Natalie Nowlen

Natalie is Senior Compost Coordinator and groundskeeper at Stone Barns Center. She grew up in a home with an abundant garden in the summer and a family-run Italian restaurant & pizzeria, laying the foundation for her passion for food. Working in various food industry positions while studying for her Earth Science degree at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, she developed an interest in soil fertility, food waste, and environmental impacts.

Natalie has worked for the past seven+ years in the composting industry. She has experience in settings ranging from a small windrow on a farm, to an industrial in-vessel aerobic digester at her alma mater, to community-scale and backyard bins in NYC. Natalie worked for years as part of the NYC Compost Project in her hometown of Staten Island, New York, educating the community on rebuilding their soil neighborhood by neighborhood. She also worked on a six-acre farm that used compost she had produced as a farm educator and farmhand for a full-circle experience.

On the side: When not getting her hands dirty with soil or compost, Natalie loves to cook, explore new hiking trails, tend to her garden, geek out over geology/mineralogy, attend concerts, expand her vinyl collection, and be with loved ones.