California Invasive Species Summit

Lineup

• More details about Dr. Glenda Humiston

  Dr. Glenda Humiston

  As Vice President of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Glenda Humiston brings over 30 years of policy development and program implementation supporting sustainability, including time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia and several years as a consultant on environmental and agricultural issues throughout the western states. Prior to her current position, she served President Obama 2009 – 2015 as the California State Director for USDA’s Rural Development programs, where she produced a widely acclaimed guidebook on “Access to Capital” and led efforts to bring rural issues to the forefront of the state’s Economic Summit and policymakers throughout California. From 1998 – 2001 she served President Clinton as Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA. Glenda managed the Sustainable Development Institute at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in South Africa and the 2006 World Water Forum in Mexico City. Humiston earned her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy and Management; a master’s in international Agricultural Development from U.C. Davis and a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University. Humiston was born in California and raised on a cattle ranch in Colorado, where she was a member of 4-H. She came to UC ANR with more than 25 years of experience working on public policy development and program implementation supporting sustainability. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, as executive director of a nonprofit organization advocating farmland preservation and value-added agriculture development, and several years as a consultant on environmental and agricultural issues throughout the West. She served President Clinton as deputy undersecretary for natural resources and environment at USDA from 1998 to 2001. She managed the Sustainable Development Institute at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in South Africa and the 2006 World Water Forum in Mexico City. In 2009, Humiston was appointed by President Obama to serve as the California State Director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development. Humiston produced a widely acclaimed guidebook on "Access to Capital" and has led efforts to bring rural issues to the forefront of the state's Economic Summit and policymakers throughout California. Humiston earned her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy and Management in 2009 with research focused on U.S. Farm Bill policy. She has a master's degree in international agricultural development from UC Davis and a bachelor's degree in animal science from Colorado State University.

• More details about Secretary Karen Ross, California Food And Agriculture,

  Secretary Karen Ross, California Food And Agriculture,

  KAREN ROSS was appointed Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture on January 9, 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom. In re-appointing Secretary Ross, Governor Newsom cited her unmatched leadership experience in agricultural issues nationally, internationally, and here in California, in areas including environmental stewardship, climate change adaptation, and trade. Secretary Ross was initially appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2011. Before joining CDFA, Secretary Ross was chief of staff for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a position she accepted in 2009. Prior to that appointment, she served as President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers from 1996- 2009, and as Vice-President of the Agricultural Council of California from 1989-1996. Her prior experience before moving to California included staff work for a United States Senator, a presidential candidate, and government relations for rural electric cooperatives and public power districts. Secretary Ross is passionate about fostering the reconnection of consumers to the land and the people who produce their food, and to improving the access of all California citizens to healthy, nutritious California-grown agricultural products, celebrated for their diversity and abundance in serving local, national and global markets. During Secretary Ross' tenure, the Department has focused on core functions to protect and promote California agriculture, investing in the Department’s employees to provide the best service to farmers, ranchers and consumers and fostering an agricultural industry that embraces its role as a global leader on everything from the most technical aspects of farming to the broadest environmental imperatives. Secretary Ross has strengthened partnerships across government, academia and the non- profit sector in the drive to maintain and improve environmental stewardship and to develop adaptation strategies for the specific impacts of climate change. She has initiated programs to provide greater opportunities for farmers and ranchers to engage in sustainable environmental stewardship practices through water conservation, energy efficiency, nutrient management, and ecosystem services; and she has worked to provide greater access to farm-fresh foods at school cafeterias through CDFA’s Farm to Fork Program. Secretary Ross grew up as a 4-H kid on a farm in western Nebraska. She owns 800 acres of the family farm where her recently retired younger brother, a fourth-generation farmer, is mentoring a new, beginning farmer in growing no-till wheat and feed grains, incorporating cover crops and rotational grazing for beef production. The Secretary has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a graduate of the Nebraska Ag Leadership Program. She has served on numerous boards and committees in California agriculture and with various academic institutions.

• More details about Dr. Jeff Dukes

  Dr. Jeff Dukes

  Jeff Dukes studies how plants and ecosystems respond to a changing environment, with a particular focus on invasive species. Since 2022, he has been a senior staff scientist at Carnegie Science, which is now based in Pasadena. Previously, he was a professor at Purdue University, where he held the Belcher Chair for Environmental Sustainability in the College of Agriculture and directed the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. Dukes received a Ph.D from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, both in Biological Sciences. He has been elected a Fellow and named a Public Engagement Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; he is also a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. As the director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Dr. Dukes led the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment.

• More details about Dr. Tapan Pathak

  Dr. Tapan Pathak

  Dr. Tapan Pathak is an Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension in climate adaptation in agriculture with University of California Merced and University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr. Pathak has years of experience in agricultural climatology, crop modeling, and adaptation research. He is involved in various state and multistate efforts and collaborates on state and federal projects to study trends and impacts of climate change on various aspects of agricultural production and translating climate and weather data into useful agricultural decision support information that can assist agricultural community in making strategic decisions. Prior to joining the University of California, he served as an Extension faculty at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He is an agricultural engineer by training and received his Ph.D. from University of Florida, M.S. from Utah State University, and B.S. from Gujarat Agricultural University in India.

• More details about Karen Jetter

  Karen Jetter

  Karen Jetter is a research economist at the University of California Policy Institute. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, San Diego. Upon completion she found herself in the Republic of Cameroon, working as a Peace Corps volunteer in agricultural cooperative development for village based consumer and producer cooperatives. She received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis. Her research specialties include valuing the impacts of invasive species, evaluating the benefits of biological pest controls, agricultural policy analysis, the farm to institution supply chain and the food environment.

• More details about Dr. Shannon Lynch

  Dr. Shannon Lynch

  Dr. Shannon Lynch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, whose work bridges forest pathology, epidemiology, and collaborative governance. She leads interdisciplinary research on emerging tree pests and pathogens in forests and urban landscapes, combining large-scale surveillance, predictive modeling, host-susceptibility research, and microbiome science with partnerships that support early detection and coordinated management. Dr. Lynch serves on the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee and co-chairs its Invasive Shot Hole Borer Subcommittee. She authored and co-led California’s statewide strategic initiative on invasive shot hole borers and Fusarium dieback, later documenting the effort in a peer-reviewed case study of collaborative governance in invasive-species management. Her work demonstrates how deliberate network design, trusted engagement, and facilitative and distributed leadership can turn shared risks into coordinated action.

• More details about Neil McRoberts

  Neil McRoberts

  Neil grew up in a small rural community on the east coast of Scotland. He studied Crop Science (BS) and Plant Pathology (PhD) at the University of Edinburgh, then worked for 20 years as a researcher and educator at Scotland's land grant institution agriculture and environment policy and sustainability. That strong policy context for his epidemiology research provided the motivation to explore the interdisciplinary boundary between epidemiology and the social sciences. In 2010 Neil moved to UC Davis and established a program that focused mainly on strategic and regulatory plant health issues at state and national levels. Since 2017 Neil has been a regional director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network, and is currently in his second term on the NPDN Executive Leadership team. In 2024/5 Neil led the Comprehensive Pest Prevention Program Analysis (C3PA) project in collaboration with CACASA and CDFA - the first in depth review of state and county pest exclusion programs in 30 years.

• More details about David Kratville, CDFA

  David Kratville, CDFA

• More details about Chris Scianni

  Chris Scianni

  Chris Scianni is the Environmental Program Manager of California’s Marine Invasive Species Program (MISP), a multi-agency pathway management program that aims to reduce the introduction of aquatic nonindigenous species from commercial ships into California’s coastal and estuarine environments. Prior to his current role within MISP, Chris led the program’s biofouling research efforts and the development of the first set of comprehensive biofouling management regulations for commercial ships to be implemented anywhere globally. Chris is also a member of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee and just completed an eight-year tenure as the chair of the Coastal Committee of the Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species.

• More details about Emily Rooney

  Emily Rooney

  Emily Rooney is the President of Agricultural Council of California (Ag Council). Founded in 1919, Ag Council is a member-supported organization advocating for 15,000 farmers across California, ranging from small, farmer-owned businesses to the world’s best-known brands. Ag Council works tirelessly to keep its members productive and competitive, so that agriculture can remain California’s number-one industry and members can continue to produce the highest quality food for the entire world. Emily joined Ag Council in September 2008. In 2023, Ag Council took over management of the California Association of Nurseries (CAN), representing California’s nursery industry before legislative and regulatory bodies in Sacramento. In this capacity, Emily has led CAN through a number of challenges, including (but not limited to): water use efficiency directives, a native plants mandate, plastics regulations and pest and disease eradication and containment efforts. CAN also executes various member programs including workforce development initiatives and an invasive plant project commonly known as Plant Right. Emily is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, and Class 39 of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

• More details about Dr. Ashley Stokes

  Dr. Ashley Stokes

  Dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis. Since becoming dean in 2025, Ashley M. Stokes has focused on amplifying the reach and impact of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences through collaboration, innovation and public engagement. Her first year has been marked by transformative philanthropic investments, the opening of the Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation and expanded connections with agricultural leaders, alumni and communities throughout California and beyond. With more than 30 years of experience advancing education, research and public engagement, Stokes has built a career dedicated to connecting science with community impact. Her leadership spans the University of Tennessee, Colorado State University and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she strengthened extension programs, expanded student success initiatives and served diverse communities across the United States and the Western Pacific. Stokes earned a Bachelor's degree in physiological psychology from the University of Alabama, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology from Louisiana State University, and an MBA from Colorado State University

• More details about A.G. Kawamura

  A.G. Kawamura

  A.G. Kawamura is a third generation produce grower and shipper from Orange County, California. From 2003 to 2010 he served as the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He is founding co-chair of Solutions from the Land (www.solutionsfromtheland.org), a nationally and internationally recognized non-profit that is developing innovative and sustainable smart agricultural collaborations for the 21st century. He serves on multiple boards and advisory committees including Co-Facilitator for the UNEP Farmers Major Group; Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Ag Advisory Committee; Western Growers Board and former Chair; Southern California Water Coalition, Executive Committee; Orange County Farm Bureau Board. For over 45 years Mr. Kawamura has pursued a lifelong goal to work towards an end to hunger and malnutrition. Locally, he is founding chair of Solutions For Urban Ag (SFUA.org). He has worked closely with Regional Food Banks and stakeholders to create dynamic urban ag projects that focus on nutrition, hunger, education and advanced food systems. As a progressive farmer, Mr. Kawamura has a lifetime of experience working within the shrinking rural and urban boundaries of Southern California. A.G. graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley and is an alumni of the Calif. Ag Leadership Program, Class XX.

• More details about Matthew Bosworth

  Matthew Bosworth

  Matthew Bosworth is a Biological Science Technician for USDA Wildlife Services. He brings hands-on experience to the Invasive Summit discussions, sharing his work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to detect and remove feral swine populations from National Wildlife Refuges and adjacent properties in the San Joaquin Valley. This joint effort benefits protected riparian habitats and agricultural lands alike, providing protection to resources and the native wildlife that call these areas home. 

• More details about Henri Ferré

  Henri Ferré

  Head of Development, Inversa With a background in operations, strategy, and policy, Henri leads company growth and external relations. Prior to joining the team, he served as Director of Operations at E25Bio out of MIT's The Engine. Henri holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an M.A. in International Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

• More details about Aarav Chavda

  Aarav Chavda

  CEO, Inversa Driven by a mission to equip governments with modern tech and market-based tools for ecosystem defense, Aarav Chavda co-founded Inversa to transform how invasive species are managed at scale. He brings experience in defense consulting at McKinsey & Company, coupled with a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. As CEO, Aarav leads strategy, partnerships, tech development, and team growth. His leadership and vision earned him recognition as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in 2022.

• More details about Dr. Rob Clark

  Dr. Rob Clark

  Robert E. Clark, Ph.D., is the founder and Principal Data Scientist of EcoData Technology LLC, where he provides statistical and data science consulting for government, non-profit, and private companies. His applied work focuses on turning complex biological and environmental data into practical tools for research and decision-making, including agricultural pest forecasting, invasive species monitoring, and evaluating field trials. Dr. Clark currently consults for the Citrus Research Board, providing statistical support for citrus research programs and supporting an HLB detection machine-learning platform used to inform survey planning. He has extensive experience in R, statistical modeling, data visualization, and translating technical analyses into information that can be readily used by environmental and agricultural stakeholders.

• More details about Dr. Jon Detka

  Dr. Jon Detka

  Dr. Jon Detka is an ecologist, environmental data scientist, and educator whose career combines ecological restoration, plant health research, and data-driven environmental monitoring. He is Research Faculty in the Department of Applied Environmental Science at California State University, Monterey Bay, and a member of the Water, Agriculture, Technology and Remote Sensing (WATRS) Lab, a collaborative research group operating in partnership with NASA Ames Research Center. His work focuses on using remote sensing and machine learning to understand patterns in plant health, with an emphasis on disease risk, pest impacts, and ecosystem responses in agricultural and wildland systems. His research includes object detection and image classification from drone imagery, landscape-scale spatial risk modeling, and multispectral assessment of plant health. He contributes to research on strawberry canopy health, wildland disease risk, and invasive shot hole borer risk mapping. Earlier, Jon worked as a consulting botanist and senior ecologist, supporting native plant restoration, rare-species monitoring, and habitat recovery on California’s Central Coast. His work examined how disturbance, pathogens, herbivory, and invasive species influence restoration outcomes and native plant communities. Jon holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz, an M.S. in Biology from San José State University, and a B.S. in Earth Systems Science and Policy from CSUMB.

• More details about Cynthia Powel

  Cynthia Powel

  Cynthia Powell is Calflora’s Executive Director. She graduated with her MS in GIS in 2010 forecasting Mokelumne River water supply based on MODIS remote sensing snow pack images. She’s been examining what was under that snow — plants — ever since. She coordinates all of Calflora’s programs, research, outreach, and advocacy, as well as fundraising and management.

• More details about Kyle Beucke

  Kyle Beucke

  Kyle has been employed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for nine years and is currently the Primary State Entomologist. He is responsible for reviewing permits, writing and reviewing pest rating proposals, addressing pest reports from the public, and many other things. Prior to working for the CDFA, he was an entomology identifier with the United States Department of Agriculture. Kyle has a Bachelor of Science in Entomology from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Florida.

• More details about Jose Arriaga

  Jose Arriaga

  Jose Arriaga serves as Orange County’s Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights & Measures, a position he has held since September 24, 2021. Previously, he served as Assistant Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights & Measures in both Contra Costa and Solano counties. Beginning in September 2008, Jose worked in San Diego County as an Agricultural Standards Inspector, Supervising Agricultural Standards Inspector, and Deputy Agricultural Commissioner. He began his career as a Red Imported Fire Ant Inspector with the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. He currently chairs the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association (CACASA) Weights & Measures Laws and Regulations Committee and serves on its Standards and Tolerances (S&T) Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Subcommittee. He is also a member of the National Council on Weights and Measures (NCWM) Laws and Regulations Committee. Jose earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

• More details about Ricky Lara

  Ricky Lara

  Dr. Ricky Lara is a Senior Environmental Scientist – Specialist with California Department of Food and Agriculture. He is a research entomologist by training. He specializes in the development of classical biological control programs targeting invasive arthropod species that pose a threat to specialty crop production in agricultural systems. Part of his research responsibilities include conducting foreign exploration for co-evolved natural enemies of invasive target pests and studying the host-specificity of candidate natural enemies in quarantine lab space to determine their environmental safety in future release areas. Some of his pest control projects have involved working with ambrosia beetles, stink bugs, and spider mites. His work is driven by a desire to better understand the ecological relationships in the natural world and a commitment to share these findings with the public, research scientists, and farming communities through a variety of publications, extension/outreach events, and conference presentations.

• More details about Jutta Burger

  Jutta Burger

  Jutta is the executive director of the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC). She joined Cal-IPC as science program director in 2018 and served on its Board of Directors for six years before that. Jutta is originally from eastern Washington, and received her degrees from Washington State University, University of Nebraska, and, ultimately, UC Riverside, after which she put her boots in the ground for several years as a land manager with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. She has had a career-long passion for conservation, ecology, and the effective management of invasive plants to reduce their impact on natural systems.

• More details about Mariah de Nijs

  Mariah de Nijs

  Mariah de Nijs graduated from UC Davis in 2000, then in 2006 began work as an Agriculture Detector Dog Handler at Contra Costa County and later Sacramento County. Bart, Cairo, and Taz were the three amazing dogs she has been privileged to work with. Each so different and yet all incredible working dogs. In November 2023 she transitioned to CDFA to become the California Dog Team Program Manager and has enjoyed supporting all of the teams statewide.

• More details about Tanya Veldhuizen, Department of Water Resources

  Tanya Veldhuizen, Department of Water Resources

  Tanya Veldhuizen is an Environmental Program Manager with the California Department of Water Resources and serves as a technical advisor on DWR’s Golden Mussel Invasion Response incident response team tasked with the development and implementation of mussel mitigation measures to protect water conveyance and power generation infrastructure in the State Water Project.

• More details about Andrea Schreier

  Andrea Schreier

  Andrea Schreier is an adjunct associate professor and director of the Genomic Variation Laboratory in the Department of Animal Sciences at UC Davis. Her research program applies genetic and genomic techniques to answer ecological questions with direct implications for management and conservation of fish and wildlife populations. One area of focus is the development of genetic/genomic approaches for aquatic invasive species detection and control.

• More details about Paula Pappalardo

  Paula Pappalardo

  Paula is an ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center who works on identifying invasive species from biodiversity surveys using metabarcoding and eDNA techniques. Her research focuses on biodiversity assessment in estuarine and marine systems, synthesizing data on species traits, distributions, and environmental conditions to understand the processes shaping biodiversity. Paula enjoys collaborative, multidisciplinary research and develops analytical methods and tools related to her work.

• More details about Price Adams

  Price Adams

  Executive Vice President and Partner - Nuffer, Smith, Tucker Public Relations Over the past two decades at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker (NST), Price Adams, executive vice president and partner, has led complex risk communications and outreach initiatives spanning local and statewide audiences. With deep, hands-on experience engaging consumers, industry professionals and government stakeholders across California's diverse communities, she brings a strategic, creative and results-driven approach that inspires meaningful behavior change. For more than nine years, Price has led NST's outreach for the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division, sustaining urgency around the Asian citrus psyllid, Huanglongbing and emerging threats. She also facilitated a strategic plan refresh that united an industry committee and CDFA staff around shared priorities. When milestone detections struck Ventura County in 2023 and Imperial County in 2026, she helped CDFA activate its crisis plan, shaping messages and aligning county, industry and media partners. During a 2024 surge in invasive fruit fly detections, CDFA called on Price to build unified messaging and, within weeks, launch multichannel risk communications for residents, growers and elected officials in quarantine areas. Informed by three phases of audience research, tactics included market-saturating, in-language paid media and hyperlocal outreach through trusted community messengers, from UC Master Gardeners and city governments to community-based organizations. She then pivoted from response to prevention, leading a statewide exclusion campaign targeting travelers and shippers. A Chapman University graduate, Price was named a San Diego Business Journal Leader of Influence and a two-time SD Metro Top PR and Marketing Executive.

• More details about Dahmoon Maeesomy

  Dahmoon Maeesomy

  Dahmoon “D” Maeesomy is a Texas native who built a career in agriculture before joining California’s efforts to protect the state’s agriculture industry from invasive pests and diseases. Currently working as an Agricultural Pest Control Supervisor for the California Department of Agriculture’s (CDFA) Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division (CPDPD) where he oversees field operations for 38 Northern California counties in the suppression and eradication of citrus pests and diseases including Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing. In addition, D serves as CPDPD’s statewide outreach coordinator, ensuring active engagement with residents, local and county governments, industry members and other stakeholders to protect California’s prosperous citrus industry. He has been with CDFA since 2018, working in a variety of roles related to pest and disease prevention. During his spare time, D enjoys the outdoors and is an avid animal lover and farmer.

• More details about Dr. Jason Leathers, PhD

  Dr. Jason Leathers, PhD

  Branch Chief, Pest Detection & Emergency Projects Branch Environmental Program Manager II California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Jason Leathers completed his Ph.D. in Entomology at Oregon State University in 2005 and took a position with CDFA as an Associate Insect Biosystematist at the Mediterranean Fruit Fly preventive release program in Los Alamitos, CA. There he identified invasive fruit flies trapped in southern California and was lead for the identification lab where technicians screen trapped medflies for the presence of fluorescent dye to confirm their sterility. In 2012 he accepted the position of Primary State Entomologist and moved to Sacramento. In 2018 he accepted the position of Environmental Program Manager I where he managed the mediterranean fruit fly facilities in Los Alamitos and Waimanalo, Hawaii as well as the branch’s scientific staff at headquarters. In 2024 he became Branch Chief of the Pest Detection & Emergency Projects Branch."

• More details about Lindsey Carter

  Lindsey Carter

  Lindsey is the Executive Director of the California Agricultural Commissioners & Sealers Association, a non-profit organization representing licensed agricultural commissioners and sealers throughout California. Prior to joining CACASA, she worked within the Farm Bureau organization at the county and state levels. Lindsey earned a Bachelor of Science in agricultural business from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She was named the 2021 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 9 by Assemblymember Ken Cooley and is graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

• More details about Secretary Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Agency

  Secretary Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Agency

  Wade Crowfoot serves as California’s Natural Resources Secretary, leading efforts to conserve California’s environment and natural resources. He has served as Secretary since 2019 and advises Governor Newsom as a member of his cabinet. Secretary Crowfoot oversees an agency of over 25,000 employees spread across 26 departments, commissions, and conservancies. His agency is charged with stewarding California’s forests and natural lands, rivers and water supplies, and coast and ocean. It also protects natural places, wildlife and biodiversity, and helps oversee the state’s world-leading clean energy transition. Secretary Crowfoot is leading efforts to achieve Governor Newsom’s ambitious environmental vision, including a commitment to conserve 30 percent of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030. He oversees billions of dollars of public investment to protect people and natural places from climate change impacts, and has led efforts to navigate California’s record-breaking droughts, floods, and wildfires. Secretary Crowfoot has also initiated a new era of partnerships with California Native American Tribes and is shifting how the agency operates to better support all California residents and communities. Secretary Crowfoot has been on the frontlines of environmental leadership throughout his career. He served in Governor Jerry Brown’s Administration as deputy cabinet secretary and senior advisor to the Governor, driving climate action. He led the non-profit Water Foundation to build water resilience across the American West. He spearheaded efforts to establish and defend California’s landmark climate change policies as West Coast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund. As an environmental advisor to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, he helped establish many first-in-the-nation urban environmental policies. Secretary Crowfoot received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. Wade grew up in Michigan spending summers at a YMCA camp and in the woods around his family’s remote cabin in Northern Ontario. He moved to California in the mid-1990s and discovered backcountry camping with friends. His first time in the redwoods at Big Basin State Park is still one of his defining California moments. He loves to camp with his wife and daughter and learn new things in the outdoors, currently including fly fishing and soon backcountry skiing. He says his best days in as Natural Resources Secretary are spent outdoors with local groups that are conserving land and connecting people to nature.

• More details about Sapna Thottathil

  Sapna Thottathil

  Sapna Thottathil became the Deputy Director for Sustainable Pest Management in 2024 to lead the department’s statewide collaboration and coordination to foster sustainable pest management (SPM) across California’s urban, agricultural and wildland settings. Prior to joining DPR, Thottathil held multiple administrative roles in the University of California (UC), including as Associate Director of Sustainability in the UC Office of the President, where she helped lead a UC Regent-supported task force that developed a statewide IPM policy for UC’s 10 campuses and six health systems. Thottathil was also a Farm-to-Institution leader in a variety of other roles that will advance her collaborative work in addressing the challenges of SPM adoption, including building strategic partnerships and supply chains between institutions like K-12 schools and hospitals and food producers, and working on antibiotics use in animal agriculture. Earlier in her career, Thottathil published books about Farm-to-Institution in the U.S. and the organic farming practices she researched in India. She began her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an Environmental Protection Specialist. Thottathil earned a BA in environmental studies and at BA in international studies from the University of Chicago, an MS in environmental change and management from Oxford University, and a PhD in Geography from UC Berkeley.

• More details about Dr. Jim Farrar, PhD, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program

  Dr. Jim Farrar, PhD, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program

  Dr. Jim Farrar is the director of the Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program at University of California (UC IPM). Farrar leads a team of 45 dedicated academics and staff to translate UC’s best pest management science into information and tools that Californians can use to safely and effectively manage pests in agriculture, communities, and natural areas in California. Previously Farrar was director of the Western IPM Center and prior to that he was professor of plant pathology in the Department of Plant Science at California State University, Fresno. Farrar’s research at Fresno State primarily focused on fungal diseases of vegetable crops. He completed a masters at University of California-Davis and a doctorate at University of Wisconsin.

• More details about Dr. Carrie Monohan, PhD

  Dr. Carrie Monohan, PhD

  Dr. Carrie Monohan, PhD is the Director of Natural Resources for Mooretown Rancheria, a federally recognized tribal government in Northern California. She helps advance Mooretown’s efforts to develop tribally-led management of working forests that advance Indian Forestry and Indian Self Determination. After earning her PhD in Forest Resources and Hydrology from the University of Washington (2004), Dr. Monohan has spent two decades living in the Sierra Nevada mountains and working on Natural Resource Management. She has first-hand experience of the ongoing impacts of the California Gold Rush on forests, watersheds, ecosystems, and communities. Dr. Monohan is also faculty at California State University, Chico and has taught courses in the Earth and Environmental Science Department since 2011. She has expertise in monitoring forest health conditions, streams and groundwater, anadromous fish populations, sediment and mercury loading, biochar production and application, reservoir sedimentation and post fire restoration.

• More details about Kai La Pena

  Kai La Pena

  Kai La Pena, is the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Specialist with Mooretown Natural Resources Department. Kai has completed the California Certified Tribal Naturalist program and has more than 20 years of experience with traditional land stewardship practices. Kai is a culture keeper and knowledge bearer for the Maidu, Nissenan and Wintun peoples of California.

• More details about Gina Darin

  Gina Darin

  Gina Darin is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Water Resources in the Division of Integrated Science and Engineering. Gina earned her Master of Science degree from UC Davis in the Weed Science Lab and is a past president of the California Invasive Plant Council Board of Directors. She currently serves as the Chair of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee to the Invasive Species Council of California.

• More details about Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann

  Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann

  Dr. Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann is the Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension, serving Orange and Los Angeles Counties. She earned her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she studied the ecology of insect–plant interactions. Her research and extension program focuses on protecting Southern California’s urban forests and natural areas from invasive tree pests. She combines field research, education, and partnerships with land managers and agencies to develop effective management strategies and help communities prepare for and respond to emerging pest threats. She currently serves as Secretary of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee (CISAC) and co-chair of its Invasive Shothole Borer Subcommittee.