We are a group of Masters students at University of California, Berkeley's School of Information. This project is our final capstone project, and was presented in May of 2009.  You can reach us at:  contact [at] squashandvine [dot] org

Shawna Hein is a second-year master's student at the UC Berkeley School of Information focusing on Human-Computer Interaction and Product Development. She graduated in 2006 from Oberlin College with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a minor in Sociology. Last summer she worked as a User Experience and Product Development Intern at a start-up in the Bay Area, where she helped design an online social network to connect producers and buyers of media. The seed for Squash & Vine was planted through extensive conversation with her sister, who recently started Honey in the Heart Farm in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Through her sister and her own native Californian roots, Shawna has connections to farmers throughout California, and is excited to contribute to other eaters' awareness and support of local growers.

Hazel Onsrud is originally from a small town in Maine. She presently resides in Berkeley, CA and is a second-year master’s student at the UC Berkeley School of Information. Her background in International Development Studies, World Literature & Culture Studies, and Geomatics gave her the opportunity to explore a range of agrarian issues, sustainable development practices, and approaches to land and resource management. She came to the School of Information because of its practical approach to academia, balancing appropriate analysis with action and addressing real world problems with or without technology.  Next year she intends to continue exploring the intersections of human and environmental systems as a master’s student in the Energy & Resources Group. Overall, she likes to eat, drink and be merry and would like to secure those same activities for anyone else who desires them.

Aylin Selcukoglu is a passionate foodie and an aspiring cook with an appreciation for good food that started at a young age, influenced greatly by her mother's amazing home cooked meals. She hails from the great Prairie State where she braved quite a bit of snow in order to receive her B.S. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Human-Computer Interaction and Social Computing from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Now a second-year master's student at the UC Berkeley School of Information, she is amazed at the abundance of farmers markets and fresh local produce available in the Bay Area. Her interest in this space was initially motivated by working on a project aimed at visualizing the complexities of the Farm Bill which helped her realize the flawed nature of our current industrialized food system. Through her work with Squash & Vine, she hopes to leverage her background in user experience and apply her knowledge of user research practices to encourage people to be as passionate about food as she is. In the future, Aylin, a Midwesterner at heart, hopes to extend Squash & Vine to her own hometown and help fellow Chicagoans eat locally and connect to the story behind their food.