amplify the mission of the organizations that she works with while keeping engagement and revenue goals in mind. She recently purchased a house built in 1912 on 4.5 acres that she takes pride in bringing back to life. Along with her new found passion in homesteading, she also is a nerd for almost anything sci-fi or fantasy related.
Keila Hoover
Content Creator
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Keila Hoover
TBD
Claire Thompson
Event Producer
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Claire thompson
Born and raised in Southern New Jersey, Amanda relocated to Colorado in 2018 to pursue her passion for conservation and environmental sociology. She brings that passion to DAR along with experience in a variety of fields including zookeeping, administrative work and customer service. In college, she was an all-american rower with a national championship. She continues to be involved in the sport as a coach and mentor. After work, you can find Amanda spending time with her fiance, dog, and four frogs.
Amanda Craig
Office Manager
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
amanda craig
Earthtenders
After growing up in the Tennessee Valley, I moved up to Knoxville for college. Originally, I envisioned a future for myself inside a lab, researching the way the physical world works. Along the way, I pulled on the threads of sustainability and found myself studying science through the lens of other cultures. With newfound awareness of alternative education, I jumped headfirst into Ecoversity’s Permaculture Design Certification course. Leaning into those principles and ethics have helped me find connections and community.
Mariah Lynn
Elk Run Intern
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Anastacia Archibeque
Herb Garden & Cultural Liaison
Anastacia Archibeque
I grew up in Colorado and care deeply about our land and communities of the state. I earned my B.S. in Human Nutrition and Dietetics where I focused on localized food systems, access, and equity. I am passionate about gardening and farming and have worked with many Colorado farms to learn more about what our local food systems are doing and what barriers they are running into. I am finishing my master’s in Environmental Public Health with a focus on agriculture practices that will better our communities, ecosystem, and planet.
Katerinabolliger
Policy Intern
Katarina bolliger
Sabrina is a certified clinical medical herbalist and nutritionist trained in the western vitalist traditions. She believes we all have the innate intelligence and capability to heal and uses plants to facilitate the process. Born and raised in Colorado, she feels grateful to be among communities devoted to the synergistic relationships between all living things. When she’s not sharing her knowledge of plant wisdom at DAR, she can be found wandering in the mountains or spending quality time with loved ones.
Sabrina
tran
Community Herbalist
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Sabrina Tran
Carlos Carrascal
Carlos Carrascal
Executive ADVISORS
BArnabas Kane
Board of Directors
Anna Baeten
Executive Advisor
Brett Kencairn
Executive Advisor
Aaron Perry
Senior Advisor
