Rausser College of Natural Resources Advisory Board
The Advisory Board is committed to advancing Rausser College’s mission of generating scientific knowledge and tools to protect the Earth’s natural resources and ensuring economic and ecological sustainability. Comprising some of our most distinguished alumni and friends, the board serves in a voluntary capacity to advise and counsel the Dean and to support the College’s commitment to delivering real solutions to our state, our country, and beyond.
Javier Arevalo
Account Executive
Salesforce
Javier Arevalo currently works as a Mid Market Account Executive at Salesforce, where he focuses on developing partnerships with high tech organizations in Utah. Throughout his 7+ year sales professional career, Javier has helped companies looking to transform their digital customer-centric processes. Outside of work, Mr. Arevalo is passionate about organizational management along with philanthropy & educational equity in the U.S. and abroad. Finally, his passion around educational equity is reflected through his participation across multiple nonprofits including: Gates Millennium Alumni Association, Latino Community Foundation & the Rotary Club. In his free time, Mr. Arevalo is an avid runner, video content creator, gym-goer, passionate about traveling, reading, staying active and exploring the Bay Area.
Lewis Bichkoff
Lewis is a CNR alumni currently working as a Project Developer at Clenera, where he leads solar and storage project development, origination, and M&A efforts in the Western United States. He has also held roles as a Senior Power Procurement Manager at MCE, California's first Community Choice Aggregator, developing renewable energy projects for other solar developers including Cypress Creek Renewables and Candela Renewables, and working in regulatory policy at the California Public Utilities Commission. In his free time, he enjoys basketball, spending time outdoors and making new friends. Lewis received his B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy from UC Berkeley and an M.B.A. from University of Texas.
Vice Chair
Stacey Baba
Vice Chair
Stacey Baba ’77 is an active volunteer for a variety of organizations, mostly focused on golf. She is on the board of the Northern California Golf Association and the San Francisco Mayor’s Women’s Golf Council. Stacey’s professional career was at two companies: thirteen years as an Engineering Manager at Raychem and seventeen years as a Project Manager at Siemens Healthcare. She also served as a founding member and president of the College's Alumni Association. Stacey holds a B.S. in Biology of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley, where she was a softball student-athlete, and an M.S. in Materials Science & Mineral Engineering from San Jose State University.
Read more about Louis Cimmino
Undergraduate Representative
Louis Cimmino
Undergraduate Representative
Louis (‘24) is a Student Member (Undergraduate Representative) on the Board, and a second-year Ecosystem Management and Forestry major, with particular interest in grazing and prescribed fire as means of wildfire mitigation. Having just completed his first year at Cal, Louis has also gotten involved with ASUC as a Sustainability Department Director; the Cal Forestry Club, as both its Secretary and Professional Outreach Representative; the Student Environmental Resource Center, as its Academic and Professional Development Associate; and as a URAP apprentice in ESPM’s Nelson Lab, studying Bay Area Indigenous history and ecology/ethnobotany. Undergraduates, feel free to reach out to him regarding your UCB experience via louis.cimmino@berkeley.edu!
Undergraduate Representative
Louis Cimmino
Undergraduate Representative
Louis (‘24) is a Student Member (Undergraduate Representative) on the Board, and a second-year Ecosystem Management and Forestry major, with particular interest in grazing and prescribed fire as means of wildfire mitigation. Having just completed his first year at Cal, Louis has also gotten involved with ASUC as a Sustainability Department Director; the Cal Forestry Club, as both its Secretary and Professional Outreach Representative; the Student Environmental Resource Center, as its Academic and Professional Development Associate; and as a URAP apprentice in ESPM’s Nelson Lab, studying Bay Area Indigenous history and ecology/ethnobotany. Undergraduates, feel free to reach out to him regarding your UCB experience via louis.cimmino@berkeley.edu!
Undergraduate Representative
Louis Cimmino
Undergraduate Representative
Louis (‘24) is a Student Member (Undergraduate Representative) on the Board, and a second-year Ecosystem Management and Forestry major, with particular interest in grazing and prescribed fire as means of wildfire mitigation. Having just completed his first year at Cal, Louis has also gotten involved with ASUC as a Sustainability Department Director; the Cal Forestry Club, as both its Secretary and Professional Outreach Representative; the Student Environmental Resource Center, as its Academic and Professional Development Associate; and as a URAP apprentice in ESPM’s Nelson Lab, studying Bay Area Indigenous history and ecology/ethnobotany. Undergraduates, feel free to reach out to him regarding your UCB experience via louis.cimmino@berkeley.edu!
Chair
Michael Colvin
Chair
Michael Colvin ’05, M.P.P. ’07 is the Senior Manager for California Energy Market Policy & Regulation at the Environmental Defense Fund. He was previously with the California Public Utilities Commission for 10 years, where he served as an energy advisor and senior regulatory analyst. His primary areas of interest include climate change policy, with a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Michael holds a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy and an M.P.P. in Public Policy, both from UC Berkeley.
Josh Fisher
Josh Fisher '94 is a Healthcare Portfolio Manager with Ashler Capital. He has worked in the healthcare finance industry for many years, with Pequot Capital, PresPoint Capital, and Redmile Group. Josh has been a board member at Stiles Hall, a Berkeley community service organization, since 1995 and founded “Touchdown for Kids,” an annual fundraiser that helps low income kids get into college. Josh holds a B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley.
David Gilbert
David Gilbert is the President and CEO of the A.L. Gilbert Company. Since its inception in 1892, A.L. Gilbert Company has been manufacturing and distributing high-quality animal feed throughout California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii, and the greater Pacific Rim Islands. With three high capacity mills, over 200 employees, and a commitment to provide the most nutritionally advanced products on the market, A.L. Gilbert Company has evolved into one of the oldest, largest, and most respected feed milling companies on the West Coast. David recently established the Robert Edward, Sr. and Beverly Stone Gilbert Scholarship Fund at the College, an endowed scholarship fund in memory of his parents that supports undergraduate transfer students. The family’s goal is to help provide community college students a path toward social mobility by attending UC Berkeley.
Kathy Hartzell
Kathy Hartzell ’72, P ’09 is a former city council member and mayor of the City of Larkspur, and has served on the local school board and the boards of several environmental and community-focused nonprofits. She served as Vice President and President of the College's Alumni Association, and currently serves as honorary chair of the Berkeley Fund for Natural Resources, the College’s annual fund. Kathy holds a B.A. in Geography and a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources, both from UC Berkeley.
Deborah Hicks
Deborah Loker Hicks ’72 is chairwoman of the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Foundation. She also serves on the boards of several institutions, including Farming New Orleans, Center for Blue Economy, and Middlebury Institute of International Studies. In 2016, she and her husband Robin established the Loker Foundation Graduate Award, which supports graduate students in the Rausser College of Natural Resources who are working on marine sustainability. Deborah holds a B.A. in Art History from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in French from New York University.
Janet King
Janet King Ph.D. ’72 is Executive Director of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) and an emeritus professor of nutrition at UC Berkeley. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine in 1994, and inducted into the USDA Research Hall of Fame in 2007. She previously directed the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center at UC Davis and chaired the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at UC Berkeley. Janet holds a B.S. in Dietetics from Iowa State University and Ph.D. in Nutrition from UC Berkeley.
Vernard Lewis
Vernard Lewis ’75, M.S. ’79, Ph.D. ’89 is a Cooperative Extension emeritus specialist at the Richmond Field Station. He represents the CE community and communities of color on the Berkeley campus. He is highly regarded in the Pest Management Industry, and was previously a UN advisor on Pest Control, specifically termites and bed bugs. Vernard holds a B.S. in Agricultural Science and Management, a M.S. in Entomology, and a Ph.D. in Entomology, all from UC Berkeley.
Graduate Representative
Leïla Njee Bugha
Graduate Representative
Leïla Njee Bugha is currently a 3rd year PhD student in Agriculture and Resources Economics. A native of France, she studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay and obtained a masters degree in Economics and Public Policy at Sciences Po Paris, before starting a career in the field of program evaluation of public policies. Most recently, she worked as a Research Analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC, evaluating childhood nutrition and social protection programs in West Africa. As a PhD student, she specializes in development and labor economics, with a focus on understanding the barriers to women’s employment in West and Central Africa.
Cliff Ohmart
Cliff Ohmart ‘76 is a sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management consultant and former Senior Scientist at SureHarvest, which provides solutions for growers, grower-groups, and agrifood companies interested in developing sustainable programs. He was also the Sustainable Winegrowing Director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission and a Pest Control Advisor on IPM measures for pests in various California crops. Cliff holds a B.S. in Forestry from the State University of New York and a Ph.D. in Forest Entomology from UC Berkeley.
John Pardee
John Pardee ‘69 is a real estate and transactional attorney. He previously served as Counsel for The Trust for Public Land in San Francisco and as Senior County Counsel for San Diego County. He currently serves on the Land Protection Advisory Council for the Pacific Crest Trail Association and is a former member of the California Advisory Board for the Trust for Public Land. In 2008, John, his wife Vera, and other members of the Pardee family established the George M. Pardee, Jr. Family Chair in International Sustainable Development at the College. John holds a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of Southern California.
Graduate Representative
Viana Pham
Graduate Representative
Viana Pham is a Metabolic Biology PhD candidate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology. She is completing her dissertation work in Dr. Allison Xu’s lab at UCSF Parnassus with a focus on hypothalamic regulation of metabolic homeostasis and how it is altered with aging. Viana is also in the process of becoming a credentialed registered dietician nutritionist (RDN) through her department’s Didactic Program in Dietetics. Additionally, she volunteers at the Mission Food Hub located in San Francisco’s Mission District to improve nutrition accessibility and education in her community. Viana is a member of The Figure Skating Club of San Francisco and continues to compete in local competitions.
Vince Resh
Vince Resh is an emeritus professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the Rausser College of Natural Resources. He is famous for his work on river blindness, and has conducted extensive research in aquatic ecology, water pollution assessment, and river restoration. Vince is a former director of the Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station on Moorea, and received the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award in 1995. He and his wife Cheryl have endowed three graduate student support funds and one undergraduate scholarship, all benefitting Rausser students. Vince holds a B.A. in Biology and Philosophy from Georgetown University, an M.S. from Niagara University, and a Ph.D. in Water Resources from the University of Louisville.
Jate Samathivathanachai
Jate Samathivathanachai '01 is Chief Business Officer at Foundery Innovations, an immunotherapy-focused biotech venture fund and studio. Prior to joining Foundery, Jate was Vice President and Head of Finance at Tranquis Therapeutics, a clinical-stage neuro-immunology company and Senior Director of Business Development and Licensing at Horizon Therapeutics, where he led the company’s venture capital initiatives. Previously, Jate spent seven years as Country Head for Allexcel | Red Bull Malaysia and Executive Director of Strategy & Investments for Allswell | Red Bull Singapore. Before moving to Asia, Jate spent close to a decade in the Global Healthcare Investment Banking groups of Evercore, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in the Bay Area. Jate is a member of Life Science Angels, Hyphen Capital and The Berkeley Angel Network, and was previously on the College's Alumni Association Board. Jate has a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley, an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management | Northwestern University and is a Certified Licensing Professional.
Sandeep Sacheti
Sandeep Sacheti ‘97 is the Vice President of Customer Insights and Operational Excellence at Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services. Before joining Wolters Kluwer, Sandeep was the head of business risk and analytics U.S. banking for UBS. He holds more than 20 patents in decision science, fraud verification and identification and has published extensively on these subjects. He serves on the board for the Stevens Institute of Technology. Sandeep holds an M.S. in Resource Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley.
Linda Schacht Gage
Linda Schacht Gage ’66, M.J. ’81 is a lecturer with the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. A two-time Emmy-award winning television reporter with more than 20 years of experience in local television, she began her career at KQED and then covered local and national politics for KPIX. Linda has helped raise millions of dollars transforming the City of Berkeley's libraries for future generations. She has served on the Board of the Berkeley Public Library Foundation, the UC Library Advisory Board, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, The Daily Californian, and the UC Board of Trustees. Linda holds a B.A. in Social Sciences and M.J. in Journalism, both from UC Berkeley.
Undergraduate Representative
Henry Seaborne
Undergraduate Representative
Henry Seaborne is a Microbial Biology undergraduate in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. He is a research assistant in Dr. Kathleen Ryan’s lab at UC Berkeley studying the effects of cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) on the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus and mutant versions lacking specific lipids. Henry is also a nationally licensed Emergency Medical Technician and a Residential Assistant at Clark Kerr Dormitory. Additionally, he volunteers for BEAM student run club that combines science education and mentorship by leading weekly hands-on science lessons at local elementary and middle schools.
David Sunding, Ph.D ’89
David Sunding, Ph.D ’89, is a noted expert in environmental economics, industrial organization and law and economics. In 1996-1997, he served in the Clinton White House as Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. Sunding is the Thomas J. Graff Chair Emeritus and from 2013 to 2019, he served as the chair of the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Rausser College. He has served on panels of the National Academy of Sciences and the USEPA’s Science Advisory Board, and has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. He was a principal negotiator of the 2003 amendments to the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement and has advised three California administrations on the state’s development of the California WaterFix, a $17 billion environmental infrastructure project. He has been a visiting professor in the Woods Institute of the Environment at Stanford University, and began his career as an assistant professor of economics and law at Boston College. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, the Econometric Society and the American Law and Economics Association.
In July 2020 he became the President of The Brattle Group. In the last several months he transitioned to become Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group, a global consulting firm. He continues to teach in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Bryan Wilson
Bryan Wilson ‘83 is a partner in the Morrison Foerster's Intellectual Property Group. He is a first-chair trial lawyer with an expansive range of experience handling intellectual property matters in a variety of venues. His successful track record in recent years includes trade secrets and patent cases in both state and federal courts as well as in arbitration proceedings. Bryan is co-chair of the firm's Trade Secrets Working Group and former chair of the Litigation Department in the firm's Palo Alto office. He also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing organizations including the Mono Lake Committee, the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Coastside Land Trust, the Tuolumne River Trust, and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Bryan holds a B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from Stanford University.
Laura Young
Young received her B.A. in History in 1984 and her J.D. in 1987 at UC Berkeley and then began her law practice by splitting her time between San Francisco and Taipei, Taiwan in 1988. She is Managing Partner at the Law Offices of Wang and Wang. She is also an editorial advisor and author of numerous articles, and has taught numerous courses on Chinese law and business. Young serves as a Trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation, a member of its Executive Committee, Chair of its ESG Committee, and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Library, and is the former President of the Board of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum.
Recent Emeritus
- Caroline Maser
- Mike Chen
- Arianna Carughi
- Jill Elfishawy
- Bill Woods
- Dick Beahrs
- John Scharffenberger
- Steve Hurst
- Steve McCormick
- Kass Green
- Dave Warner
- Caryl Hart
- Bill Liu