Meet Our Team
Get to Know Our Team
Our diverse team brings together a wealth of experience, passion, and expertise, united by a common commitment to sustainability and education. Get to know the faces behind the scenes!
Kathy Wicks
Director of Sustainability
Email: [email protected]
Kathy Wicks
Director of Sustainability
Email: [email protected]
Kathy oversees all sustainability initiatives for Auxiliary Enterprises. She focuses on including sustainability in everyday decision making for the division, aligning efforts with the campus-wide sustainability priorities, and building diverse partnerships. Kathy has extensive experience in building multi-sector collaborations, leading community engagement strategies, and strategic planning for a variety of food systems initiatives. She has a Master of Public Health from UMass Amherst and a Bachelor's Degree from Smith College as an Ada Comstock Scholar. Kathy enjoys gathering family and friends to cook together using local ingredients year-round. She also enjoys practicing mindfulness meditation and supporting local music.
Daniel Bensonoff
Sustainability Coordinator of Campus Gardens
Email: [email protected]
Daniel Bensonoff
Sustainability Coordinator of Campus Gardens
Email: [email protected]
As the coordinator of the UMass Permaculture Initiative, Dan works to ensure that the gardens provide an exemplary space for eco-conscious gardening and sustainable living. Aside from working in the gardens, Dan teaches a practicum on permaculture gardening, coordinates the UMass Student Farmers' Market, and provides learning experiences for various visiting groups. Before coming to UMass, Dan worked on several suburban and urban organic farms. He helped start a food forest initiative in Boston that served as a new model for creating common spaces. He's also taught various sustainability-related courses including mushroom cultivation, fermentation, and garden design. When not gardening, Dan can be found playing with his son or foraging the fields and forests of the valley.
Monica Guzik
Sustainability Manager
Email: [email protected]
Monica Guzik
Sustainability Manager
Email: [email protected]
Monica brings her energy, insight, and passion for sustainability to her position at Auxiliary Enterprises and to the UMass campus community. She is an alum of UMass Amherst for both her undergraduate and graduate degree where she studied sustainability and food systems.
Prior to working at UMass, she was the operating manager for a mobile farmers market that addressed local food access and community development in the rural Hilltown's of Western Massachusetts. In her free time Monica enjoys working in the garden, tending to her chickens, and spending time outside with friends and family.
Meet Our Interns
Dining Sustainability
Sustainability Coordinator Interns
- Maeva Ginsberg-Klemmt
- Robin Withers
Data Analysis Interns
- Anwesha Kelkar
- Vijay Rayavarapu
Permaculture
Permaculture Interns
- Liana Rosenblum
- Christine Hayes
- Aisha O’Boyle