Staff
Carmen Snyder
Executive Director
When living in an intentional farming community in North Carolina, Carmen fell in love with farm life and food production, especially enjoying bee-keeping, food preservation & fermentation, hand-milking goats & cows, and making dairy products. Over the course of her career, she has worked as a middle school English teacher, yoga instructor, head of the kitchen for various events, and principal organizer for the Southeastern Permaculture Gathering.
Inspired by Sonoma County’s thriving, diverse agricultural community, Carmen is passionate about supporting local farmers and working to preserve farms forever. She oversees Farm Trails operations and events, from budgets to band selection, and is most interested in cultivating community, bridging gaps, building resilience, and fulfilling Farm Trails' mission to instill an appreciation of ag as a vital part of our lifestyle.
Carmen serves as Treasurer of the School Garden Network of Sonoma County and sits on the advisory board of Colorado State University’s Western US Agritourism Project. She is also the Producer of the Gravenstein Apple Fair.
Ellen Cavalli
Membership & Marketing Manager
A longtime member of Farm Trails, Ellen joined the staff in September 2019. She is the primary contact for our members; handles the Farm Trails social media, newsletters, website, Map & Guide, marketing, and publicity; coordinates the seasonal tours and marketing campaigns; and participates in various ag advocacy meetings and groups including as a member of the Sonoma County Food System Alliance.
Ellen is also co-owner of Tilted Shed Ciderworks, which she founded with her husband, Scott Heath, in 2011. They grow more than 120 varieties of cider apples; source organic apples from Sonoma County family farms; and make ciders that have earned international acclaim for Sonoma County terroir. Ellen lives on a 5.4-acre Sebastopol farm with Scott, their son, dog, cats, chickens, sheep, and too many apple trees to count.
Pam Davis
Gravenstein Apple Fair Operations Manager
As Gravenstein Apple Fair Operations Manager, Pam handles myriad logistics, including securing and managing service contracts, permits, identifying potential sponsors, managing paperwork for vendors, procuring and assuring proper distribution of equipment and supplies, tracking, and more for the Fair.
Sophie Haag
Gravenstein Apple Fair Event Coordinator
Sophie was born and raised in Humboldt County. The value of local food systems and small businesses has been an important part of her life since childhood. She moved to Sonoma County in 2022 to work for the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center as a Programs Administration intern where she found strength and connection in West County's deeply intertwined community. In early 2023, she joined the Farm Trails team as the Gravenstein Apple Fair Event Coordinator. She lives in Sebastopol with two of her closest friends and dreams of one day adopting a dog. In her free time, you can find her struggling to finish a sewing project, trail running, or searching for treasures at her favorite thrift store.
Lisa Rose
Photographer
A Northern California native moved from Marin to Sonoma in 2018 where the rolling hills and seasonal beauty of Sonoma County have always been her favorite visual treasure. Lisa has been photographing people places and things professionally for over 32 years. Her life behind the camera is a vibrant world where imagination and real life combine moment to moment.
Since moving to Sonoma, Lisa has realized a beautiful dream. In 2020 she formally started Revival Groove Urban Microfarm, a half-acre farm focused on growing fruit and vegetables year-round, building community around healthy locally grown food through her mini CSA. Lisa enjoys working with people in their own gardens so they too can grow food too.
In 2022 Revival Groove became a member of Farm Trails and had her first booth in Life on the Farm at the Gravenstein Apple Fair. In fall of 2022 Lisa joined Farm Trails team as staff photographer and couldn’t be happier being connected to such a dynamic agricultural community. Lisa teaches hands-on photography workshops to members, hits the Farm Trails for Spring and Fall tours to capture the members and the public as well as cruising the county as the seasons change to collect images for the annual Map and Guide.
Lisa lives in Santa Rosa with her 2 daughters and their 2 dozen hens, 3 ducks, 1 rabbit, 4 cats, and 1 dog. On any given day you will find her with hands in the soil and watching her hens cluck around at sunset.
Christine Coggins Margetts
Bookkeeper
Christine is a rare commodity in that she was born and raised in Sonoma County. She has a deep connection in agriculture and began raising and showing animals at local fairs in 1973. Christine began her accounting career working for the Sonoma County Fair and Sonoma County Harvest Fair. From there she moved to working for American Ag Credit and several local wineries. For over twenty years Christine was accountant, general manager and forever friend to Saralee and Richard Kunde until their passing. Now Christine does bookkeeping for several local non-profit, Sonoma-County based agricultural entities.
