Archives: Speakers

Product Development Manager

Certis Biologicals

Jeremy has 10 years of research and development experience working in the Agrochemical industry. Before joining Certis Biologicals in 2022, he was the Western Field Development Rep in California for BASF. He started his career managing a lab and greenhouse program in Research Triangle Park for BASF that focused on soil-borne diseases in various crops.  Jeremy received his MS degree in Entomology and his doctoral degree in Plant Health from the University of Nebraska-Lincon. He is lucky to call the Central Coast of California home.

Ecological Pest Management Specialist

Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)

Hanna is the Ecological Pest Management Specialist at Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF). With CAFF, Hanna works on creating applied resources, organizing events, addressing pest management questions, and conducting agricultural research in collaboration with local farmers and PCAs. She is passionate about hosting events where farmers can share their knowledge and experience. She has received a masters in Entomology from University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in Entomology from UC Davis.

President/General Manager

Associates Insectary

Brett Chandler has been the President/General Manager of Associates Insectary in Ventura County, CA since 2001. This grower-owned agricultural pest control cooperative was founded in 1928 to provide crop consulting and to raise beneficial insects for the benefit of its citrus and avocado grower-members.

Brett graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a Bachelors of Science degree in Agriculture Biology in 1986. His IPM experience began more than 40 years ago as an intern scout working with mating disruption in the cotton fields near Parker, AZ. By 1986, Brett was rearing parasites as part of a USDA whitefly biocontrol project targeting cotton near Brawley, CA. Brett joined Associates Insectary in 1989 as a California Licensed Pest Control Advisor. He has more than 35 years’ experience using practical IPM techniques in citrus and avocado groves.

Director

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). The Program includes twelve IPM Cooperative Extension Advisors and four affiliated Cooperative Extension Advisors located throughout the state and a staff of twenty-five writers, editors, and IT support staff housed in the Agriculture and Natural Resources building in Davis. UC IPM focuses on pragmatic IPM solutions to address important pest issues 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.

Director of Bio/Nano Technology Group and Professor of Biological Engineering

University of Arkansas

Jin-Woo Kim is a Director of the Bio/Nano Technology Group and a Professor of Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Arkansas. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH). He received his first B.S. in Chemical Technology (currently Chemical & Biological Engineering) from Seoul National University, his second B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Iowa, an M.S. in Biology from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from Texas A&M University.

He was a Visiting Professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research focus is in Bio/Nano Technology, i.e., biologically inspired nanotechnology, which spans interdisciplinary fields of biological engineering, biomedical engineering, biology, chemistry, and nanotechnology. Learning from biological systems in nature, his research aims to develop more effective and efficient routes to “panoscale” (i.e., ‘any’ scale) system integration of multifunctional hierarchical structures for biomimetic advanced materials and devices. He has published over 140 articles, given over 240 presentations with over 90 invited presentations, and has 5 granted or pending patents.

Field Development Manager-Western US

Certis Biologicals

Scott has been researching biopesticides for 15 years with Certis Biologicals in the Western US. Prior to joining Certis, he ran a research program and the Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab at Utah State University, followed by a stint with Crompton/Uniroyal as the PNW Field Development Manager. Scott has an MS degree in Biology/Plant Pathology from Utah State University and is a proud Aggie!

Director

California Department of Pesticide Regulation

Julie Henderson began serving as the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Acting Director in July 2021 and was appointed as Director in December 2021. Prior to her DPR role, Julie was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in November 2017 to serve as Deputy Secretary for Health and Public Policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency and was reappointed by Governor Gavin Newsom. She served previously as a Senior Advisor to Governor Brown. She also served in the California Department of Justice as a Special Assistant Attorney General to Attorney General Brown. Prior to joining CalEPA, she was Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the University of California, Office of the President, and prior to entering government service, Julie was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Gap Inc., and an associate at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe. Julie graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in government and received her law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Executive Director

Wild Farm Alliance

Jo Ann Baumgartner, Executive Director of Wild Farm Alliance, works in the intersection between biodiversity conservation and agriculture. She educates growers about natural enemy habitat, beneficial insects and birds, the conservation mandates of the National Organic Program, and the co-management of food safety and conservation. She was an organic farmer for over a decade and got her Master’s degree studying bird predation of insects in apple orchards.

Professor, Cooperative Extension, Plant Pathology 

University of California, Davis

Dr. Akif Eskalen is a Professor in Cooperative Extension in Plant Pathology at UC Davis. Research in his lab is applied and focuses on the identification, biology, epidemiology, and management of fungal pathogens on grapevines, tree fruits, and small fruits in California. His recent work established a linkage between agricultural and native tree pathogens in natural ecosystems.

Dr. Eskalen received ISA’s award for arboriculture research in 2016 as well as an outstanding education material award in 2015 for a chapter he contributed to the California Master Gardener Handbook. In addition, he served as the president of the American Phytopathological Society, Pacific Division, in 2020.

Farm Advisor 

Cooperative Extension Kern County

David Haviland has been a Farm Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension for 20 years, and is affiliated with the UC Statewide IPM Program. He has responsibilities to develop and disseminate information on integrated pest management across all commodities grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley. He has focused his efforts on permanent crops, where he has worked on monitoring programs, treatment thresholds, chemical control, biological control and mating disruption of key pests of grapes, almonds, pistachios, citrus, blueberries and cherries.

He has shared the results of this work through more than 800 extension presentations 450 publications throughout his career.  David has received integrated pest management awards from the University of California, the Entomological Society of America, California Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Western Extension Director’s Association, and International Integrated Pest Management Symposium.