Responsible for ensuring a District program that meets local priorities for protecting, conserving, and restoring natural resources. Program areas I'm focused on include a regional forest health and wildfire resiliency program, the North Coast Soil Hub (www.soilhub.org), remediating fish passage barriers and improving in-stream habitat, and sustainable groundwater management. Focused on managing internal business operations, collaborating on many aspects of program planning and implementation, and serving as the public face of the District to a range of people and interest groups.

As County Director, I oversaw the WSU Extension offices in Thurston and Mason Counties in the South Puget Sound region, which included the supervision of 23 staff in 6 programs and management of an annual operating budget of about $2 million. Programmatic duties as an Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Faculty included the planning, delivery, and evaluation of education, applied research, and economic development programs focused on sustainable agriculture and environmental policy issues.

Conducted education/outreach and research for the small grain improvement program of Dr. Stephen Jones at WSU Mount Vernon.

Supported clients from several different countries with a range of professional services, including analyses of policy and research literature, interview and survey research, public engagement and outreach, and writing. These are a few examples:• Blue Earth Consultants, a Division of ERG – Supported a strategic planning effort for the Water Foundation, and a program evaluation for the Hawaii Department of Health Clean Water Branch.• Cachuma Resource Conservation District – Provided stakeholder engagement, survey design and analysis, and content development support for the Agricultural Water Management Survey in Santa Barbara County. (http://www.rcdsantabarbara.org/agricultural-water-action-plan/) • County of Pierce – Analyzed the current condition of Pierce County, Washington agriculture and evaluated the effectiveness of the County's zoning regulations for protecting commercially viable agricultural lands. (http://www.freshlookatpierceag.org/) • Seattle Tilth – Provided survey design and outreach support for an assessment of farmer interest in a regional food hub.• International Christian University of Japan – Worked on a study commissioned by the government of Japan to investigate the development and current state of the local food movement in the Seattle metropolitan area.• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Researched different pest control methods in maize for their potential human health hazards, environmental impacts, and potential benefits to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.• Loblaw Companies Limited – Researched compostable plastic standards for a Canadian supermarket chain considering different in-store options for sustainable shopping bags.

As a member of PG&E's Government and Community Partnerships team, I managed $24.5 million in contracts with local governments and partnering organizations to develop and implement energy efficiency programs targeting public agencies, small and medium-sized businesses, and non-profit organizations in seven counties on California's Central Coast. Programs were designed to achieve local and statewide sustainability goals, and include: facility retrofits, education and workforce development, policy development, and climate action planning. I also participated in PG&E's Ag Task Force and supported water-energy nexus initiatives.

In overseeing the Natural Resources Program, I identified community and economic development project opportunities at the intersection of agriculture and natural resources, assessed their feasibility, and shepherded them through the development phase into implementation. Projects included: the implementation of a sustainable groundwater governance model in an area of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta; the development of a Santa Barbara County Conservation Blueprint; and the development of a new crops team model for the California Association of Pest Control Advisors. I also worked in partnership with our facilitation team to create and lead diverse coalitions at the local, regional, and state level, including the CA Roundtable on Water and Food Supply.

Assisted with the production of the OURLAND documentary web-series (http://ourland.tv/), and provided content support for The Greenhorns documentary film (http://thegreenhorns.net/), which explores the lives of America's young farming community.

I co-founded a non-profit project to produce free educational events and materials on sustainability-related issues, including biofuels, solar energy, transportation, food systems, product lifecycles and affordable housing.

I worked to develop and manage the following programs: a green urbanism design competition, the Sustainable Communities Salon Series (an educational community event series), the Ecocity World Summit (the premier conference on ecologically-designed cities), and a wiki-based Sustainable Cities and Design online resource on WiserEarth.org.

Researched the environmental and socio-economic impacts of oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia to reveal the often hidden dimensions of agrofuel use in the developed world.

Studied the role of the APPBP1 (APP binding protein) protein, and additional proteins that may interact with APPBP1, in Alzheimer's disease in the laboratory of Dr. Rachael Neve. Focused primarily on neuronal vulnerability and apoptosis. Work was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.