Contacts for RSDP

Kathryn Draeger, Statewide Director, RSDP
draeg001@umn.edu, 612-625-3148
Kathryn Draeger is Statewide Director of RSDP and adjunct professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. She has led numerous grant-funded projects, including the Farm to Rural Grocery to Wholesale Backhaul Project. In 2017, Kathy was the University of Minnesota Community Engaged Scholar for Extension. She has been a Bush Leadership Fellow and MacArthur Scholar, and has served on the Governor's Roundtable for Sustainable Development in Minnesota, as an Environmental Protection Commissioner in Iowa, and as the Governor-appointed Agricultural Representative and Vice Chair of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board. In 2007, Kathy and her family moved to Big Stone County to live and farm sustainably. Kathy holds a doctorate in water resources and master's in soil science from the University of Minnesota.

Caryn Mohr, Assistant Statewide Director, RSDP
mohr0007@umn.edu, 612-626-9827

Diane Seefeldt, Executive Secretary, RSDP
seefe012@umn.edu, 218-726-7555

Mary Hannemann, Student Engagement Director, RSDP
oldha012@umn.edu, 612-624-9430

Molly Zins, Executive Director, Central RSDP
zend0007@umn.edu, 218-828-2332

Marie Kirsch, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, Central RSDP
kirs0069@umn.edu, 218-828-2275

Central RSDP web page.

David Abazs, Executive Director, Northeast RSDP
dwabazs@umn.edu, 218-726-6146

Diane Seefeldt, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, Northeast RSDP
seefe012@umn.edu, 218-726-7555

Northeast RSDP web page.

Linda Kingery, Executive Director, Northwest RSDP
kinge002@umn.edu, 218-281-8697

Anna Peterson, Executive Administrative Assistant, Northwest RSDP
hans0947@umn.edu, 218-281-8699

Northwest RSDP web page.

Okechukwu "Okey" Ukaga, Executive Director, Southeast RSDP
ukaga001@umn.edu, 507-536-6313

Sarah Topness, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, Southeast RSDP
swangen@umn.edu, 507-280-2863

Southeast RSDP web page.

Anne Dybsetter, Executive Director, Southwest RSDP
adybsett@umn.edu, 320-235-0726 x 2012

Mary Jo Foxx, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, Southwest RSDP
foxxx055@umn.edu, 320-235-0276 x 2001

Southwest RSDP web page.

Greg Schweser, Statewide Director, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, RSDP
Specialties: Deep Winter Greenhouses
schwe233@umn.edu, 612-625-9706

Connie Carlson, Associate Program Director, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, RSDP
Specialties: Supply chains
carl5114@umn.edu, 612-709-6790

Ren Olive, Program Associate, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, RSDP
Specialties: Rural grocery stores, backhauling
nolive@umn.edu, 612-624-8452

Carol Ford, Grant Project Coordinator, RSDP
Specialties: Deep Winter Greenhouses
fordcj@morris.umn.edu, 320-226-9435