Management Team

Annemiek Schilder, Ph. D. | Director at UCCE Ventura County and Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Annemiek Schilder is currently the director of UCCE Ventura County and Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Santa Paula, CA. She is a plant pathologist and has a broad range of interests in specialty crops, including hemp. In 2020, she worked with a Ventura County grower to conduct hemp variety trials. In 2021, she helped establish a hemp plot at the Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Sarah Light | Agronomy Farm Advisor at Sutter-Yuba UC Cooperative Extension Center

Sarah Light is the agronomy farm advisor for Sutter-Yuba UC Cooperative Extension. Her background is in soil science and plant pathology, and she has worked with several hemp growers in the Sacramento Valley. In 2021, she led a research project with weed science specialist, Brad Hanson, that focused on herbicide injury symptoms in hemp.

Elisabeth Darling, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Scholar at Dept. Entomology, UC Riverside

Ellie is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, based out of the UC Kearney Agricultural REC in Parlier, CA. Her background is managing pests of hops, another plant in the Cannabaceae family. She joined the team in October 2022 and is looking forward to working with California hemp growers.

Kadie Britt, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Scholar at Dept. Entomology, UC Riverside

Kadie Britt is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, but is based out of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, CA. Her background is in integrated pest management of insects in hemp. In 2021, she conducted a first year arthropod survey in California hemp.

Houston Wilson, Ph. D. | Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist, Dept. Entomology, University of California, Riverside
Director, University of California Organic Agriculture Institute

Houston Wilson is an Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside. His work focuses on the development of research and extension programs for integrated pest management in orchards and vineyards. More recently, Dr. Wilson was also appointed Director of the newly created UC Organic Agriculture Institute. While he is affiliated with UC Riverside, Houston’s lab is actually based off-campus near Fresno at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center.