Aoyama to advance research, nurture partnerships for California oak woodlands
Lina Aoyama started at UC ANR as assistant Cooperative Extension specialist in oak woodland stewardship on June 1. Based at the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center in Mendocino County, Aoyama will provide research and extension on oak woodland management and restoration across the state.
“I am motivated to find creative solutions to restore and manage resilient California oak woodlands in the face of climate change, wildfires and the threat of invasive species,” Aoyama said.
Although she grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and Tokyo, Aoyama loved spending time outdoors, which inspired her to earn a bachelor’s degree in molecular environmental biology at UC Berkeley.
Her first job out of college was working as a range technician at the Point Reyes National Seashore, where she became interested in rangelands and restoration. She went on to obtain a master’s in range management from UC Berkeley and then a Ph.D. in restoration ecology at the University of Oregon.
After her graduate studies, Aoyama worked as the long-term agricultural research network coordinator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Fort Collins, Colorado. Immediately prior to joining UC ANR, she finished a postdoctoral study on grassland fire behavior modeling and fuel reduction treatments in Katharine Suding’s lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
In her new role, Aoyama looks to cultivate strong partnerships across California, especially with Tribal communities that have been stewarding oak woodlands for many generations.
“I will prioritize building lasting relationships and build my program with a posture of learning, intentionality and care,” Aoyama said. “I am excited to collaborate with many of you to shape the future of our oak woodlands.”
Aoyama can be reached at linaaoyama@ucanr.edu or (310) 947-1699, and she is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lina-aoyama-29b5873b.
Garcia named UC ANR Policy Institute Associate Director
Sara Garcia joined the UC ANR Policy Institute on June 1 as an associate director. In this role, she will provide statewide coordination and leadership for the UC ANR Policy Institute, including communicating science-based research to policymakers and pursuing new opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with researchers internal and external to UC ANR.
Garcia brings over 15 years of experience working in biotechnology, agriculture and extension. Her career has focused on translating complex scientific and regulatory information into accessible resources for farmers, policymakers and the public.
For the last two years, Garcia was the technical assistance coordinator at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS). There she led the Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program to support California’s farmers and ranchers in the adoption of climate-smart and conservation agriculture practices.
Prior to 2024, Garcia held numerous positions at the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, where she conducted research and developed educational programs to address emerging challenges in biosecurity, food safety compliance and market access for small farmers.
Garcia holds a Ph.D. in integrative pathobiology and bachelor’s degree in genetics with a minor in Chicano/a studies, both from UC Davis. She conducted her postdoctoral research as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, where she conducted integrated teaching and research to support smallholder dairy farmers with animal health and food safety challenges.
Garcia is based at the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at sargarcia@ucanr.edu.
Woodford joins UC ANR Publishing
Kate Woodford joined UC ANR on June 1 as an editor for Publishing. Working with Rachel Lee, director of Publishing, Woodford will be editing peer-reviewed projects produced by University of California faculty and researchers, Cooperative Extension personnel and other UC ANR employees.
Woodford has been in the publishing field since 2010, beginning with the Penn State University Press and most recently with the Yale School of Medicine as the editorial and production coordinator for the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.
Before transitioning to publishing, Woodford was a gardener at the Delaware Center for Horticulture and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and a farmer in central Massachusetts.
Woodford earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware and her M.A. from the Pennsylvania State University.
If you are interested in publishing with UC ANR and would like to set up a meeting to discuss a proposal, Woodford is based at the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at kwoodford@ucanr.edu.
Richardson joins UCCE as hydrology, agriculture and water resilience specialist
Christina Richardson joined UC ANR on June 1 as an assistant professor of Cooperative Extension in coastal hydrology, agriculture and water resilience, based in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.
In this role, Richardson will build an applied research and extension program focused on increasing coastal water resilience. Her program will characterize the diverse water challenges facing California’s coastal regions and develop and refine solutions to address them.
Richardson brings a broad background in coastal hydrology and aquatic biogeochemistry, with work in both natural and highly managed landscapes in California and across diverse environmental stressors, including wildfire and wastewater. Prior to joining UC ANR, Richardson was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Cruz, with recent projects examining post-fire water quality in Central Coast watersheds, carbon cycling across working lands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and coastal groundwater and river responses to climate change.
She earned her Ph.D. in earth sciences from UC Santa Cruz and her M.S. in geology and geophysics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Before graduate school, she worked with the U.S. Geological Survey on coastal groundwater quality.
Richardson is based at UC Santa Cruz and can be reached at cmrichar@ucsc.edu or via https://sites.google.com/ucsc.edu/coastalhydro. She's on BlueSky at @hydrochristina.bsky.social: https://bsky.app/profile/hydrochristina.bsky.social
CalFresh alum Lefko hired as UCCE office manager
Julie Lefko moved to the UC Cooperative Extension Santa Clara office manager position on June 8. Lefko has been with UCCE Santa Clara for seven years. In 2019, Julie started as a community nutrition educator with CalFresh Healthy Living, UC and became a program supervisor in 2023.
Lefko graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2015 with a degree in nutrition. She has over a decade of experience working with public programs, grants, databases, program planning and financial reporting.
She is excited to use these skills, as well as her knowledge of UC ANR programs, in her role as office manager. Lefko is based at the Santa Clara County UC Cooperative Extension office and can be reached at jmlefko@ucanr.edu.
CalFresh alum Anaya-Rodriguez hired as EFNEP bilingual community education specialist
Maricarmen Anaya-Rodriguez is a bilingual community education specialist and nutrition educator with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in San Joaquin County. She brings more than 13 years of experience with UC ANR, previously serving with CalFresh Healthy Living, UC and now supporting EFNEP nutrition education programs.
Anaya-Rodriguez holds a bachelor’s degree in family sciences from the Instituto Superior de Estudios para la Familia in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and completed a diploma in innovative education at Universidad Anáhuac. She is a certified UC Master Food Preserver and a Community Health Worker.
As the Spanish language program coordinator for the UC Master Food Preserver Program in San Joaquin County, she is passionate about expanding access to nutrition, food safety and food preservation education for diverse communities throughout California. Anaya-Rodriguez is based at the UC Cooperative Extension office in Stockton and can be reached at manaya@ucanr.edu.