UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program is excited to announce the appointment of three new associate directors following the integration of UC ANR’s Small Farms Network, Master Food Preserver Program and Organic Agriculture Institute with UC SAREP. These programs share a unified vision for sustainable and diversified farming systems, thriving small and mid-size farms, and strong local and regional food economies.
The combined program is structured in three areas with intersecting themes:
- Supporting sustainable production practices focusing on organic, regenerative and agroecological farming systems that benefit producers and ecosystems
- Promoting small farms through training and technical assistance in niche and diversified production and marketing for small and mid-sized farms
- Advancing sustainable food economies by supporting marketing and processing in local and regional food systems and supply chains
UC SAREP’s integrated program will continue to work closely with farmers, food businesses, educators, policy makers and community-based organizations to create solutions that reflect the needs of all California communities.
The newly appointed associate directors are:
- Orry Pratt, Associate Director for Sustainable Production Systems
- Carrie Teiken, Associate Director for Small Farms
- Crystal Whitelaw, Associate Director for Sustainable Food Economies
Orry Pratt is the UC SAREP associate director for sustainable production systems and the administrative director of the UC Organic Agriculture Institute. His work supports enhancing and expanding knowledge, outreach and technical assistance for all aspects of sustainability in agricultural production.
Orry brings more than a decade of experience in international agriculture and economic development to this role. His career has focused on the application of conservation agriculture practices across different geographical, cultural, political and environmental contexts. Orry was most recently a foreign service officer with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and served in Colombia. His efforts led to increased public and private sector investments in climate-smart agriculture value chains as a response to complex national issues around deforestation, illicit crops and violence. Orry served as an agriculture officer for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Subregional Office for Eastern Africa and was the region’s agriculture extension and crop production focal point.
He began his career with the FAO as a communications officer at its headquarters in Rome and proudly served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay. Orry received his bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from Penn State University and his master’s degree in agricultural leadership, education and communications from Texas A&M University. He is fluent in Spanish and has spoken several other languages throughout his career. Orry can be reached at opratt@ucanr.edu.
Carrie Teiken serves as associate director of small farms, where she leads statewide efforts to strengthen extension services, applied research, and policy support for California’s small and historically underserved farmers. She has worked with small-scale farmers for 20 years, advancing local food systems through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Carrie spent the past decade as a foreign service agriculture officer with USAID, managing agriculture and food security programs as the economic growth deputy office director and agriculture team lead in Tanzania, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is an alumna of the University of California, Davis where she received master’s degrees in plant pathology and international agricultural development and conducted research on citrus greening (Huanglongbing) and integrated pest management.
Carrie’s previous experience includes roles with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in California, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Belgium and the Ecology Center in Berkeley. She also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana and spent her summers working on a small vegetable farm while earning her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Carrie can be reached at cteiken@ucanr.edu.
Crystal Whitelaw is the UC SAREP associate director for sustainable food economies. She provides statewide leadership and strategic oversight for UC SAREP’s Food and Society programs and the UC Master Food Preserver Program. Crystal brings over a decade of experience in food and nutrition, business development, culinary operations and nonprofit leadership. Her work is grounded in a strong commitment to sustainable agriculture and equitable food systems.
Crystal began her career as director of food and nutrition services in both rural and urban communities across the US. She later launched the first in-house Nutrition Communications and Marketing Department in Texas’s largest public school district and co-founded a nonprofit focused on health education. Her background also includes experience in the healthcare sector.
Before joining UC ANR, Crystal served as senior program manager for California Food for California Kids at the Center for Ecoliteracy. In this role, she led a network of 150 school districts, advancing food systems initiatives and managing the “Rethinking Farm to School” project in partnership with CalFresh Healthy Living, Cooperative Extension. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Crystal holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition with a minor in strategic communications and public relations from Arizona State University, and a Master of Public Health in health policy and management from Temple University. Crystal can be reached at cwhitelaw@ucanr.edu.
“I am excited for this next step in SAREP’s continued growth as an integrated statewide program with a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach to addressing the complex challenges facing food and farming systems today,” said Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Interim Director of UC SAREP. “Each of the new associate directors brings new leadership and content expertise that will help us better serve our stakeholders and strengthen sustainable farming and food systems in California.”
For more information about UC SAREP’s programs and the associate director team, please visit our website and staff directory.
