I come from a dairy family, and although I was second generation off the farm, I knew even as a child that I would return to it (at thirteen I was dreaming of taking over my great-grandfather’s dairy). I went to the University of California, Davis where I pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in Dairy Production. It was during the first year of my program that I was introduced to the university goat dairy which began my love affair with goats. I spent the next four years working at the dairy as a compliment to my course work, which included classes covering dairy processing and milk chemistry and visits to Vella Cheese. Segue to a new passion for artisan cheese! At the age of 22 I moved to France to work for a small farmstead goat cheese maker situated in the Poitou-Charentes. I returned to California a little more than a year later to begin a Master’s degree studying the development of lactic acid bacteria in goat cheese, and to complete additional coursework in food chemistry and microbiology, and food sensory science. I also took the leap and invested in my first group of primarily La Mancha dairy goats. Seven years later and the herd has grown from 15 to 130.  During that same period of time I began working for Redwood Hill Farm, and after three years left my position there as head cheese maker to start up a new farmstead creamery in Mendocino County and become cheese maker for my college friend and Navarro Vineyards co-owner Sarah.  The goats and I have been here since October of 2009, we've completed the barns, the dairy, and are now poised to start construction on the creamery!