Alumni Spotlight: Evan Kendall ’12
When Evan Kendall ’12 started at Dickinson, he didn’t even know that the Dickinson College Farm existed. After discovering the farm during freshman orientation, Evan became an integral member of the farm team for the rest of his time at Dickinson. Since graduation, Evan has used his foundation in veggie farming and farm life to pursue a career in agriculture, the culinary arts, and education.
After visiting the farm during freshman orientation, Evan jumped on board as a Weed n’ Feed volunteer and became a student farmer in the spring of his freshman year. Evan went above and beyond during his time as a student farmer by attending the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) conference in 2009. This conference, and the four other PASA conferences that he attended in subsequent years, ignited Evan’s interest in agriculture as a career. Evan integrated his Environmental Science major with his work on the farm by performing an independent study on the feasibility of humanure composting on the farm. To add to his student research repertoire, Evan also worked with farm manager Matt to develop the first biogas digester on the farm. Although it now goes by the “dragon” rather than the “burrito,” our biogas digester is still running, and several other students have followed in Evan’s intern footsteps to develop our biogas program.
Following graduation, Evan developed his interest in agriculture and value-added products through an internship with frequent Farmers on the Square presence Keswick Creamery. Evan then moved north to North Mountain Pastures in Newport, PA, where he got more experience with a diverse livestock farm. While linking up some sausages, Evan decided to apply to culinary school. He graduated from the New England Culinary Institute with a second B.A. in culinary arts in April of 2016. Evan continued to work as the production manager for Vermont Bean Crafters where he was able to make convenient, accessible foods that are delicious, nutritious, and responsibly sourced.
Evan is still in Burlington, VT. Since September 2019 he has been working as a paraeducator in an elementary school. He started teaching in kindergarten classes but transitioned to working with the 5th grade class this year. He’s very excited to work with older students and looking forward to integrate his environmental science and cooking experience into his classes.
When he is not at work, Evan is either hanging out with his awesome cat named Lily or spending time outdoors – cycling, running, hiking or skiing. For now, Evan shares his love of the outdoors with his “camp people” from Camp Wigwam in Waterford, ME. Evan brings out his culinary skills in his home kitchen. Evan serves up his creativity with various condiments, sauces, and pickles to make home meals easy and exciting to pull together on busy days.
