Harris joins UC ANR Innovate as UCCE workforce development specialist
Emily Harris joined UC ANR on Sept. 1 as an assistant Cooperative Extension specialist in workforce development with the UC ANR Innovate statewide program.
Harris will develop an applied research and extension program that helps learners—especially those historically and systemically excluded—build the knowledge, skills, disciplinary identities, and networks for agricultural and STEM careers. K-12 youth and educators are her initial focus, though she hopes to support programs and learners at every career stage. She is eager to collaborate with UC ANR colleagues and brings expertise in curriculum development, educator professional learning, and educational research.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Harris was a senior research scientist for eight years at BSCS Science Learning, where she co-led federally funded projects on place-based science learning and climate change education, including how teachers adapt curriculum to fit their local contexts and priorities.
As a graduate student, Harris conducted research with the Sacramento Area Science Project and the UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science, where her first project was a study of how the California Naturalist Program influenced participants' science and environmental identities. She has also taught preservice and in-service teachers at the California Academy of Sciences, UC Davis and San Francisco State University. She began her career teaching K-6 students in California classrooms, school gardens, and redwood forests.
Harris holds a Ph.D. in science and agricultural education and a master’s degree in ecology from UC Davis; a master’s degree in teaching from the University of San Francisco; and a bachelor’s degree in science, technology and society from Vassar College. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, playing music and spending time with her husband and two young children.
Harris is based at the UC ANR building in Davis and UCOP in Oakland and can be reached at eharris@ucanr.edu. She is on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-harris-1683a218/.
Goodacre joins Office of AVP for Finance and Capital Planning
Emma Goodacre joined the Office of the Associate Vice President for Finance and Capital Planning on Sept. 1 as executive assistant to AVP Jennifer Bunge. In her new role, she manages Bunge’s calendar, travel and correspondence and serves as a key liaison to stakeholders.
Goodacre comes to UC ANR from California College of the Arts, where she spent more than eight years in operational and leadership roles. Her experience includes administrative support in the Office of Student Affairs, academic program management in the Office of Academic Affairs for programs such as History of Art and Visual Culture, Critical Studies, and Critical Ethnic Studies, and, most recently, serving as assistant director of Faculty Affairs and Records.
Goodacre holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from Cal Poly Humboldt.
She is based at the UCOP office and can be reached at Emma.Goodacre@ucop.edu.
O’Fallon joins UCCE as area orchard systems advisor
Chaydon O’Fallon joined UC ANR on Sept. 1 as the area orchard systems advisor for Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
O’Fallon was introduced to agriculture though his family farm in the Midwest where corn and soybeans reign king. He earned his undergraduate degree in Environmental Science with a plant science emphasis from Minnesota State University Mankato. He previously worked at Monsanto assisting in research on herbicides for use in row crops as well as evaluating new corn varieties for agronomic traits.
He earned his Ph.D. in plant pathology from UC Riverside under James E. Adaskaveg, and his dissertation was on the management of Phytophthora diseases of almond and cherry using new fungicides. Several new Oomycota fungicides were evaluated for toxicity, efficacy and chemical characteristics including systemic movement and soil binding. In part due to this work, Orondis was registered for use on almonds and other fungicides are in the process of registration.
Before joining UC ANR, O’Fallon was a postdoctoral scholar at UC Riverside. He led research evaluating the use of sanitizers to control Phytophthora and other pathogens within irrigation water in California. This research focused on evaluating new sanitizers which could be used with existing infrastructure. During his time as a postdoc and graduate student, he collaborated in research on managing Phytophthora diseases of citrus and avocado as well as other diseases of various tree crops.
O’Fallon will focus research on almonds in Stanislaus County and pistachios, peaches, and apricots in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. He is based in Modesto and can be reached at (209) 525-6800 and cjofallon@ucanr.edu.
Sasaki named 4-H college and career readiness advisor
Mia Sasaki joined the UC Cooperative Extension team in Lake and Mendocino Counties on Aug. 15 as a 4-H college and career readiness advisor.
In this newly created position, Sasaki hopes to collaborate with partners in supporting college and career pathways for youth. She cares about building spaces of belonging for young adults navigating this post-secondary transition. Her aim is to support students to find what sparks their interests, to chart their own north stars and to serve their communities.
Prior to becoming a 4-H advisor, Sasaki served as a CalFresh Healthy Living community education specialist for San Mateo and San Francisco counties from 2024-25, working with schools to expand their school gardening activities.
Sasaki brings a background in creating and fostering collaborative partnerships in diverse education spaces. She launched her career with Teach for America, serving as a middle school teacher in an inner-city school in Aurora, Colorado. Since then, she has taught students of all ages, from little tykes to young adults in college.
After completing a master’s degree in International Education Development at University of Pennsylvania, Sasaki worked in Southeast Asia for nearly a decade. During this time, she directed college access programs and served as a university faculty member. From organizing university TEDx talks to supporting students to run their own grant-funded projects, Sasaki is constantly awed by the students she has the honor to work with.
She also has held education research roles, coordinating across schools, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations. Sasaki’s own research has focused on psychological first aid in classrooms, virtual discussion as a tool to engage learners, and reflective pedagogical practices.
Sasaki is an avid gardener, novice angler and aspiring forager, and a proud member of both the UC Master Gardener and Master Food Preserver communities.
She is based at the UCCE office in Lakeport and can be reached at mysasaki@ucanr.edu.
Baykal named UCCE East Bay multi-county coordinator
Tuline Baykal is now serving as the UCCE East Bay multi-county coordinator for Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
In this role, Baykal provides on-the-ground operational and organizational support to Janine Woods, interim UCCE area director, helping advance the UC ANR vision and strengthen coordination across the two-county UCCE organization.
Prior to taking this position, Baykal had served as CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE program supervisor for Alameda County since 2014. She joined UC ANR in 2005 as a community educator II, working her way up to a CESIII in 2008 and a senior administrative analyst in 2009.
Baykal earned a bachelor’s degree in applied psychology from New York University with an emphasis on Public Health and Education. She is certified as a nutrition educator from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City.
Baykal is based at the UCCE office in Hayward and can be reached at tnbaykal@ucanr.edu.
Clark moves to Central Coast as vegetable crops and weed management farm advisor
Nick Clark is now the UC Cooperative Extension vegetable crops and weed management farm advisor serving Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties as of July 1.
Clark transferred from the southern San Joaquin Valley where he served as a UCCE farm advisor in agronomic crops and nutrient management for 12 years.
Born and raised in Fresno, he earned a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from UC Santa Cruz, returned home to raise organic poultry for meat and eggs with his uncle and sell honey and beeswax for a beekeeper in Tulare County. Clark traded animals for plants and earned a master’s degree in plant science from Fresno State with an emphasis in plant pathology. He worked concurrently as a lab technician for the USDA Agricultural Research Service and promptly transitioned to technical positions at UC Cooperative Extension working in cotton variety development for disease resistance and small grain nitrogen fertility management. Shortly thereafter he was hired as a UCCE farm advisor to work in field crops with an added emphasis on nitrogen management.
“I spent a lot of time walking bean, safflower, sugar beet, alfalfa, corn, sorghum and small grain fields,” Clark said.
His collaborative research and education programs included variety testing for pest and disease resistance, nitrogen fertilizer management and decision making, invasive insect pest management, herbicide resistant weed management, soil greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, and manure nutrient use efficiency.
“Many of the problems growers and PCAs [pest control advisers] faced in the big ag of the San Joaquin Valley are parallel to those faced in the big ag of the Central Coast,” Clark said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity I have to apply the experiences and perspectives I have gained to assist the ag community on the Central Coast in meeting the most pressing challenges the community faces.”
Clark is based at the UCCE office in Salinas and can be reached at neclark@ucanr.edu and (831) 370-3072.