THE OREGON EXTENSION
SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE FIRE UP YOUR MIND
Hailing from all corners of the country, OE faculty and staff have at the core of their work a deep love for this place and the students that join us here.
THE PEOPLE
WHO WE ARE
Kelton (Tad) Cobb (Ph.D. University of Iowa) joined the faculty of the Oregon Extension in the fall of 2011. He has taught Christian theology, church history, and comparative religions at Wesleyan University, St. Joseph’s University, and Hartford Seminary. He grew up in Colorado, but has led an itinerant academic life in Oregon, New Jersey, Iowa, Germany, and Connecticut. He has published one book called The Blackwell Guide to Theology and Popular Culture, and is currently interested in how Christianity has learned, with great difficulty, to be moral through the hard lessons of its darkest hours. He lives at Lincoln with his two sons.
Robert Zandstra (Ph.D. University of Oregon) is the great-grandson of eight immigrants to North America from the Netherlands, was raised on a vegetable farm in rural Northwest Indiana and now lives in Holland, Michigan, with his wife, Hope, and three children. He earned a BA from Calvin College in History of Religion and English and a PhD in English and has taught at University of Oregon, Bushnell University, and Hope College. He studies the intersection of environmental thought, religion, and secularization in American literature. His hobbies include hiking, gardening, writing poetry, watching movies, and reading to his children..
Anna Reside graduated from Yale University in 2021 with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Since then, she has led a peripatetic life conducting seasonal stream ecology work all across the West. Currently, she is pursuing a graduate degree in the Idaho State University Stream Ecology Center with an emphasis in Biology Education. Anna first came to the OE as a farm intern, and has served as a co-instructor for the Forest Management skills track since 2023. In her free time, you are likely to find Anna on some misadventure involving a boat, a bike, a rope, or a backpack.
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Will Lake (Assistant Program Director) is a Hope College ('19) and OE ('18) alum that couldn't keep himself away from the Oregon Extension. Since graduating college, Will has come back to serve the OE in many different roles including as farm coordinator, maintenance guy, groundskeeper, forest crew, carpenter, recruiter, and student life. In between his stints at the OE, Will has worked in Big Sky, Montana as a ski lift operator, and in Madrid, Spain as an English teacher. Will loves to practice Spanish, play guitar, cruise around the mountain on his motorcycle, and read books. During the semester you can probably find him among the students playing volleyball, chatting about the Brothers Karamazov, or leading a backpacking trip. Will is currently pursuing his MA in mental health counseling at Southern Oregon University. email
Lindsey White (Farm Manager) is an Eastern Mennonite University (‘23) and OE (‘22) alum where she studied environmental science and environmental justice. Lindsey has worked as a biological botany technician for Shenandoah National Park, an environmental compliance technician, a garden director for an environmental education center, led backpacking trips with middle & high schoolers in Colorado, a poll worker, a barista, a goat sitter, substitute teacher & more. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys rummaging through the dumpsters looking for glorious dumpster finds, spending time outside in whatever capacity possible (hiking, biking, running, backpacking, ultimate frisbee, slacklining, camping, pickleball, soccer), working on a project, diving deep into a conversation, playing games or sharing a meal.
Ruby Hoeschen (Student Life Assistant) is a St. Olaf College (‘25) and OE (‘22) alum. She has a BA in environmental studies and spent much of her undergrad working as a peer educator and substance coach, and was a photography TA. Ruby has done various odd jobs including fish processing in Alaska, working concerts in the Twin Cities, assisting a philanthropist, and scooping ice cream behind the old-fashioned soda fountain at her family’s independent pharmacy! In her free time, Ruby makes art, reads far too many books, plays pick-up volleyball, spoils her cat, Binx (OE ‘22 alum), and spends time laughing with her people.
