THE AFFECT TEAM
WHO WE ARE
CALLEN CHRISTENSEN
​PROJECT COORDINATOR
Callen is a naturalist, musician, farmer, and forager. He's passionate about nutrition, health, farming/gardening, mycology, and ecology and has always worked in this capacity. He currently runs a wild foods foraging co-op, a hydroponics and mushroom farm, is conducting sustainability research on chaga fungus, and works on a handful of other related projects including the formation of a food hub for Interior Alaska. He lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, lower Tanana Dene lands, with his wife and son. He loves making music, XC skiing, snowboarding, backpacking, and climbing.
907-347-4989
MEL SIKES
AFFECT SUPERVISOR
Mel Sikes is the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s (FSWCD) Natural Resource Education Specialist and has worked there since 2010. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Unity College which she received in 1990. She is the Program Director (PD) for the AFFECT Community Foods Project, managing and overseeing all aspects of the grant. She is the program leader for the Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom program. She is a governing board member and treasurer of the Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC), a state organization dedicated to strengthening the food system in Alaska. She and another local governing board member of AFPC facilitated the creation of the Interior Alaska Food Network (IAFN), a local food policy organization. Her duties at FSWCD also include developing and overseeing the after-school natural resource education program, instructing educator workshops, managing education and agriculture grants, planning and managing outreach community events.
907-479-1213 x 5
907-347-1802 cell
