Meet Our Team

Mary co-founded Carpe DC Food Tours in 2014. Carpe DC Food Tours was rebranded and reborn into Blue Fern Travel in 2020. After traveling all over the world, she realized the beauty of connecting to the local community and the importance of giving back. She has a passion for making the world a smaller place by connecting people to community through stories, culture and of course, food!

Prior to Blue Fern, Mary earned her M.P.A. in nonprofit and international management, worked with a Ugandan-based NGO named Paper to Pearls, children’s shelter For Children’s Sake, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Mary is also a ballerina turned yogi who loves to squeeze in a down dog every chance she gets.  Mary and Stefan have a daughter and and a son who are already adventurous culinary explorers!

Stefan co-founded Blue Fern Travel (Formerly Carpe DC Food Tours) while getting his phD in Archaeology from the University of Maryland. He has a passion for the intersection of food, history and culture and loves to share his knowledge with others.

He’s an avid, master home chef. Starting at a very young age, he would stand on a chair in the kitchen to help his mom stir.  Now he’s excited to share that love of food with his and Mary’s daughter, whose first “real” food was Japanese ramen in Okinawa, Japan and their son, who loves Ethiopian food.

As an archaeologist, he’s worked with countless communities and students on projects, and loves to share untold stories discovered through artifacts and research with the community they are found in.

Cat joined the Blue Fern Travel team in 2015 as a marketing consultant, with over 10 years of experience in tourism and travel. In her consulting business, Cat is proud to be able to say that she only works with partners who she loves and believes in and Blue Fern Travel is no exception! Cat loves to cook – especially enjoys making spicy vegetarian dishes – and loves to travel – her favorite trip to date is driving around Iceland. While Cat spent 16 years in Washington, DC, she now lives north of Boston, near the beach, with her Blue Staffy, Essie.

Soneka hails from the Detroit area but has called DC home for over a decade. With a background in theatre, she is ecstatic to be able to use her talents to help educate people about the city she now knows and loves as her own.

I am a second-generation native Washingtonian. I am lover of all things swallowable! I have traveled and lived all over the world, and I have met amazing emissaries along the way that have allowed me to experience some very far off places through the lens of a local. It is my great honor share my my love of Washington DC with you.

Jenn traveled to DC from Corpus Christi, Texas in 2014 for a temporary school internship, but ended up falling in love with the area and made the move permanent. Her background in history and anthropology, along with her experience working in some local historic destinations and attractions, will enable her to provide enriching context and entertaining tidbits throughout every tour. Jenn enjoys cooking and preparing creative dishes, especially when fun equipment and gadgets are involved. In her free time, she loves to read, write stories, visit local museums, and binge watch documentaries. Jenn also has an incurable obsession for podcasts, but she has no regrets.

Jim has an unusual background as a former college debate coach turned world traveler and stay-at-home dad. Less unusual is his love of food, cooking, and talking to people about any and all of those things. Adventures with his family living in various places all over Africa, the Middle East and Europe have created a real passion for different cultures, and what better way to experience that than through food?

Yoni is originally from Raleigh, NC but moved to Baltimore to work as a food scientist. He loves learning about the food industry and the stories about how some products came to market. In his free time, he is an avid chess and soccer player. He has travelled around many parts of the world and loves sharing stories and learnings from these adventures.

Alex is an avid traveller, learner, and beer fan. Originally from State College, Pennsylvania, Alex graduated from the University of Vermont in 2020 before traveling around the Western United States. One of his favorite weekend activities in college was traveling to different breweries with his dog, Josie, throughout Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire. On his trip out west, he fly fished in Washington, hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon, tagged along with wildlife photographers in Yellowstone to see grizzly bears and cougars, and, of course, visited dozens of breweries. Alex moved to D.C. in 2021 to begin a graduate program at George Washington University. On a weekend in the city you can find Alex walking his dog in Rock Creek Park, exploring a museum, or sitting behind a flight at a brewery in Silver Spring.

Are you into food, history, and love DC? Want to share your passion with others? Blue Fern Travel is looking for outgoing, dynamic, friendly people who want to show off Washington, DC’s food culture to locals and tourists alike! Great guides are fun, friendly, and love leading a crowd. We’ll provide the script–you provide the character! Prior tour experience is not required. However, knowledge of food, Washington, DC history, and local knowledge is preferred. Guides are paid hourly, plus tips. Guides must be able to commit at least two tours a week.