OAT Board Members
Ron Alvarado
Ron Alvarado recently retired as the NRCS Oregon state conservationist after 32 years with the agency. A graduate of New Mexico State University and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Alvarado was born and raised on a small farm north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he and his family grew pecans, alfalfa, and various vegetables. He loves to spend time with his family, exercise, read, and listen to music. He achieved a long-term goal and purchased a 64-acre farm in the Forest Grove area and is the founder of the Line of Sight-A Strategic Approach to Conservation LLC.
Jocelyn Bridson
Jocelyn Bridson has worked at the intersection of environmental science and farming for over two decades. She currently is the Director of Environment & Community Impact at Tillamook County Creamery Association, a farmer-owned dairy cooperative and Certified B Corp. Prior to TCCA, Jocelyn led sustainable agronomy efforts for a large-scale vegetable farm as a Certified Crop Advisor. She has also worked in habitat restoration and watershed education for non-profits and public agencies.
Valentin Celaya
President
Valentin lives in Salem with his wife, Teresa, and their four children. Valentin was raised on a family farm in Gooding, Idaho. He is the Oregon Senior Vice President of Credit for AgWest Farm Credit with more than 20 years of experience in providing consistent and reliable financing to farmers.
Kimberlee J. Chambers, PhD
Kimberlee Chambers works throughout food systems to support farm viability and sustainability. Currently she is Agriculture and Program Manager - US and Canada for Earthworm Foundation; an international nonprofit transforming value chains and creating change from the farm to the boardroom, and from the factory to the forest. Kimberlee’s roots in agriculture and conservation run deep – she grew up on a family farm in Canada, and has conducted multiple applied agricultural projects.
Teresa Retzlaff
Teresa has been farming on Oregon’s north coast since 2004, and what started as a leap of faith has become a lifelong passion both for farming and for advocating on behalf of her coastal farming community. In 2009 she and her husband Packy Coleman purchased land near Astoria and began 46 North Farm, where she grows cut flowers and specialty crops such as garlic and dry-farmed winter squash and beans. Teresa was a founder of North Coast Food Web, a non-profit supporting small farms and local food systems in Clatsop County.
Tim Copeland
Treasurer
Tim Copeland is the retired Executive Director of the Blue Mountain Land Trust. Tim lived most of his life on his family’s Walla Walla wheat farm. A graduate of Washington State University and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, he directed commercial and agricultural lending in two local banks for a decade, then managed a financial planning firm in Walla Walla. Under Tim’s leadership, the Blue Mountain Land Trust doubled its service area in Oregon in 2017.
Megan Thompson
Secretary
Megan Thompson has worked in the cherry industry in The Dalles for over 20 years. She works for Cascade Cherry Growers cooperative with degree in Horticulture from Oregon State University. Her and her husband have a small orchard where they are raising two sons. Megan has always had a passion for learning and serving to promote her industry and Oregon agriculture.
Lauren Johnson
Lauren helps food and agriculture companies achieve their goals and solve challenges. As an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, she assists large and small agricultural companies with acquisitions and disposition of citrus farms, vineyards, and orchards. She enjoys time spent outside, including marathon running and triathlons.
Michael Wilson
Vice President
Michael and his wife Denise have enjoyed their country life south of Dallas where they raised their four children. Michael is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde where he was also employed for 28 years, the last 15 as the Natural Resource Manager. Beginning in 2021 Mike left his job with the Grand Ronde Tribes to enter a new chapter of semi-retirement and consulting work.
OAT Staff Members
Photo Credit – Shawn Linehan
Phoebe Autry
Southern Oregon Land Program Manager
Phoebe was born and raised in south Georgia. After college, she began working on a sheep dairy in the outskirts of Atlanta. Her start in agriculture began as a means to work outside and bide some time as she figured out what was next. However, she lucked out and fell in love with farming immediately! From sheep to a beef cattle operation to several diversified vegetable farms, she has worked in the Southeast, Northwest, and Alaska for the last decade. Her love of farming led her to a career in farmland protection. She is excited to work with farming and ranching communities across southern Oregon to protect their working lands.
Email: phoebe@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 706-761-3894
Tess Baker
Farm and Ranch Succession Advisor
Raised on her family’s 4th generation cattle ranch in southeastern Oregon, Tess recently returned to the area bringing her industry knowledge and production agriculture experience to the role of Farm and Ranch Succession Advisor. Her previous professional background includes agriculture financial analysis, customer portfolio management, agriculture business operational support, and rural community marketing and outreach. Outside of her professional experience, Tess stays involved with production agriculture by assisting her husband and his family with their contract haying business.
Email: tess@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 541-219-0641
Jenn Clemo
Deputy Director
Jenn is a native of rural Oregon and a nonprofit professional with more than 17 years of experience in the sector. Her background includes providing training and capacity-building resources to organizations across the state and beyond, supporting rural community and economic development initiatives, and substantial fund development experience. Jenn is committed to empowering nonprofits to achieve their maximum impact and has focused much of her career on serving rural nonprofits and communities. When she's not working, you'll catch her enjoying the great outdoors with her family - camping, kayaking, or relaxing in a hammock with a good book.
Email: jenn@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 541-514-2383
Marc Hudson
Land Program Director
Marc is a third-generation conservationist, second-generation land truster, and grew up in the rural corn belt of Ohio. He has worked for land trusts for 14 years, doing farm and natural resource preservation in New York, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida on more than 160 properties. His work at OAT focuses on rangeland and Southeast Oregon in particular. In his spare time, Marc likes to hike, paddle, hunt, fish and has a passion for history and cooking.
Email: marc@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 971-221-5660
Ivor Kincaide
Farmland Program Director
Ivor was raised in north Florida and received his bachelor of science in Zoology from the University of Florida. Ivor’s work at OAT focuses on working with farmers, ranchers and communities to protect Oregon's valuable working lands in the Columbia River Gorge, North Coast, and Willamette Valley. He has worked on land acquisition, conservation easement stewardship, and land restoration and management since 2001 in Florida and Texas. He has worked to bring over thirty conservation and working lands easements to completion during his land trust career.
Email: ivor@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 503-383-9890
Andrea Krahmer
Director of Ag Business Support
Andrea’s lifelong love of agriculture started growing up on her small family farm in rural Washington County. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Ag Business Management from Oregon State University on the La Grande campus and relocated back to the Willamette Valley after college where she now lives in Salem with her family. Andrea operates her own farm primarily raising meat and dairy goats, her husband operates his Ag Services farming business and both her kids are very active in FFA ad 4-H with their own livestock projects. In her spare time, she likes to garden, workout at Crossfit and follow her kids to sporting events and livestock shows.
Diane Krautsack
Office Supervisor
Diane is originally from rural Northwest Georgia. She obtained her Bachelors of Science from Kennesaw State University, in Kennesaw, Georgia. Prior to becoming OAT’s Office Coordinator she managed chiropractic offices on the East Coast and co-owned a chiropractic office in Eugene, Oregon. She has since relocated to Salem, Oregon and is excited to be a part of the OAT team. As a prior small business owner and being from a small rural community herself, she is passionate about OAT’s mission and being able to support the team carry out OAT’s strategic plan. In her spare time you can find her lifting weights in her garage gym or hiking one of Oregon’s beautiful trails with her son.
Sal Lopez
Communications Manager
Sal has a background in documentary filmmaking as well as in managing grant-funded projects on topics such as adult learning, institutional change, and community oral history. She is committed to leveraging her diverse skill set, creativity, and love of Oregon’s incredible landscapes to serve OAT’s mission. In her spare time, she can be found hiking with her dog, making art, gardening, and reading.
Email: sal@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 971-227-5040
Nellie McAdams
Executive Director
Nellie grew up farming alongside her parents as the third generation on her family’s Gaston, Oregon hazelnut farm. She is an attorney and long-time advocate for farm succession planning and farmland preservation. As OAT’s founding Executive Director, Nellie is dedicated to working together to keep Oregon a great place to farm and live.
Email: nellie@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 971-409-6806
Tara Olson
Coast Program Manager
Tara is passionate about the future of farming in Oregon. She has a background in agriculture and food security, and is proud to have been working with farmers from around the world since 2019. She received her master's degree from the University of Oregon, where she specialized in Food Studies and Nonprofit Management. When she's not working, you can likely find Tara cooking and sharing a good meal or reading a book.
Email: tara@oregonagtrust.org
Phone: 503-798-8502