Meet Your Academic Partner for Sustainable Gardening!

We are so excited to introduce Nathan Peifer as our Academic Partner for the Sustainable Gardening: STEM from the Roots Adventure!

Where are you from?
I grew up in central Pennsylvania. Winston-Salem has been home since 2010.

What do you do at Wake?
I tend the Campus Garden with a team of student interns and volunteers. I also coordinate an academic program that promotes sustainability.

What do you like the most about working at Wake?
I learn new things everyday from really intelligent and enthusiastic students and faculty members. I get to be very creative and engaged in the community. Plus, the campus is beautiful and I’m only 30 seconds away from delicious food in the Pit!

What are you most looking forward to this summer with the middle school students?
I’m excited to hear the students’ experiences, thoughts and questions. I want to feed their curiosity as best I can.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in sustainable agriculture? Are there any articles or books to check out before the adventure begins?
I like to check in with Charles Dowding and Josh Sattin on YouTube. The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and the Rural Advancement Foundation International are terrific advocacy groups in our region. Their websites and conferences offer many great learning opportunities.

What would you tell a middle school student who may be nervous about coming to campus for the first time?
There’s helpful nervous and unhelpful nervous. Helpful nervous will make you feel energized and alert, so you can quickly make new friends and learn your new environment and routines. You might experience unhelpful nervous that will make you feel scared and want to crawl under a bush. Please stay out of the bushes. There will be lots of counselors and mentors here to help you transform that feeling into something useful. We’re all going to experience new and challenging things, but there’s absolutely nothing to be scared of. We’ll be doing it together!

Favorite TV show, Netflix series, or movie?
I like to catch Last Week Tonight and SNL clips on YouTube. Probably not middle school appropriate.

What book are you reading now?
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon.

What is your favorite local place to eat in Winston-Salem?
We keep going back to the West End Café. There’s something delicious for everyone in the family.

Do you have any pets?
Our dog Woody and three chickens named Oreo, Brownie and Sundae. I also treat the trillions of bacteria in our compost pile like family. I do not name them, however.

Something most people don’t know about you:
When I was in middle school, I performed in school musicals and local theater productions.

What question didn’t I ask you that you wish I had?
What’s your best garden story? One time the chickens were scratching in a pile of straw. One of them found a small, skinny brown snake. She snatched it up, threw it around and then slurped it down like a strand of spaghetti.