Sara Thayer
Sara Thayer joined our Nature Sanctuary team as an assistant conservationist in 2026. She learned to love animals early on from her mother, a veterinary receptionist, and to admire how the world works from her father, an auto mechanic. Her love of animals and ecology led Sara to major in animal behavior at Utica University, […]
Natalie Garrow
Natalie Garrow joined our Nature Sanctuary team as an assistant conservationist in 2026. Growing up in nearby Cazenovia, she developed an early love of the outdoors and the ocean, along with a lifelong drive to help animals. In 2023, she interned at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, working hands-on with tropical fish, freshwater species, sharks and rays, […]
Natalie “Nat” Hill Levin
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 also a world traveller.
Alyssa Wisehart
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 […]
Matt Perry
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 […]