Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of California
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Experts

bilingual
= Bilingual, Spanish and English

(For assistance in contacting sources on deadline, call Jeannette Warnert at (559) 240-9850.)


 

 

Richard Breitmeyer
Director, California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System
(530) 752-8709
rbreitmeyer@cahfs.ucdavis.edu

Livestock and poultry diseases,  bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), West Nile virus, H1N1  influenza and exotic Newcastle disease.

 

Rob Atwill
Cooperative Extension specialist
Veterinary Medicine Extension – UC Davis
(530) 754-2154
ratwill@ucdavis.edu

Food and waterborne transport of pathogens from domestic and wild animals to humans; risk factors for animal infection; pathogens of particular interest include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, E. coli O157, Salmonella; use of bacterial indicators as proxies for pathogens; development of beneficial management practices for pathogen reduction on livestock operations and produce fields.
 

Richard Bostock
Professor of Plant Pathology
Director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network Western Region
Department of Plant Pathology
UC Davis
(530) 752-0308
rmbostock@ucdavis.edu

Biochemistry and molecular biology of plant-microbe interaction; diseases of orchard crops.

 

Christine Bruhn
Cooperative Extension food marketing specialist
UC Davis
(530) 752-2774, cell (530) 219-2888
cmbruhn@ucdavis.edu

Consumer attitudes toward food safety, quality, and wholesomeness, food labels, and new production and processing technologies, public reaction to food-borne illness outbreaks and how consumers can best guard against food-borne illnesses.
bilingual

Michael Cahn
Cooperative Extension farm advisor
Monterey County
(831) 759-7350
mdcahn@ucdavis.edu

Water quality and irrigation in the Salinas Valley.
bilingual

Marita Cantwell
CE Vegetable Specialist
UC Davis
(530) 752-7305, lab (530) 754-6124
micantwell@ucdavis.edu

Postharvest quality, physiology and handling (harvest, preparation, storage, transportation) of vegetables; quality and storage of fresh-cut
products.
 

Patricia Conrad
Professor of Parasitology
UC Davis
School of Veterinary Medicine
(530) 752-7210
paconrad@ucdavis.edu

Disease-causing microbes -- including Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium and Giardia -- that are transmitted between animals and humans.

bilingual

Roberta Cook
Extension Marketing Economist
Agricultural and Resource Economics
UC Davis
(530) 752-1531
cook@primal.ucdavis.edu
http://cook.ucdavis.edu

Impact of food safety concerns on the fresh produce industry and on the marketing of fresh produce.

 

James Cullor
Professor and Director
UC Davis Dairy Food Safety Laboratory
cell (559) 936-0510
jscullor@ucdavis.edu

Animal health and welfare, public health, food defense, ecosystem health related to pathogens that might be on the farm and cause public health concerns.  Milk safety/quality, antibiotic residues, new technologies used for food safety interventions.
  Gail Feenstra
Food systems analyst
UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
UC Davis
(530) 752-8408
gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu
Food safety related to local food systems, i.e., how communities can "shorten the supply lines" between farm and table using produce from local farmers, how local food sources reduce the need to rely on transportation, and how local, seasonal food systems contribute to food security.
  Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli
Executive director
Center for Produce Safety
UC Davis
(530)757-5777 bfernandez@cps.ucdavis.edu
Produce industry involvement in food safety research.

 

Shermain Hardesty
Cooperative Extension Economist
Director of UC Small Farm Program
UC Davis
(530) 752-0467
shermain@primal.ucdavis.edu

Small farms and food safety; food safety compliance costs; food safety in direct marketing channels, including farmers markets, CSAs, farm stands and others.
 

Linda Harris
Cooperative Extension food microbiologist
UC Davis
Associate Director for Research at the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security
(530) 754-9485
ljharris@ucdavis.edu

Food-safety issues relating to the fruit, vegetable and nut industries, best ways to clean fruits and vegetables.
 

Sharon Hietala
Professor
California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System
(Headquartered at UC Davis)
(530) 752-4739
skhietala@ucdavis.edu

Clinical immunology and diagnostic techniques for infectious diseases in animals, strains of influenza, influenza surveillance, detection and diagnostic programs for animals in California.

 

Karen Jetter, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Economist
Agricultural & Resource Economics
UC Davis
(530) 754-8756
jetter@primal.ucdavis.edu

Nutrition economist

 

Karen Klonsky
Cooperative Extension specialist
Agricultural & Resource Economics
(530) 752-3563
klonsky@primal.ucdavis.edu

Information that permits the estimating the financial loss to growers when a major a food safety outbreak occurs (number of acres in production, typical farming practices, costs of production and expected income.)

 

Bob Krieger
Extension Toxicologist
Personal Chemical Exposure Program
Department of Entomology Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program
(951) 827-3724
bob.krieger@ucr.edu

Biomonitoring human chemical exposures, pesticides and other chemical technologies, worker health and safety, risk characterization, mitigation, and public communication.  Chemical risk perception.
 

Peggy Lemaux
Cooperative Extension Specialist    
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology          
UC Berkeley
(510) 642-1589
lemauxpg@berkeley.edu

Techniques used in producing foods through biotechnology as well as the safety of eating these foods, and the regulatory structures governing them.
 

John Maas
Cooperative Extension veterinarian
UC Davis
(530) 752-3990
jmaas@ucdavis.edu

Foot-and-mouth disease and mad cow disease/BSE diagnosis, testing and control systems, U.S. cattle-tracking methods and disease-surveillance programs. (He also has been an active cattle rancher for 35 years.)

 

Dan Sumner
Director
Agricultural Issues Center
UC Davis
(530) 752-1668
dasumner@ucdavis.edu

Economics of food safety issues including
traceability.

 

Trevor Suslow
Cooperative Extension specialist
UC Davis
(530) 754-8313
tvsuslow@ucdavis.edu

Preharvest to postharvest safety of fruits and vegetables including transportation and distribution. Environmental sources and survival of bacterial pathogens. Industry practices, commodities, organic, small-scale to global sourcing. Postharvest washing and cooling. Produce Safety Alliance training for Produce Safety Regulations. Industry preventive control programs and audit protocols.   

 

Ken Tate
Cooperative Extension rangeland watershed specialist
(530) 754-8988
kwtate@ucdavis.edu

Waterborne transport and fate of microbial pollutants in natural and agricultural landscapes, identification of
management risk factors associated with increased microbial pollution of
waterbodies, and identification of management practices to reduce risk
of microbial pollution of waterbodies.

 

Carl Winter
Toxicologist
Director UC FoodSafe
UC Davis
(530) 752-5448
ckwinter@ucdavis.edu

Food toxicology, focused primarily upon pesticide residues and naturally occurring toxins.  Risk assessment of chemical and microbiological hazards in foods.  Risk communication. Food safety education using music and other novel approaches.

Webmaster Email: jewarnert@ucanr.edu