Staff

Meet Our Staff

We are proud to be able to have a high staff to animal ratio to care for the animal residents in the sanctuary.

Most of our animals are elderly and/or have special needs and it is important that they not only have their health care tended to but also that they have joy and enrichment. Our staff is a key component in the lives of our animals.

Heading up the daily management is the Executive Committee – Bonnie Reynolds, President, Dawn Hayman, Vice-President, Margot Unkel, Treasurer, and Margaret Brown, Secretary. Three directors are on site 24/7/365 and assist with and manage all aspects of the administrative and daily operation of the farm.

Animal Sanctuary

Trinity Cook

Animal Welfare Manager

Trinity Cook started as a small animal caretaker in late 2021. She then moved up to the positions of Team Leader and Senior Animal Caretaker. Trinity is now our Animal Welfare Manager. In this position she manages the daily care for the small animal facility, as well as our in-house veterinary clinic, and is responsible for maintaining all medical records for every animal in the sanctuary and the dispensing of medications as directed by our veterinarians. Trinity is almost finished with her schooling to become a License Veterinary Technician as well. We are thrilled to have Trinity as part of our management team.

Taylor Kruger

Barn Manager

Taylor started working for us in 2014 as a Large Animal Caretaker. At the time, Taylor was totally new to horses, farm animals, and farm machinery. But Taylor’s nurturing way with the animals served him and the animals very well. Taylor’s work and dedication over the years earned him his current position as Barn Manager where he manages the large animal caretaking staff, oversees the daily care of the large animals, as well as overseeing projects to be done around the farm.

We are happy to have Taylor as a part of our team.

Jessica Vetter

Senior Animal Caretaker - Small Animals

Jessica started working for us in 2013 as a small animal caretaker. Her skills of working with the animals and people earned her a promotion to Senior Animal Caretaker where she supervises the daily operations in our small animal facility.

Jessica also came to us with a background in Graphic Arts and now also works several days a week in our office helping Director Dawn Hayman with special projects. We are thrilled to be able to tap into Jessica’s creative talents as well as her animal skills. We are very excited to have Jessica be an important part of our animal care and office team.

Tyler Maxam

Senior Animal Caretaker - Large Animals

Tyler Maxam started in mid 2020 as a large animal caretaker. Tyler learned a lot about horse and farm animal care quickly. He also does a lot of facility maintenence around the farm. Tyler was promoted to Senior Animal Care for Large animals and assists our barn manager Taylor with the daily operations of the barn and also facility management.

Directors & Founders

Margaret G. Brown, CPA

Director, Corporate Secretary

Margaret G. (Peg) Brown comes to Spring Farm CARES with a dedication to furthering our mission into the next generation. Peg has always had a deep connection with animals and has been a lifelong animal advocate, working with numerous charitable animal organizations, all of which led her here to SFC.

In addition to lending her expertise and years of experience to our bookkeeping and accounting needs, Peg also helps with Personnel management and joins Bonnie, Dawn, and Margot in the daily operations of our organization.

Her professional accomplishments are many and we are honored to have her working with us and bringing SFC forward on our mission. Peg is a graduate of State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome and also a graduate of State University of New York at Cortland where she earned Bachelor of Science degrees. In addition to being a Spring Farm CARES board member, Peg is a board member for the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the SUNY Polytechnic College of Business Advisory Board. Peg is the President of Brown & Associates CPAs, P.C.

Bonnie Jones Reynolds

Co-Founder, President

Raised on Spring Farm, Bonnie pursued successful careers in dancing, then modeling, then acting. She appeared on stage, including Broadway, and in TV shows like M*A*S*H. She is also the author of best selling novels THE TRUTH ABOUT UNICORNS and THE CONFETTI MAN, the yoga textbook BIKRAM’S BEGINNING YOGA CLASS, now in its 27th year in print, and co-author of the Spring Farm CARES biography IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK: The Miracles of Spring Farm, and The Magdalen.

Dawn E. Hayman

Co-Founder, Vice-President

Dawn is one of the pioneers in the field of Animal Communication. She and Bonnie worked in partnership as TT.E.A.M. practitioners and professional hypnotists before founding Spring Farm CARES in 1991. Dawn has a B.S. in Social Work. She is author of ANIMAL WISDOM FOR MANKIND, co-author of the Spring Farm CARES biography IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK: The Miracles of Spring Farm, and a contributing author in several other books and periodicals. Her work has been featured in many magazines such as Practical Horseman and Equus, as well as many other publications over the years. Dawn has been a professional animal communicator, doing consultations and teaching, since 1987. She has consulted with more than 50,000 animals and brings that vast knowledge and experience with her in her teaching and writing. You can find more information about Dawn, her consultations and workshops, and many of the messages given to her by our animals, on the Animal Communication page.

Margot B. Unkel, Ph.D.

Treasurer, Director

Margot joined Bonnie and Dawn in the leadership of Spring Farm CARES in 1995. She taught recreation and park management at Texas A & M and Ithaca College, and was Assistant Research Professor at the University of Washington College of Forest Resources. She also put in time with IBM as a Systems Engineer, and with Boise Cascade as a Management Consultant. Along the way, she co-founded Service Dogs, Inc., in Oakland California, and Animals in Distress, a wildlife rehabilitation organization in Boise, Idaho. During an eight-year period she was a volunteer at the Idaho Humane Society, acting variously as treasurer, vice-President, and President, while also creating their computerized animal shelter management system, and writing important surveys. Spring Farm CARES lucked out when she joined our team.

Nature Sanctuary

Karissa Marquissee

Conservationist

Kerissa joined our Nature Sanctuary team in early 2024. She earned a Wildlife Biology Degree and the University of Maine, and broadened her knowledge, studying a combination of wildlife management, ecology, wetland sciences, marine biology, as we as fish and avian species identification. She has participated in conservation education and local zoos and has shadowed Maine Fish and Wildlife (DEC). Her passion for wildlife started and a very young age and has led her to Spring Farm CARES.

Matt Perry

Naturalist and Spring Farm CARES Conservation Director

Matt Perry is Spring Farm CARES’ Conservation Director and nature sanctuary manager. He is recognized throughout the region as an authority on wild birds, their habitat and behavior. Among his specialties are neo-tropical songbirds and Peregrine Falcons. He also has an extensive knowledge of beavers and the flora and fauna that inhabit the wetlands that beavers create.

At the nature sanctuary, Matt has been the Resident Naturalist since 1999. Since then he’s overseen habitat restoration projects including an ambitious reforestation project and a native wildflower/herb restoration project.

In recent years Matt has written dozens of articles about his experiences with wildlife at the nature sanctuary. These have been published in Mohawk Valley Living Magazine. Matt is also a regional editor of The Kingbird, which is a quarterly journal published by The New York State Ornithological Association. Matt is a popular speaker and presenter and has given many wildlife presentations to community organizations and schools throughout Central New York.

Alyssa Wisehart

Horticulturist

Alyssa’s lifelong passion for working with both animals and plants brought her to Spring Farm in 2017. The 12 years she spent on organic farms and plant nurseries across the US and Europe gave her the opportunity to observe a wide range of horticultural techniques. She has training in permaculture, forest gardening, and plant propagation and uses her knowledge and experience to restore native landscapes and increase biodiversity at the sanctuary.

Alyssa also runs a small regenerative farm with her wife and numerous rescue animals on the property she procured in 2015. She loves to blend native plants and restoration principles into her farming practices and part of her role at Spring Farm is to work with farmers and home gardeners to integrate these important native species into their landscapes as well.

Natalie “Nat” Hill Levin

Conservationist

Natalie (Nat) Hill Levin joined our nature sanctuary team in early 2021. Nat is an accomplished naturalist and conservationist. Her main interest is in native wildflower restoration but she also has a burgeoning interest in wild mushrooms. Nat is a world traveller and is fluent in Chinese.

Office & Community Outreach

Nancy Herrick

Office Manager

Nancy is our newest member of our Management staff, joining our team in 2017. We are blessed to have found Nancy just as Karen, our office manager for the past 19 years, retired. Nancy says that finding Spring Farm CARES feels like coming home. We feel the same and are happy to welcome her home.

Nancy grew up on a Morgan horse farm in Hamilton and was surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes. She has a BS in Equine Science from Colorado State University. She brings with her experience in both medical and veterinary offices and enjoys working with people and helping others solve problems.

Nancy spent the last 15 years managing the breeding activities as well as office duties for a large animal veterinary practice. She brings with her wonderful horse knowledge and skills as well as office skills and stepped into a new position here at Spring Farm that feels like she has been here for years. Nancy not only takes calls, emails, and answers mail among all her other tasks of keeping our office running smoothly, but she also helps out with the medical records and daily medical treatment sheets for our horses. We welcome Nancy and look forward to a lot of years ahead together.

Becca Laurenzo

Community Outreach Coordinator

Becca joined Spring Farm CARES at the beginning of 2024 as Volunteer Coordinator to build a new volunteer program for SFC. Her position transitioned into Community Outreach Coordinator as her work expanded into community outreach and public relations.

Becca has a BS in Mass Communications from SUNY Oneonta and a background in various media, PR and marketing. She also has several years of experience working in the animal rescue field and is a huge cat lover. Becca is passionate about the deep connection between people, animals and nature, and is so thrilled to be able to be a part of an organization that works to strengthen that connection.

Staff

Meet Our Staff

We are proud to be able to have a high staff to animal ratio to care for the animal residents in the sanctuary.

Animal Sanctuary

Directors & Founders

Nature Sanctuary

Office & Community Outreach

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