Meet the Team
Our Team
Behind everything we do is a family that believes meaningful work comes from caring deeply about the land and the people connected to it. We bring diverse expertise, a shared respect for the unpredictability of nature, and a willingness to learn from the soil, the vines, and the community around us.
Our work is rooted in stewardship, collaboration, and the conviction that farming well means leaving the land better than we found it.
Meet Nicole:
Our Winemaker and Operations Manager
Nicole Flores graduated with a master's degree from Northwestern University and began her career in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Choosing to leave that familiarity behind, she moved across the country to pursue winemaking full time, a choice that required courage and a willingness to embrace uncertainty in order to create something meaningful.
As the spouse of a serving Silent Service member, Nicole embodies the strength, resilience, and quiet determination that define military families. Her experience navigating uncertainty, adapting to change, and building a life rooted in purpose mirrors the dedication of those who serve. It is this strength and courage that inspired our Silent Service wines, a tribute to the families and serving members who give so much, often without recognition.
Currently completing her Winemaking Certificate Program from UC Davis, Nicole brings scientific precision into the cellar, shaped by hands on experience working in cellars throughout the region and mentored by generous longtime winemakers. As both winemaker and day to day operations manager, she oversees everything from fermentation to bottling, guest experiences to community relationships. Her approach is guided by both science and intuition: she samples meticulously, tracks data carefully, and responds to the wine rather than forcing it into a predetermined outcome. Nothing is added beyond what the land provides. Each vintage speaks honestly about the year it came from and the soil that shaped it.
Meet Charlie: Assistant to the Winemaker
Every good winemaker needs a loyal sidekick, and at Silver River Vineyards, that role belongs to Charlie, our beloved vineyard dog. Equal parts guardian, greeter, and vineyard scout, Charlie is never far from Nicole’s side as she tends to vineyard rows, monitors fermentation, or hosts visitors in our vineyard and our gardens.
Charlie brings a calming presence and tireless energy to the daily rhythm of vineyard life. Whether chasing off curious critters, inspecting freshly picked clusters, or napping in the winery, he is a vital part of our winemaking team. He also takes his hospitality duties seriously—welcoming visitors with a wagging tail and often guiding them straight to their tasting spot.
More than just a companion, Charlie embodies the heart and soul of the vineyard: attentive, grounded, and always ready to lend a paw. In his own quiet way, he reminds us to enjoy the journey, one vintage (and vineyard stroll) at a time.
Meet Rudy: Farmer and Boots on the ground
Rudy Schalk brings decades of expertise in software engineering, engineering systems, program management, precision agriculture and automation, sensor technology, remote sensing, and GIS. His career has spanned both industry and academia, including teaching at Cal Poly for several years, giving him an ideal blend of practical, real world problem solving and rigorous research grounded insight.
You are just as likely to find him troubleshooting irrigation lines, rebuilding a tractor engine, or tuning a quad as you are analyzing sensor data or mapping vineyard zones with GIS. His work is rooted in the conviction that farming is not about dominating nature but working alongside it with patience and respect, and that good stewardship requires both hands on skill and thoughtful planning.
Meet Vidya: Planning and Sustainability
Dr. Vidya Schalk brings decades of experience in plant sciences, biochemistry, and sustainability to Silver River Vineyards. A faculty member at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she has taught courses in materials science, chemistry and energy systems and served as the university's very first Sustainability Faculty Fellow. As a research scientist, educator, and a Master Gardener, she combines rigorous scientific knowledge with hands on expertise in growing, observing, and adapting to the land.
At Silver River, Vidya is focused on infusing sustainability as the DNA of vineyard operations, from soil health and water management to packaging, recycling, and exploring innovative practices that align with our values. She believes farming well means constantly learning, experimenting, and refining how we care for the land and the community around us.
For a decade, she also pursued her lifelong passion for history, archaeology, and art, bringing artifacts and artworks to life through research and teaching. Her philosophy is simple: you can learn anything if you bring enough passion and put in the time and effort. The world is full of possibilities, and she approaches the vineyard with that same curiosity, commitment, and belief that stewardship is an ever evolving practice.
Field Innovation Hub @Silver River Vineyards
About
The Field Innovation Hub was founded in the Fall of 2025 by two lifelong academics and researchers in partnership with AgraNova a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization who all share a deep belief that learning does not end in the classroom or in a lab — it begins in the field. After decades in teaching and research, we envisioned a space where science, creativity, and the land could meet in real time. The Hub transforms Silver River Vineyards into an applied learning environment, where knowledge moves off the page and into practice.
Our goal is to bridge the gap between academia and agriculture — to bring scholars, students, farmers, innovators and winemakers together in one collaborative space. Here, experiments in soil health, irrigation, adaptive technology and agro ecosystems unfold alongside workshops in renewable energy, precision farming, and sustainable winegrowing and innovative winemaking.
At its core, winemaking is applied chemistry. Fermentation kinetics, acid–base balance, phenolics, redox reactions, and microbial dynamics shape every decision in the vineyard and winery. Dr. Vidya Schalk brings these principles out of the classroom and into the field, where chemistry is observed, measured, and refined through real agricultural practice.
The Field Innovation Hub also integrates soil and water chemistry, energy flows, and agricultural risk—connecting topics such as nutrient cycling, irrigation efficiency, climate variability, and energy use to the realities farmers face. As both a teaching faculty member and a working grower, Dr. Schalk’s hands-on experience strengthens her teaching, while her teaching sharpens how the vineyard functions as a living laboratory.
Rudy Schalk brings the Field Innovation Hub a complementary, hands-on perspective grounded in software engineering, precision agriculture, and remote sensing. With a background spanning corporate engineering and academic instruction, he applies geospatial analysis, automation, sensor systems, and data-driven workflows directly in the vineyard. His work bridges satellite and drone imagery, GIS, and on-the-ground decision-making, transforming raw data into practical tools for farm management.
Together, the Hub integrates chemistry, energy, and computation—linking theory, technology, and real-world agriculture to prepare students and collaborators for modern, systems-based farming. This reciprocal relationship—between education and practice—defines the Field Innovation Hub. It exists to test ideas, inspire curiosity, and prepare the next generation to think critically about agriculture, energy, and sustainability in the real world.
The Field Innovation Hub serves as both a living laboratory and a community resource. We invite students, vintners, growers, educators, and anyone curious about the future of farming to learn, experiment, and share discoveries that strengthen the resilience of our region and the agricultural world beyond it.
At its heart, Silver River’s Field Innovation Hub is more than a place — it is a movement toward applied wisdom, rooted in the soil and open to all who seek to learn from it.
Our Mission
To bridge academic insight and real-world practice by transforming Silver River Vineyards into a living learning laboratory where students, scholars, vintners, and farmers collaborate to explore sustainable, regenerative, and technology-enhanced approaches to agriculture.
Our Vision
To cultivate a field-based center of learning that empowers people to experiment, share knowledge, and build resilient agricultural futures — where the vineyard becomes both classroom and community, and where science, innovation and practice grow side by side.
Partnerships and Collaborations
We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable contributions of our partners, whose diverse expertise and shared commitment have strengthened our strategies and expanded the reach of Silver River Vineyards. Through their support—whether in research or collaborative initiatives—our partners have played a vital role in advancing our mission.
Their generosity and dedication have helped ensure the lasting stewardship and sustainability of our vineyard and surrounding landscapes, making a meaningful impact for generations to come.
We are delighted to work in collaboration with the following awesome groups:
Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District (USLTRCD; northern SLO County)
Ventura County Resource Conservation District
Seeds for Bees Project Apis m.
California Healthy Soils Initiative
Sustainable Land Initiatives
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience, Cal Poly SLO
Elationscapes
AgraNova {501(c)(3) non-profit organization}
The Regenerative Viticulture Foundation
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR)
