Our Team
Nick Lapham
Owner
Nick Lapham and his family have owned Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy since 2006. Nick provides overall strategic direction and is also actively involved in on-the-ground management.
Nick is a lifelong conservationist with professional experience in the non-profit, philanthropic and government sectors. Currently, he serves as President of The BAND Foundation, a family philanthropy focused on nature conservation and epilepsy care. Previously, he held senior positions with Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations Foundation and also served in the State Department and White House during the Clinton administration. He is a director of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Nick attended Yale College where he graduated with a B.A. in History. His thesis looking at the legacy of predator control on public lands led him to start his career working on the issue of wolf restoration in Yellowstone National Park. Nick is passionate about nature and has a special love for birds, an interest he picked up at an early age from his father.
Dawn Andreoni
Operations Director
As Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy's Operations Director, Dawn oversees the day-to-day management of our social enterprise, including administration, coordination and sales and marketing.
Dawn’s deep love of nature is rooted in her childhood in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. With a business degree and multiple yoga certifications, her professional life has interwoven threads of hospitality and wellness, informed by an appreciation of the restorative power of our connection to nature. She has been fortunate to reside in some of the most beautiful mountain environments in the world, including the Swiss Alps and the Sierra Nevada, but her heart belongs to the Blue Ridge. She is excited to apply her business acumen towards Sunnyside’s pioneering approach to working lands conservation.
When Dawn is not at Sunnyside, you can find her hiking, foraging, and stargazing.
Nikolas Kohl & Amanda Finley
Fruit & Vegetable Production Managers
As Sunnyside’s Fruit & Vegetable Production Managers, Nik and Amanda are responsible for the food we produce, which is a simple way of saying that they have an enormous job. Whether sourcing seeds, preparing beds, controlling weeds, harvesting fruit, washing vegetables, managing cover crops, fixing tractors, staffing farmers’ markets, or delivering to restaurants, they are on-the-go year-round to ensure that we offer the most nutritious and best tasting food possible while also building healthy soil and improving farm biodiversity. As if that weren’t enough, they also care for our five goats and our small flock of lady layers.
Plants have always been a big part of Nik’s life. He’s been a farmer, a garden nursery hand, a grassland restoration specialist, a forester, and a landscaper. He even managed to get a botany degree along the way. Amanda developed a love of nature while working with various conservation corps across the country. She first decided to try her hand at farming as a seasonal intern at Sunnyside in 2014 where she crossed paths with Nik who was then the crew lead. Many years and travels later, they reconnected at Mount Vernon Farm just down the road in Sperryville where they worked together for two years before returning to Sunnyside in 2022.
When not growing food, Nik plays a mean bouzouki, guitar and ukulele, and Amanda continues to refine her already formidable crocheting skills, including by experimenting with making natural dyes from plants around the farm.
Aaron Lenardson
Property Manager
As Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy's Property Manager, Aaron Lenardson is responsible for the maintenance and care of our grounds and facilities -- a job that requires a highly diverse skill set, limitless patience and a relentlessly positive attitude, attributes Aaron has in abundance.
Aaron is a Rappahannock native who grew up and went to school locally before moving to an adjacent county to work for Sysco Food Services. After several years training in upper management, he decided to change course and earned his CDL Class A License. From there, he started a career in hauling and operating a wide variety of heavy equipment for Groundscapes LLC, a Warrenton, Virginia-based excavating company. Wanting to be closer to home and in a position better suited to his love of the outdoors, Aaron joined the Sunnyside team in 2021.
Aaron is the very proud father of three children who he calls his biggest accomplishment. When he's not coaching their softball games or taking them camping, he can be found searching for trophy deer, fishing or otherwise enjoying nature.
Jennifer Servis
Conservation Director
As the Conservation Director of Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy, Jenn is engaged in all aspects of the conservation mission, including managing the lands for native species and facilitating research with collaborators. Jenn believes that curiosity precedes connection, connection precedes compassion, and compassion precedes conservation action. This is why another of her primary goals as Conservation Director is to foster people’s curiosity and connection with nature. In addition to conservation, Jenn has had another constant, life-long love: horses. The two interests for her are intertwined and have led her to believe that working lands can benefit both people and wildlife.
In Jenn’s years as a conservation biologist, she has enjoyed seeing the field through many lenses, including research, policy, history, and the arts. Most recently before joining Sunnyside, Jenn was with the US Fish & Wildlife Service assessing species for listing under the Endangered Species Act and evaluating paths to recovery for those nearing extinction. She also spent time with the Service’s Museum developing exhibits and cataloging its wide collection of wildlife art and historical artifacts.
Jenn attended Kalamanzoo College where she graduated with a BA in Biology and Art History – an unexpected pairing of fields that nurtured her interest in cross-disciplinary inquiry. During and immediately following college, Jenn was out in the field studying the ecology and behavior of various species, including prairie dogs, sea turtles, shorebirds, and beach plants. Jenn also holds an MS in Biology from the City University of New York, where she completed much of her thesis research in the lab characterizing coral reef diversity using environmental DNA analysis.
Drew Wharton
Digital Media Director
As Sunnyside’s Director of Digital Media, Drew leads the development and implementation of technology-driven solutions and digital media strategies that enhance audience engagement, increase brand awareness, maximize reach, and foster meaningful connections with our subscribers.
From website and graphic design, video production, and immersive multimedia, to social media management, analytics and digital marketing, Drew oversees the creation and distribution of digital content across multiple platforms, ensuring that Sunnyside’s digital presence is compelling, impactful, and closely aligned with our overall business objectives and conservation mission.
Drew is Principal of Wharton Media, a nature-based digital media studio whose core capabilities include website design and development, conservation technology, videography and photography, and graphic design. Drew founded Wharton Media in 1997 after serving as Director of Internet Services for a Fortune 1000 company.
When not in the office, you’ll find — or more likely, not find — Drew backpacking in Yosemite Wilderness with camera gear in tow.