Our Team

NCCOP was led by a team of farmers and Extension professionals committed to making conservation practical and accessible across North Carolina.

Dr. Noah Ranells, Principal Investigator, is a farmer with decades of experience working alongside Cooperative Extension. Noah is the eastern coordinator for NC FarmLink, a program connecting farmers with farmland across North Carolina, and he was the driving force behind NCCOP from the start.

Chas Edens, Project Coordinator, brought almost 20 years of farming experience to the project, including hands-on experience running his own farm. Chas drew on that experience to connect North Carolina producers with the resources and conservation programs that could move their operations forward.

Katie Denman, Project Assistant, is a farmer with over a decade of experience running her own flower farm, where she has put NRCS conservation practices to work firsthand.

Cintia Aguilar, NCSU CALS, ANR, contributed to the project before retiring from Extension during the project period.

Stephen Bishop, Western Director of NC FarmLink, provided strategic leadership connecting Western North Carolina landowners and farmers around farmland tenure, transition, and legacy planning across 45 counties.

Dr. Angel Cruz, Academic and Extension Initiatives Manager with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, managed the WNC Strong Youth Summer Apprenticeship, supporting career pathway and skill development for youth in communities recovering from Hurricane Helene.

Dr. Biswanath Dari, Co-PI and Assistant Professor at NC A&T, is a cover crop researcher who served as Statewide Program Leader for Soil Health, Regenerative Agriculture, and Natural Resource Management, leading research and Extension programming on soil health, cover cropping, conservation tillage, and climate-resilient agricultural strategies.

Liz Driscoll, 4-H Specialist, leads the NC 4-H Grow For It program, connecting youth to agriculture, natural resources, and environmental stewardship through hands-on farm, garden, and nature programming.

Lee Menius, Technical Program Coordinator with NC Choices, provided technical support to niche local meat producers on production, processing, and marketing.

Dr. Kurt Smith, Assistant Professor of Forestry and Extension Specialist, specializes in land retention for forest owners, working on heirs' property awareness, succession planning, and keeping working lands profitable.

Dr. Eli Typhina, Assistant Director of the Environmental Sciences Program, brought expertise in behavior change research, contributing insight on stakeholder engagement, participatory design, and communication strategy to the project.

Project Timeline