We are proud of the diverse work that our past interns are currently engaged with.

Paul Golden

“I joined The Delphi Foundation (Spring 2010) to learn about the advantages and practices of sustainable farming. Some of my happiest memories are from the dewy mornings on the farm learning how to raise food while practicing environmental stewardship. After my time at Delphi I founded of The Center for Sustainable Aquaponics, LLC. We performed 2 years of cutting-edge research on integrated freshwater aquaculture and hydroponic systems, known as aquaponics. This was accomplished at our 40,000 square foot greenhouse facility in Loveland, CO. In 2012 I operated E&J Fish Farm in Northern Colorado. This facility can produce nearly 250,000 pounds of trout per year on recirculated water. I am currently working with groups throughout the Pacific Northwest to integrate commercial aquaponic greenhouses into closed-containment salmon farming, removing the negative stigma for farmed salmon. The groups I work with have the highest sustainability rating for fresh fish by The Monterey Bay Aquarium Fish Guide. My education at Delphi has been critical to my outlook on food production."

Samuel Thorp

Sam joined the Delphi family in the Spring of 2011 where he latched on to many of the one-of-a-kind learning opportunities Delphi had to offer, including garden design, true sustainability and unique varieties of fruits and vegetables. Following his internship he went on to work with Cayce Hill as an assistant Culinary Gardener at Sons & Daughters restaurant in San Francisco, working with a very creative team growing the most unique varieties of fruits, vegetables, microgreens and edible flowers. After graduating from San Jose State University in Spring 2012 with a Bachelors degree in Business, Sam worked as a Sales Manager for JBG Organic; a 190 acre certified organic farm serving restaurants, distributors, produce retailers and households in Austin, Texas. Currently Sam is back in the Bay Area operating a CSA farm, Spade & Plow Organics, with his brother and father. They hope to help fulfill the underdeveloped need for fresh, organic and local fruits and vegetables in the South Bay Area. 

Julia Lang

Julia graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Sociology, concentrating on Community Change. Through her love of good food and drive for social justice, she found her purpose in life: food justice! From cooking for a vegan restaurant, volunteering in the fields at a local farm, tending people’s home gardens, interning at Delphi Foundation during the Fall of 2011, and, presently, operating as the Development Manager at Veggielution Community Farm, Julia has made her rounds in working on food system change issues. Her experience as an intern at Delphi gave her a deeper understanding about how to tend the land, and a clearer picture of the work that there is yet to be done in order to transform our food system into one that nourishes people and the land on all levels.

Karisa Centanni

Karisa joined the Delphi family as an intern in the Summer of 2011 where, under the mentorship of the first-ever Agricultural Program Manager and Santa Clara Master Gardener Cayce Hill, she began studying structural pruning in the fruit tree orchard, as well as participating in all other aspects of the estate's maintenance. She has studied bio-intensive and biodynamic farming through apprenticeships and work opportunities for the past eight years. She has worked extensively in the areas of local food systems, food policy, and cooperative business operation for over 10 years. Her previous volunteer work includes serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for CoFED, a national non-profit network and training program that empowers students to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively-run food enterprises on college campuses. She also served as an AmeriCorps member with Collective Roots, a non-profit organization based in East Palo Alto that educates and engages youth and communities in food system change through sustainable programs that impact health, education, and the environment.  She was the Agricultural Program Manager at Delphi Agrarian Arts Foundation from 2013-2016 where she brought Biodynamic instruction and methods to the estate, instituted Delphi's participation in Santa Cruz CRAFT, advanced the estate's seed saving initiatives and helped ensure that these seeds are available to a wider community through the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook. She has recently relocated to the Northeast where she plans to create her own farm enterprise.

Devin Cormia

Following his internship at Delphi Foundation in the Spring of 2012, Devin began teaching 2nd through 5th graders at an outdoor classroom and farm. At Delphi Devin learned to observe and record notes on plants, plant communities, and their growth, looking for indications about what might require extra attention, and how. Now, teaching those same skills to his students, Devin allows nature to be teacher, sometimes with a little help and direction.

Casandra Lee

Casandra joined Delphi in the Summer of 2012. Carrying those beautiful moments from Delphi of cultivating corn, watering tomatoes, and gathering seeds, Casandra works to enable others to experience those same moments in the classroom (inside and outside!) and through her artwork. While teaching, Casandra published a picture book, The Sun Dance, a story about how Earth dances around the Sun and what such dance means for us. In her teaching career,  Casandra became a certified AMI Montessori Primary teacher in the last year.  Her three to six year-old children will be spending plenty of time outside in the garden, tending to the soil, observing the birds, playing with the bees, and enjoying the fruits of their labor. With spirit gained from moments at Delphi, Casandra intends to help children and adults alike nourish their relationship with Earth.

Katie Minetree

Inspired by interactions with the Q'ero Indians of Peru who maintain a deep connection to their Incan way of life and to their Mother Earth, Katie sought out an Internship at Delphi Agrarian Arts Foundation in the Spring of 2013 in order to ensure that people everywhere can maintain access to the natural resources around them. The curriculum at Delphi provided the experience of learning hands-on what she was being taught at Cabrillo College, and helped her to understand more about soil, plant biology, and living self-sufficiently. The biodynamic focus of careful observation, companion planting, and planting or seeding with respect to the moon cycle resonated with her as she remembered lessons from the Q'ero. She is excited, now, to have joined The Natural Resource and Wildlife Technology Program at Garrett College in Deep Creek, MD, where she'll be learning to identify 250 different species of woody plant this semester as well as building and maintaining a garden and compost system on land nearby the College. 

Diego Espinoza

Fall 2012

CARRA DUGGAN

Carra grows flowers at Everett Family Farm in Soquel and makes gorgeous bouquets for market and events. She joined the Delphi family for the Spring and Summer 2013 seasons. She brought much joy, enthusiasm and a wonderfully collaborative spirit to the Delphi farm organism. Through the duration of her internship, her bouquets evolved to incorporate branches and stems of what was growing on site: from some of our California Natives like Matilija poppy to green sweet corn thinnings, Goldrush currant tomatoes in various stages of ripeness, and pruned, silvery olive tree branches.  

Martin Stuczynski 

Spring 2014

I studied Biology, English and the visual arts at the University of Nebraska.  A Californian now for some time, I am a devoted gardener and relished the opportunity to work at Delphi as well as at Full Circle Farm in Sunnyvale. 

 I am very interested in energy issues and how the role of horticulture and small farming will evolve. Imagine two earths, one with cheap, abundant fossil fuels and one without. How would people and the rest of nature live on Earth No. 2?  I hope to help answer this question and promulgate the burgeoning local farming efforts in the South Bay Area, and beyond. 

Marissa Kent

Spring 2014

As an intern at Delphi Agrarian Arts Foundation, Marissa was grateful
to grow food with intentionality, insight, and inspiration. Since graduating from Cal Poly in 2009 she has engaged with various branches of the progressive food system as an employee at New Leaf Community Market’s unique produce department in Felton, as an intern at Veggielution Community Farm, as a dedicated volunteer at Hidden Villa’s five-acre organic farm, as a member of Slow Food and CRAFT, and now as an alumna of the Delphi program. She currently works as an educator and gardener at Start Organic, empowering South Bay residents to begin growing food in their own backyards.

Tori Truscheit

Tori came to Delphi in the Summer of 2014 from the table side of the farm-to-table movement after working in restaurants, bakeries, and farmers markets in New York City and the South Bay. At Delphi, she observed the day-to-day effects of California's long-term drought, gained deep appreciation of a well-pruned fruit tree, and coaxed the melon patch to maturity. Her background is in teaching and community organizing, and she puts those talents to use as Program Coordinator at La Mesa Verde, a San José non-profit organization that helps low-income families start backyard organic gardens. She dreams of a transformed South Bay food system, where small farmers can support themselves and everyone has access to real food.

Ken Hake

Ken joined the Delphi family in the Summer of 2014, where he continued his training in sustainable organic food production. At Delphi, he gained valuable insights into soil health, orchard management, crop rotation, and composting. He was also introduced to several biodynamic preparations and participated in all other aspects of farm production. He particularly enjoyed growing several varieties of potatoes: Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, Sangre, Purple Majesty. Harvesting White Lady peaches and Elephant Heart Plums was also a highlight. In addition to working at Delphi, he has worked at Leras Family Farm, SMIP Ranch, and volunteered at Hidden Villa Farm. Prior to embarking on his agricultural career, Ken spent 15 years in the tech industry and received a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Yale. 

CLAIRE BAILEY

Fall 2014

Claire graduated in 2013 from the University of Miami, where she studied Community Development and Ecosystem Science, served on the Energy and Conservation Organization (ECO) Board, and developed the Environmental Sustainability Certificate for undergraduates. While studying abroad, she conducted original research and wrote an award-winning paper on the link between ecology and spirituality in Thailand. She has interned at the Wolf River Conservancy and studied Edible Forest Garden design with Eric Toensmeier. Claire found her time at Delphi transformational as she put inspiration into practice and deepened her knowledge of biodynamics and sustainable growing methods. Passionate about connecting people with their food and their environments, she has a particular interest in nutrition, permaculture, and how natural environments can nurture human and ecological health. She also enjoys developing her film in the darkroom and maintains a website of her work at ClairesDarkroom.com. Claire lives in Seattle, where she blogs for the TheHealthyCity.org and seeks opportunities to foster better living by increasing availability of real food.

KAYLIN LUSTIG

Spring 2015

After traveling the country in a magic school bus, studying environmental education with Expedition Education Institute, Kaylin rooted down in the redwood forests. There, at the University of Santa Cruz, California, she mused in meadows with the likes of Nietzsche and Sartre, sipping lemonade with Shakespeare and Goethe. All this musing somehow resulted in a double major in Philosophy and World Literature. Then it seemed perfectly logical to take off for Ireland to work on an organic farm. Two months turned into three years of milking cows, making jam, and pulling weeds all over Europe. From Albania an application to Delphi was sent in late summer, and arrived promptly on time by Spring. Back home amongst the redwoods, double digging became an obsession. Karisa, a superb mentor, weaved wisdom into every action. Kaylin had the pleasure to work and learn along side a small but mighty team, exploring the likes of biodynamic composting, seed saving, companion planting, orchard care, and beyond! After her adventures at Delphi, Kaylin finesses her obsession with double dug soil management at the College of Marin on the Indian Valley Farm and Garden as a Farm Specialist. Part of the North Bay Conservation Corps, she delights in working with high school youth, public outreach, and her fellow farmers to create a sustainable and flourishing future to come.

Melinda Bower

Melinda joined Delphi for the Summer 2015 season. It was then, as she double-dug beds in the grain field, watching sweat and laughter get mixed in with the soil, that she tangibly saw the connection of life to place. Through the entirety of the internship she saw these links, and thrilled over watching plants progress through their growth stages in the summer heat. Some of her fondest memories were caring for an abundance of pepper plants in the veggie borders, assisting beans in their sky-ward reaching efforts, guiding watermelon vines in their lateral sprawl, tasting new fruits together in the orchard, and asking questions. She inspected all kinds of volunteer plants, giving the wild a bit of room to emerge and grow alongside the cultivated. A strong impression of generosity and care was left on her through the people she worked and learned alongside. Now, she has moved up to Marin County and is continuing her work of stewarding the land through a shepherding apprenticeship at Barinaga Ranch.

KALE RILEY

Summer 2015

After three years spent working on a small organic farm, dreaming of deeper connection, Kale joined the team at Delphi for the duration of the blisteringly hot Summer of 2015. Here, shaded by heavily laden fruit trees and sunflowers that nearly touched the sky, she nursed an affinity for seed saving, rejoiced in the sweet smell of comfrey, honed her pruning skills, and harvested multitudes of tomatoes in every shape, size, and color imaginable.  What emerged from this is a carefully cultivated passion for biodiversity and biodynamics that persists throughout her day to day life. She currently works and lives on Casalegno Family Farm in Soquel, CA, embracing the ebb and flow of seasons and helping to holistically steward the property's vegetable fields and mature fruit-tree orchards.

Rebecka Sipe

Autumn 2015