CDFA Secretary Karen Ross has announced the appointment of Dr. Amrith Gunasekara as Science Advisor to the Secretary.\u00a0 Dr. Gunasekara is returning to CDFA after a period as a research scientist for the California Department of Public Health. In his previous assignment at CDFA, he was an environmental scientist in CDFA\u2019s fertilizer program. Dr. Gunasekara has also worked for the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. He received his PhD from UC Davis. \u00a0As Science Advisor, Dr. Gunasekara will be a steward of CDFA\u2019s wide-ranging, world-renowned scientific expertise, and he will look to deliver that expertise to help facilitate ongoing review of the regulatory climate for agriculture.<\/p>\n
Dr. Gunasekara will serve as CDFA\u2019s liaison to the Cannella Environmental Farming Act Science Panel.\u00a0Secretary Ross announced the following appointments to the panel:\u00a0 Jeff Dlott, PhD, CEO, SureHarvest (Soquel); Ann Thrupp, PhD, Manager of Sustainability and Organic Development, Fetzer & Bonterra Vineyards (Hopland); Don Cameron, Vice President and General Manager, TerraNova Ranch, Inc. (Fresno); Brian Leahy, Resources Agency, Department of Conservation; Mike Tollstrup, CalEPA, Air Resources Board.\u00a0 Ex Officio members will be Daniel Mountjoy, USDA NRCS and Louise Jackson, PhD, University of California Cooperative Extension. The Cannella Environmental Farming Act requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat.\u00a0 In addition, the CDFA is required to assist in the compilation of scientific evidence from public and private sources and serve as a depository of this information and provide it to federal, state, and local governments, as needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0“The work of Dr. Amrith Gunasekara and the science panel will underscore CDFA\u2019s commitment to science, to a fair regulatory climate, and to the ongoing documentation of the environmental contributions of farming,” said Secretary Ross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross has announced the appointment of Dr. Amrith Gunasekara as Science Advisor to the Secretary.\u00a0 Dr. Gunasekara is returning to CDFA after a period as a research scientist for the California Department of Public Health. In his … Continue reading