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.
Chair
Stacey Baba
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.
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.
Collette Chilton
Collette Chilton served as the Chief Investment Officer for Williams College from 2006 to 2023. She was responsible for the investment of approximately $3 billion in assets held by the Williams College endowment. Prior to joining Williams in 2006, she served as Chief Investment Officer for Lucent Technologies from 1998 to 2006. In that role, she was responsible for the investment and oversight of approximately $40 billion in retirement-related assets for the company. Prior to that, Ms. Chilton was the Chief Investment Officer of the $30 billion Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. Collette serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston where she is Chair of the investment committee. She is a member of the board of Girls Who Invest, and also serves on the investment committees of the Packard Foundation and the Oxford University Endowment. Additionally, Ms. Chilton serves on a mutual fund board (BlackRock), and a family office investment committee. She is an Investor in Residence in the Department of Economics at UCLA. At UC Berkeley, Ms. Chilton also served on the Berkeley Endowment Management Company from 2015-2024 and is currently a member of the Chancellor’s East Coast Council. Ms. Chilton graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources and received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Josh Fisher
Josh Fisher '94 is Founder and CIO of Tamridge Capital. He has worked in the finance industry for many years, including Citadel, Pequot Capital, PresPoint Capital, and Redmile Group. Josh has been a board member at Stiles Hall, a Berkeley community service organization, since 1995 and is also a Founding Board Member of Colorwave, a non-profit focused on reducing social capital gaps by connecting underrepresented professionals to career opportunities in the start-up and finance industries.
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.
Clyde Lieberman
Clyde Lieberman is the three-time Emmy Award winning Co-Executive Producer for “The Voice” (NBC). and music executive for MGM/Amazon’s Emmy award winning “Shark Tank” (ABC)
Clyde’s music career began as a staff songwriter for BMG Music and his songs have been recorded by Belinda Carlisle, The Spinners, Jermaine Jackson and more. He co-wrote the theme song to the hit movie, “Spaceballs” – collaborating with Mel Brooks.
As SVP of Creative Services and A&R for BMG Music Publishing, he represented Grammy award winning artists such as The Wu-Tang Clan, The Roots, Ace of Base, The Bee Gees and Savan Kotecha.
Clyde’s daughter, Samantha Lieberman is an RCNR Class of ’23 honors graduate in Plant Genetics and Biology. Clyde has recently established the Louise Lieberman Family Endowment for Undergraduate Enrichment at RCNR in honor of his mother to support undergraduate research opportunities for deserving students across the College.
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 Student Representative
Leïla Njee Bugha
Graduate Student 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.
Undergraduate Student Representative
Sanay Parikh
Undergraduate Student Representative
Sanay Parikh is a second-year Molecular Environmental Biology major who is also planning to minor in Environmental Economics and Policy. As a Pre-Med student, he is involved in the American Medical Students Association Environmental Health Committee and Medical Intelligence and Innovation at Berkeley. Sanay has done research at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, he has volunteered at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, and he has served as Vice President of Finance for Karmant Learning, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving learning opportunities to youth worldwide. In his free time, Sanay enjoys photography, playing the violin, reading, rooting for his favorite sports teams (which, of course, includes the California Golden Bears), and competing on an intramural ultimate frisbee team with his friends.
Undergraduate Student Representative
Kyle Park
Undergraduate Student Representative
Kyle Park is a third-year undergraduate studying Environmental Economics and Policy and Molecular Environmental Biology. As the first American-born member of his multi-generational South Korean family of agriculturists and ranchers, Kyle aspires to leave a lasting environmental impact that extends beyond his family’s traditional agricultural contributions. Inspired by his heritage, he hopes to become a Chief Sustainability Officer with a focus on climate action and corporate sustainability. Throughout his time at Rausser College, Kyle has contributed to renewable energy research as an undergraduate researcher at the UC Berkeley Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center and has worked as a Sustainability Associate under the Executive Vice President. Currently, he serves as a Project Manager for his nonprofit sustainability consulting organization, Sustainable Entrepreneurship at Berkeley, where he leads a project in partnership with Dominion Energy. Beyond his academic and professional pursuits, Kyle enjoys surfing with friends, training for his upcoming triathlon, and traveling. He recently studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, where he learned Spanish and visited five other countries.
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.
Graduate Student Representative
Daniela Rodriguez-Chavez
Graduate Student Representative
Daniela Rodriguez-Chavez is a current 2nd year PhD student in the Environmental Science, Policy, & Management (ESPM) program. Having completed her undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Environment & Sustainability at Cornell University, her research focuses on using mathematical, statistical, and computational tools to better understand spatial-temporal trends and climatic drivers of vector-borne diseases. She was a Caltech WAVE Fellow and most recently worked in the A-1 Modeling Group at The Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition to conducting research, Daniela is the co-President of the ESPM Graduate Student Association, a member of the ESPM Graduate Diversity Council, and a PubScience coordinator, a group that brings local scientists to local breweries to inspire conversation within the community. Outside of Berkeley, Daniela is an active member of the California theater scene as a music director, where she most recently performed at the Hollywood Fringe festival.
Jate Samathivathanachai
Jate Samathivathanachai '01 is Senior VP of Finance at Mammoth Biosciences, a UC Berkeley-affiliated biotechnology company focused on leveraging its proprietary ultracompact CRISPR systems to develop potential long-term curative therapies for patients with life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Prior to joining Mammoth, Jate was Chief Business and Financial Officer at Foundery Biosciences, an immunotherapy-focused venture studio fund, VP 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 RCNR’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.
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.
Iman Sylvain, Ph.D. '18
Project Manager
Innovative Genomics Institute, Interventional Genomics Unit
Iman Sylvain received her PhD in John Taylor’s lab, Emeritus Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, researching indoor air microbiology in public housing. Iman’s deep passion for social justice and health equity led her to complete a dissertation evaluating the presence of mold in low-income housing using next-generation sequencing. After completing her PhD, Iman went to work directly on policy issues and served as a Legislative Aide for Former Berkeley City Councilmember Cheryl Davila. Iman joined the Innovative Genomics Institute's COVID-19 Testing Lab in June of 2020 to be of service as a 'first responder behind the bench' during the pandemic. That lab has since transitioned into a facility focused on bringing life-saving CRISPR-based therapies to the clinic. Iman now works as a Project Manager for the IGI Clinical Laboratory (Interventional Genomics Unit), coordinating efforts to provide diagnostic testing for clinical trials and novel assay development.
Vice Chair
Bryan Wilson
Vice Chair
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.
Eva Wong-Moy
Eva Wong-Moy ’06 is the Graduate Affairs Manager in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In her role, she serves as the program manager for the PhD in Epidemiology and Translational Science and the Master’s and Certificate in Health Data Science. She brings a student-centered approach to her work with a focus on student wellness and ensuring students have what they need to succeed. Prior to working at UCSF, Eva worked at UC Berkeley in student affairs positions supporting undergraduate students including the College’s Office of Instruction and Student Affairs. Eva is a proud alumna of the B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies and her Area of Interest was Urban Environmental Education.
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 Emeriti
- Dick Beahrs
- Arianna Carughi
- Mike Cheng
- Michael Colvin
- Jill Elfishawy
- Kass Green
- Caryl Hart
- Steve Hurst
- Janet King
- Bill Liu
- Caroline Maser
- Steve McCormick
- John Pardee
- Linda Schacht Gage
- John Scharffenberger
- Dave Warner
- Bill Woods