Meet our Program Team

Cici Cui

Community Education Specialist

czcui@ucanr.edu | 408-478-5767

Cici has a BS in Biological Systems Engineering from University of California-Davis. During her time in college, she worked for UC Davis Pantry which helped address food insecurity, as well as getting hands on experience in sustainable agricultural practices when working at food engineering lab. Her current interests include supporting small-scale, diversified, and socially disadvantaged farmers and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Cici is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Becca Xu

Community Education Specialist

becxu@ucanr.edu | 408-607-8252

Becca has a BS in International Agricultural Development from University of California-Davis, and a Master in Business of Food from Cornell University. Her current interests include supporting small farmers with integrated pest management, healthy soil and water usage efficiency programs. Becca is fluent in English and Mandarin. Becca also enjoys spending her free time hiking, going to farmers market, and drawing. 

Meaghan Donovan

Small Farms Program Manager

mjdonovan@ucanr.edu | 916-875-2410

Meaghan’s love of horticulture and passion for education led her to a career developing educational resources for farmers. She has a BS in Plant Science from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree from the Agriculture, Food, and Environment program at Tufts University. Meaghan has experience working with a diversity of farmers, technical service providers, and non-profits to host webinars on on-farm food safety, produce bilingual English/Spanish podcasts on direct marketing techniques for small farms, and coordinate workshops on organic transition. In her role as the UCCE Small Farms Program Manager, Meaghan supports UCCE small farms advisors and community educators with collaborative outreach and extension education projects. Meaghan is fluent in English and Spanish

Mercy Olmstead

Irrigation & Nutrient Management Program Coordinator

molmstead@ucanr.edu | 509-781-056

Mercy has 20+ years of experience in specialty crop production research and extension, spanning both academia and industry. She holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Horticulture from Michigan State University, and an M.S. from Washington State University. Her expertise include the development of online educational curricula and the optimization of viticulture, stone fruit production, irrigation, and nutrient management programs for specialty crops. Currently, Mercy coordinates irrigation and nutrient management educational programs for the Central Coast Region and is committed to advancing university extension and applied research that enhances growers' productivity and profitability.

Thais Ramos

Food Safety Education Program Coordinator

tramos@ucanr.edu

Thais has a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Food Sciences from the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil. She has over 10 years of food safety experience. Her research has focused on identifying potential sources of produce contamination by foodborne pathogens during production and processing, while implementing mitigation strategies to minimize the risk of produce contamination on conventional, and organic farming systems. She provides food safety training and technical assistance to produce growers across the state of California. She is fluent in English and Portugese.

Shufang Tian

Small Farms IPM Program Lead Coordinator

sftian@ucanr.edu | 916-203-7662 

Shufang has a diverse background in crop production and management and is passionate about extension and educational programs that support small-scale growers through collaborative approaches and outreach. She holds a B.S. in Agronomy, an M.S. in Plant Pathology with an emphasis on host resistance mechanisms of vegetable crops, and a Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences with a minor in Soil and Water Sciences. Her doctoral research focused on organic high tunnel vegetable production. Shufang supports UCCE Small Farms advisors in identifying and developing accessible IPM materials for small-scale farmers. She also facilitates the production of IPM educational materials and training resources for the targeted clientele. Shufang is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Michelle Petersen

Community Education Specialist

miapetersen@ucanr.edu | 408-201-0684

Michelle has a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She serves as the Small Farms Program Food Safety Educator in the region. Her professional objectives include assisting small farms on the implementation of produce safety methods to meet FSMA compliance regulations. Her specific areas of interest include innovative traceability systems, increasing consumer safety and minimizing enterprise liability. Michelle provides extension outreach to new and underserved farmers including language support for Spanish growers.

Lauren Pong

Grizzly Corp Fellow

lopong@ucanr.edu | 408-201-0675 

Lauren has a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California-Berkeley. During her undergraduate years, Lauren engaged in research exploring the relationship between soil health and landscape contexts in Bay Area farms. Her current interests extend into climate adaptation and supporting local farmers to sustainability thrive in our shared agro-food system. Lauren is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.