Jared Zystro started at UC ANR on Aug. 3 as the UC Cooperative Extension horticulture and specialty crops advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
Jared will be developing an applied research and extension program to serve the area’s vegetable, fruit and ornamental growers and to improve the environmental, economic and social conditions for plant-based food systems across the region. He also will provide academic oversight of the UC Master Gardener program in Humboldt and Del Norte.
“As I start this role, my first priority is to listen,” Jared said. “Our region has long-standing networks of farmers, food entrepreneurs and food system organizations, and I want to understand the history and the challenges – as well as the role this position can best play.”
Jared, who grew up along the North Coast and started in agriculture by working on local farms, identified some initial high-priority goals.
“Our coastal climate and excellent soils are strengths, while our remoteness limits shipping into and out of the region, so I hope to identify crops and cropping systems that strengthen local food production for local markets, along with high-value crops we are well-positioned to grow for export,” Jared said. “I also hope to improve farmers’ livelihoods by researching and extending information on economically viable ways to manage soil fertility, irrigation, and pest and disease pressure.”
After receiving a bachelor’s in biology, with a minor in botany and a concentration in soils, from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt), Jared earned a master’s and Ph.D. in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He conducted research on sweet-corn breeding, novel mating and multi-location trial designs, and genomic selection.
During his career, Jared has been involved with plant breeding, seed production, organic farming, and agricultural research and education, serving producers across the country by improving access to seeds of varieties that meet their needs.
“Farmers are the core of our food systems, and successful farms are key to ensuring that everyone has access to healthy, affordable food while protecting our environment,” Jared said. “Farmers do so much and possess a wide range of skills, yet in my career I have also seen how often they are stretched thin managing the myriad challenges of farming with limited resources; I am very excited to help strengthen the support that UCCE can bring to farmers and food systems in our area.”
He added he looks forward to working in the field, getting muddy and partnering with producers on impactful agricultural research.
Based in Eureka, Jared can be reached at jzystro@ucanr.edu and (707) 445-7351. Connect with him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredzystro.
Zimmi Ndlovu joined UC ANR on July 27 as an enterprise risk management analyst I. He will be supporting incident reporting and insurance claims, fleet and driver management, and certificate of insurance requests.
Zimmi, who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, completed most of his education in Calgary, Canada. He earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of San Francisco and has worked in finance.
“In my free time, I enjoy volunteering with local farmers, gardening and painting,” he said. “I’m a strong advocate for social development programs and giving back to the community.”
Zimmi is based in Davis at the ANR building and can be reached at zndlovu@ucanr.edu.
Jasmin Ramirez-Strain was hired as an urban integrated pest management area advisor for the UCCE Capitol Corridor as of July 27.
In this role, Jasmin will work closely with pest control and landscape professionals and the general public in Sacramento, Yolo and Solano counties to address questions through applied research and quality educational content. Her goal is to build long-lasting connections with structural pest control and landscape professionals, as well as with regulatory agencies, to ensure a safer environment for all Californians.
Prior to taking the advisor position, Jasmin worked as the lead for the IPM Center of Excellence. In this position, she provided subject matter information on IPM and the regulatory framework for pest management to the UC System. She contributed to the creation, refinement and delivery of tailored IPM training modules to ensure UC locations were informed and compliant with applicable laws and regulations for pesticide use and IPM philosophy.
From 2023 to 2024, she served as the Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) coordinator for the UC IPM statewide program. In this position, she was responsible for the coordination, development and delivery of educational content on pesticide safety across the state of California.
Jasmin holds a master’s degree in entomology from UC Davis and a bachelor’s degree in Earth systems science from UC Merced. For her graduate project, she worked on multiple research projects involving statewide pests of vegetables and crops. Specifically, she researched the biology and ecology of cucumber beetles and the efficacy of an aggregation pheromone, vittatalactone.
She hopes to use her knowledge and experience to build a robust urban IPM program grounded in science and collaboration with UC ANR colleagues and external partners.
Jasmin is based at the UCCE Solano County office in Fairfield and can be reached at jramirezstrain@ucanr.edu. You can follow her @sorrytobugya on Instagram.
Galbraith joins Financial Services
Karen Galbraith joined Financial Services on Aug. 4. Karen is our new Accountant 5 and will be focusing on financial statements and reporting, as well as internal controls.
She brings more than 20 years of progressive accounting and finance experience across banking, insurance, public accounting, and corporate finance. Throughout her career, she has led financial reporting, audits, internal controls, and financial analysis. Prior to joining UC ANR, she worked for 10 years at Butterfield Bank in the Cayman Islands, where she was assistant vice president of finance.
Karen is a California Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). She earned a bachelor of science in accountancy from California State University, Sacramento, graduating cum laude.
Karen is based at UC Office of the President in Oakland and can be reached at (510) 987-0033 and Karen.Galbraith@ucop.edu.
Kristen Becker joined UC ANR Innovate on Aug. 24 as a program manager. She will be supporting the California AgTech Alliance, leading day-to-day operations of the statewide network and coordinating engagement across startups, industry partners and researchers. She aims to bridge the technical and the human, translating complex program requirements into clear, actionable guidance for partners navigating the innovation-to-commercialization pipeline.
Kristen brings a strong foundation in inclusive scaling and capacity strengthening to the role, honed through years of managing multi-stakeholder agricultural development programs.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Kristen was project manager for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture, where she coordinated global research teams advancing horticultural innovations for small-scale producers. She has led international trainings on responsible innovation scaling for organizations like the World Bank, as well as for students at UC Davis. Her technical grounding in postharvest and value chain systems, paired with expertise in participatory research methods and gender dynamics, gives her a distinctive lens on how agrifood innovations actually reach and work for the people using them.
Kristen holds a master's degree in international agricultural development, with an emphasis in applied research and extension, and a bachelor’s degree in sustainable agriculture and food systems, both from UC Davis.
Kristen is based at the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at klbecker@ucanr.edu and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kristenleebecker.
Alex Greenlon joined UC ANR as an academic coordinator for SAREP’s Small Farms Network on Aug. 10. Alex will be assisting with developing and publishing IPM outreach material for small farms.
Alex grew up in Colorado and completed a bachelor’s in molecular biology at University of Colorado before pursuing a Ph.D. in plant pathology at UC Davis. For his doctorate, Alex focused on the global genetic diversity of rhizobia that make nitrogen fertilizer in symbiosis with the legume crop chickpea. He was lucky to spend much of his grad-school years working with collaborators in Turkey, Ethiopia and India, culminating in a nine-month USAID research fellowship in India.
Alex has spent many years conducting research on how bacteria in soil contribute to plant health and climate cycles (at UC Davis, as a USDA postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, and as a research scientist at Sound Ag, an agricultural biotechnology startup). Most recently, Alex spent a year teaching sophomore biology at a public high school in Richmond, California.
Outside of work, Alex spends his time on adventures with his wife and two young sons, tending his family’s garden and volunteering as a bike mechanic and educator at the Berkeley nonprofit community bike shop Biketopia.
Alex is excited to use his experience in agriculture research, data science and science education to bring UC ANR’s IPM resources to small, multi-crop farms (and to better understand what’s eating all the plants in his garden).
Alex is based in Yolo County and can be reached at alexgreenlon@ucanr.edu. He is active on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-greenlon.
ZinThuZar Maung began in a new role with UC ANR on Aug. 1 as the small farms advisor serving Fresno and Madera counties. Based at the Fresno County Cooperative Extension office, ZinThuZar will support small-scale diversified farmers on vegetables and specialty crops production, soil health, water management, integrated pest management, food and pesticide safety, and regulatory compliance by applying her extensive background of applied research, education and extension experiences.
ZinThuZar earned her Ph.D. in bioscience engineering from KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) in Belgium, where she studied plant-nematode interactions, cultivar resistance and cultural practices, with an emphasis on understanding cultivar-specific defense responses and identifying cost-effective alternatives to chemical management.
During her postdoctoral appointment at Michigan State University, ZinThuZar conducted research on how soil amendments, tillage and cropping systems influence nematode communities, nutrient cycling, and plant and soil health, contributing to sustainable agriculture.
Prior to joining UC ANR, ZinThuZar was a research associate in the Department of Nematology at the University of California, Riverside, where she focused on applied IPM research, managing plant parasitic nematodes in high-value nut, fruit and vine crops using cover cropping, soil amendment, varietal screening, and biological and chemical treatments.
In 2024, she joined the UC ANR Small Farms Program in Fresno as a research associate working on IPM and soil health projects.
As small farms advisor, ZinThuZar will develop a program to evaluate and promote practical, affordable and sustainable production practices suited to small-scale, diversified cropping systems. Examples of her program’s key initiatives will include monitoring the population and distribution of the Mexican rice borer in lemongrass and other host crops and evaluating potential management strategies; promoting implementation of soil health practices in small-scale diversified farms; and supporting small-scale farmers on irrigation efficiency and nutrient management to improve farm productivity and groundwater protection.
ZinThuZar can be reached at ztzmaung@ucanr.edu and (559) 547-7300. She is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zinthuzar-maung-6a091a1a/, and program updates will be posted on the program website and Supporting Small Farms blog.
As innovation manager, Monica Drazba will lead the management and scaling of UC ANR Innovate commercialization programs driving agricultural innovation. Statewide academics and staff working on innovative products, or those interested in integrating innovation into their programs, are encouraged to contact her.
Monica is an entrepreneur and management professional specializing in agriculture and food system initiatives. She brings more than 15 years of experience in business development, grant management and agricultural operations, with a specialty in translating research concepts into scalable initiatives that deliver measurable impact. She is currently pursuing a master of business administration degree at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and believes in the importance of using data to drive strategic and informed decisions in extension programming.
Prior to joining UC ANR Innovate, Monica managed complex federally and state-funded programs alongside Cooperative Extension advisors at UCCE Capitol Corridor, where she designed and implemented innovative applied research programs. Earlier in her career, she owned and managed diversified farms in Solano County, California, and Mercer County, New Jersey, and served in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Fiji. Monica is deeply committed to farm viability and environmental sustainability and looks forward to collaborating with academics, startups, students and growers to build a world-leading agriculture innovation network at UC ANR. She can be reached at mcdrazba@ucanr.edu and is active on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-drazba.