Staff List
OMRI Management
Oversight of the day-today operations is the responsibility of the Executive Director. The Executive Director works in cooperation with the OMRI Management Team, which is comprised of the Executive Director, the Program Director, the Information Technology Director, and the Marketing/Quality Manager. The Management Team is responsible for review and maintenance of the quality system.
Executive Director/CEO
Peggy Miars (phone extension: 102) comes to us most recently from California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), where she has served for six years as the Executive Director/CEO. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Western Michigan University and completed post-graduate courses in nonprofit management at Regis University in Colorado Springs. Peggy previously held marketing and management positions with Earthbound Farm, Whole Foods Market, Granary Market, various nonprofit organizations, and ran her own marketing consulting business.
Program Director
Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador (phone extension 117) holds a B.S. from Oregon State University in Natural Resource Management and an M.S. from University of Florida in Geography. She has over 8 years of work experience on both conventional and organic farms in Oregon. Her graduate research thesis examined market conditions that contribute to small organic farm success. Through this research she became familiar with organic standards and issues facing organic farmers. Prior to attending graduate school, she worked as a forest technician and GIS technician. She has lived and worked in Latin America, and is fluent in Spanish.
Information Technology Director
Brian Basor (phone extension: 108) holds a B.S. from Humboldt State University. He began working in the field of information technology in 1996, including server programming, GIS modeling, website design, and database programming. He helped bring internet and telephone services to the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone using radio transmission. Brian also has experience and education in plant ecology, botany, environmental biology, and organic agriculture.
Marketing/Quality Manager
Amy Bradsher (phone extension: 106) graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. She has worked in several environmental and educational nonprofit organizations throughout Eugene and the San Francisco Bay Area, coordinating programs and outreach efforts. She studied organic agriculture while working with Ecology Action, a nonprofit focused on promoting low-input Biointensive farming.
Review Program Technical Manager
Deder Siedler (phone extension: 111) holds a BS and MS in Biology from the University of Oregon. His thesis work involved the intersection of evolution, entomology, plant/host interactions, biological clocks, and climate change. Before coming to OMRI, he worked as a Laboratory Manager and Research Assistant. Deder is also competent in written and spoken French.
Review Program Administrative Manager
Corinne Kolm (phone extension: 126) holds a B.A. in Biology from Wellesley College and an M.S. in Agroecology from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, an international program that includes coursework and organic farm stays in Norway, Denmark and Italy. She has several years of experience in organic certification as an inspector and reviewer for crop, livestock, processing and textile operations to US and international standards. Prior to coming to OMRI, Corinne most recently served as the Certification Manager at OneCert, Inc. She has also worked as a technician for the USDA, and she coordinated the inaugural year of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Nebraska program.
Inspections Coordinator
Annie Amos (phone extension 116) received a B.S. in Natural Resources with a minor in Adult and Extension Education from Cornell University. She has over 4 years experience in the environmental education field where she created programs and materials for schools, volunteers, and non-profit organizations. Prior to starting with OMRI, she worked as a program manager for a recycling and compost nonprofit in Wisconsin.
Application Specialist
Tara Sistrunk (phone extension 105) holds a B.S. in Agriculture and Food Systems, majoring in Organic Agriculture Systems, and a B.S. in Soil Science from Washington State University. She has completed courses and internships on certified organic farms and managed a transitional market garden in Spokane, WA. Since 2005 she has been helping others plan and implement urban organic gardens in and around her community.
Product Review Coordinators
Andria Schulze (phone extension: 112) holds a B.S. in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she researched the accumulation of PCBs in the Hudson River. She has professional experience in many areas including: quality assurance in the food industry, laboratory analysis, and geotechnical assessment. She is also an award winning short fiction writer.
Amber Lippert (phone extension: 119) holds a B.S. in Agriculture from Oregon State University and credit towards a Masters of Agriculture Education. Her professional experience includes work on organic and transitional farms in Oregon and Washington as a producer, administrator and manager for five years. As a student, Amber worked in the OSU vegetable breeding department and spent a term in Central America studying regenerative agriculture. She has also worked in environmental education, developing curriculum and coordinating habitat restoration projects. Amber enjoys continuing to grow vegetables and raising hens.
Doug Currier (phone extension: 113) holds a BA in Geography from the University of South Florida and an MSc in Organic Farming from the Scottish Agricultural College where his dissertation focused on public sector procurement and the organic sector, specifically identifying and overcoming barriers to the procurement and supply of organic produce in schools in the English County of Cornwall. Prior to joining OMRI, Doug worked on a small organic holding in East Lothian, Scotland as an assistant grower and bookkeeper and also as a shop assistant at a certified organic whole foods retailer.
Neel Gharmalkar (phone extension:128) holds a MSc in Microbiology and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Pune, India. He completed a diploma in Sustainable Agriculture from MESA, Oakland, California where he carried out field trials and researched pesticides that meet organic standards on cole crops. He has worked as an Organic Inspector, Quality Manager, and Business Development Officer. Most recently he consulted with certification agencies to help develop certification systems and human resource for efficient operations.
Kambra Morris-Mitzner (phone extension: 114) completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources from Oregon State University. There she specialized in policy which focused on a holistic approach to conflict resolution and natural resource management. Kambra has worked for various employers, ranging from locally and family-run establishments, to a large multinational corporation and has over 15 years of customer service experience. She also served 4 years on the Board and Outreach and Development Committees for a local land conservation and restoration non-profit organization.
Sam Schaefer-Joel (phone extension: 127) holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Western Washington University and a M.S. in Plant Biology from the University of Vermont’s Field Naturalist Program, where he developed and taught a class on nutrient cycling in agro-ecosystems. He has worked on organic farms in Washington, Oregon, California, Vermont, and Mexico and has additional professional experience as a laboratory technician, ecological consultant, and college instructor. Sam is competent in written and spoken Spanish.
Review Program Assistant
Tony Selvey (phone extension 120) received a B.S. in Sociology with a minor in Economics. He has worked and interned in several capacities in the nonprofit sector, including administrative support, fundraising, and community organization. He is also a writer and an avid book collector.
Sarah Shmigelsky (phone extension: 104) holds a B.A. in Communications from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Her experience includes working at various corporate and non-profit organizations where she provided project coordination, marketing support and administrative expertise. Sarah hails from Kansas City, Mo. where she helped organize community food system projects including a food buying club, a food policy council, and a chapter of Food Not Lawns. She has completed several extension and community courses about agriculture. She has enjoyed working at organic farms in Minnesota and Kansas.
Jessica Southwick (phone extension: 118) graduated from Central Washington University with a B.S in Primate Behavior and a B.S. in Biology. She originally comes from Stillwater, Oklahoma. Jessica has worked on organic farms in New Zealand and Central Washington, and her interests include ecology and wildlife conservation.
Renewals Coordinator
Cindy Coachman (phone extension: 101) has completed 2 years of college. She has had specialized on the job training in customer service, business procedures, money handling, security procedures, credit approvals, document management, and processing of many types of transactions. Cindy has over 20 years experience in business offices and 13 years experience as a small business owner.
Information Technology Specialist
Todd Ziglinski (phone extension: 115) received a B.S. from the University of Oregon in Journalism/Telecommunications. He has been in the information technology field since 1990 with a focus on infrastructure, networking, telecom, OS support, and help desk. He has worked for previous organizations that focus on IT research as well as education.
Bookkeeper
Melody Carr (phone extension: 103) holds an M.A. and a B.A. in the Humanities from Western Oregon University and performed work toward a Ph.D in English at the University of Oregon. She has also completed accounting and computer programming classes at Lane Community College. Melody was the bookkeeper for Surata Soyfoods Cooperative from 1989-1995 where she programmed their manual accounting system onto a computer system using dBASE and Lotus 123. She worked as an independent bookkeeper and copy editor for several years for various publishers and for Peralandra Bookstore. She began work as OMRI bookkeeper in 1998.
Administrative Supervisor/Bookkeeping Assistant
Blyss Hansen (phone extension: 121) holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Wyoming with emphasis on human and multi-media communications. She has over ten years experience working with the public and over five years experience in the nonprofit sector. Blyss has completed internships in the public relations and education fields and most recently served as the Director of Operations and Development for a science museum in Wyoming.
Administrative Specialist
Jean Schauerman (phone extension: 109) holds a B.S. in Community Services and Public Affairs from the University of Oregon. She has over 20 years of experience working with the public, both in person and over the phone, providing them with information on energy programs, loans, housing and other services in the community. Jean has had training in creating and maintaining databases, computers and computer software applications. In her previous positions, she provided administrative support to a variety of managers and supervisors.
Ginger Morton (phone extension: 100) attended Rogue Community College where she earned an AA in Accounting. She later attended the University of Alaska Southeast, focusing on law and computer science. She has over 20 years office experience, much of which involved public interaction, and one year of experience working with nonprofit agencies. Ginger retired from the State of Alaska in 2009 after serving ten years as the Executive Director of a state regulated professional licensing board.