Lydia Zepeda

Lydia Zepeda has been the faculty advisory of Slow Food UW since its inception in 2007. She is a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research on food production, consumption, waste, and access investigates consumer food choices, and their relationships with food skills and knowledge, attitudes, policy and the food environment. She teaches courses on methods, food, and sustainable & socially just consumption. Her website is www.localandorganicfood.org

Margaret Nellis

Margaret Nellis joined University Health Services in 1995 and currently manages Academic Partnerships in the Healthy Campus unit within Prevention Services. Since 2000, Margaret has held an appointment as Faculty Associate in the Department of Civil Society & Community Studies in the School of Human Ecology. Margaret works to connect key health and community development issues to the academic work of the university through place-based learning, service learning, cultural tours and community-based research. Margaret also partners with faculty development initiatives on campus to identify and promote educational practices that foster student learning, health and well-being. Margaret received a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in Psychology from Mount Holyoke College, a Master of Science (M.S.) in Educational Technology from Johns Hopkins University, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Psychology from The University of Chicago and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Brian Schneider

Brian was born in Madison and raised in Verona, WI. He attended UW-Madison, where he studied Community and Environmental Sociology and became interested in sustainable food systems and supporting the local economy. In 2011, he joined Slow Food UW and was an intern until 2012. Upon graduating, Darin Ripp and Brian started a vegetable farm called “The First Acre” made possible by John and Dorothy Priske at Fountain Prairie Farms in Columbus, WI. Many of the farm volunteers were Slow Food UW Interns. Right now, he’s working for a company that makes a wearable defibrillator for people who have a high risk of sudden cardiac death.

Brian is grateful for the opportunity to remain involved with Slow Food UW and enjoys working with these passionate young adults. Slow Food UW continues to make a huge impact in the Madison area community, so most of his time on the board is spent in awe of our impressive interns!