CERSA Advisory Board and Team Members

Prior to her current position, Jennifer Kuzma was an associate professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota (2003-2013); study director at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM); and an AAAS Risk Policy Fellow at the USDA. She has over 140 scholarly publications on emerging technologies, their societal and ethical implications, and governance systems and has been studying these areas for over 25 years.  Kuzma has held several national and international leadership positions, including a member of the World Economic Forum Council on Technology, Values and Policy; the NASEM Committee on Preparing for Future Biotechnology, Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Council Member and Secretary, FAO Expert Group on Food and Nanotechnology, Council of Agricultural Science and Technology Committee on Gene Editing, and the AAAS-ABA National Council of Scientists and Lawyers.  In 2014, she received the SRA Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Award for her contributions to the field of risk analysis and in 2017-2018 she was awarded the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Science Policy.  In 2019 she was elected a lifetime Fellow of AAAS for her distinguished work in anticipatory governance of new technologies, and methods for oversight policy analysis.  She has given over 200 invited talks and is interviewed frequently in the media for her expertise in biotechnology policy, including the New York Times, Science, The Scientist, Nature, NPR, Washington Post, Scientific American, BBC, PBS Nova, Wired, and ABC & NBC News.   Prior to becoming a social scientist and policy scholar, she earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at UC-Boulder and did a postdoc in plant molecular biology at Rockefeller University.  During her PhD, she was the first to discover that bacteria produce isoprene, a precursor to natural rubber, and held the first patent for methods for bacterial isoprene production. Her postdoctoral work in plant molecular biology at Rockefeller University helped to identify a biochemical and molecular pathway for plant drought and salinity tolerance and resulted in a publication in Science.

Amy Blankinship is a Branch Chief in the Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFED) in the Office of Pesticide Programs at the US EPA. EFED is responsible for conducting ecological and drinking water exposure assessments to support evaluation of pesticide registrations. While at OPP for the last 12 years, Amy has served as a Senior Scientist, Risk Assessment Process Leader, and acting Branch Chief in the Pesticide Re-evaluation Division. Amy has worked on a wide variety of OPP programs and projects including the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, preparing Biological Evaluations for endangered species, preparation of ecological test guidelines, and issues around spray drift and emerging pesticide application technology such as unmanned aerial systems.  Amy has also represented the EPA as a member of the OECD Validation Management Group – Ecotoxicity which provides guidance for the development of ecological test guidelines. Prior to EPA, Amy was a supervisor at a contract research organization conducting ecotoxicological testing.

Patrick Jones, Director of Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division at the NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Service, Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division has worked for the department for nearly 42 years in various positions including pesticide inspector, field supervisor, enforcement manager and deputy director. He is a Past President of the Association of American Pest Control Officials (AAPCO) and still serves as Chair of the Pollinator Committee. He has also served on the FieldWatch Board of Directors, representing State Departments of Agriculture. Areas of focus have been the outreach and education efforts to inform growers on the pollinator protection and FieldWatch Programs implemented by NCDA&CS to enhance communication between growers, beekeepers, and applicators. He has also been very active in regional and national training for pesticide inspectors. In his spare time, Patrick enjoys gardening, canning, caning old chairs, and genealogy research. He and his wife, Janet, have been married for 41 years.

Dan Jenkins has 25+ years’ experience working in the food and agriculture industry and serves as the Vice President of Regulatory and Government Affairs Regulatory for Pairwise. Prior to this Dan was the Managing Director and Chief of Staff of the Agricultural Section of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) trade association in Washington DC. Dan also led Monsanto’s Regulatory team in Washington DC overseeing all domestic chemistry and biotech crop approvals across FDA, EPA and USDA, and at the beginning of his career, worked in pesticide commercial sales, as well as R&D, for Dow AgroSciences. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a Master of Science degree in Entomology and Applied Ecology from the University of Delaware and his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School.

Laura McConnell is a Science Fellow in the Regulatory Science team at Bayer Crop Science. Her role is engaging and building collaborations with the scientific community. Her expertise is in the field of analytical and environmental chemistry. Prior to coming to Bayer, Dr. McConnell was a Lead Scientist and Research Chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. She specialized in the investigation of the chemical and physical processes controlling the environmental fate of agriculturally-relevant chemicals.

Tharacad Ramanarayanan is a Syngenta Science and Technology Fellow. He has been with Syngenta for the past 11 years and in the AgChem industry for more than 25 years. He is an agricultural engineer by training and has expertise in Predictive Environmental and Human Exposure and risk assessment. His current areas of interest are in: New Approach Methods (NAMs) to refine, reduce, and replace vertebrate testing for human health assessments, emerging technologies like precision application and drones, crop residues prediction, and antimicrobial resistance management for human safety.

Mitch Peele is Sr. Director of Public Policy at the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. He has responsibilities for environmental and regulatory programs as well as interactions with other allied organizations. With 35+ years in government relations, he has provided leadership in the areas of agricultural chemicals, biotechnology, energy, animal welfare, water resources and coalition building. Mitch has served as an advisor to numerous commodity, agricultural and allied organizations. He has also served on various industry stakeholder committees dealing with environmental and/or legislative issues and served on various NC General Assembly legislative study commissions.

Chris Boomsma is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). In this role, he leads the organization in fulfilling its mission to assemble, interpret, and communicate credible, science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector, and the public. Prior to joining CAST, Chris was the Director of Education for the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and the Director of Science and Strategy for Decode 6. He previously served in various leadership, research, and product development roles at Purdue University and Dow AgroSciences. Chris has a B.A. in Plant Science from Dordt University and a Ph.D. in Crop Physiology and Agronomy from Purdue University. He is a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) and Certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg) and serves on the Boards of several organizations including the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (NCFAR). In his free time, he enjoys volunteering, exercising, reading, gardening, and traveling with his family.

Jason Sandahl is the founder of an agricultural regulatory consulting company, Ag Aligned Global, which supports U.S. agriculture exports through capacity building and consultations with foreign governments.  He is also a co-founder of the Minor Use Foundation, which fosters global partnerships to generate residue data to establish maximum residue limits (MRLs) for minor use crops. Jason started his career with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service where he worked from 2005-2021, leading the agency’s international capacity building programs on pesticides, focusing on pesticide regulations, residue standards, and cooperative residue research.  He received his PhD in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology from Oregon State University in 2003.  Jason also farms 125 acres of pears and cherries in the Hood River Valley of Oregon.

Joseph Reardon currently serves as the Director of Food Safety Programs for the National State Departments of Agriculture. In this role, he works with all 50 Commissioners, Directors and Secretaries of Agriculture on food safety related issues. Mr. Reardon previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Consumer Protection for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. He oversaw the divisions responsible for food safety, agricultural emergency response, animal health and regulation of the structural pest control industry, pesticide use and various weighing and measuring devices. Mr. Reardon brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in food and feed safety and defense at both the State and federal level.  He served as Senior Advisor for Federal-State Relations and Director for the Division of Federal-State Relations in the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2009 through 2012. In these roles, he worked collaboratively with Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial partners to enhance the public health infrastructure and increase the safety of food and feed. As the Senior Advisor, he provided the leadership, vision and strategic direction to increase collaboration and communication with Federal, State and local partners to achieve a national integrated food safety system. He co-chaired the Integration Task Force and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Federal-State Integration Team in addition to working closely with the Partnership for Food Protection Executive and Coordinating Committees. He served as the FDA representative for several national public health and regulatory professional associations and was the primary contact for State and local regulatory agencies on issues related to Federal-State integration. Prior to joining the FDA, Mr. Reardon served the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services for more than 28 years in various regulatory positions, including as the Director of the Department’s Food and Drug Protection Division and Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture for Food and Agriculture Projects. He has provided testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment for the State of the Nation report on food defense, animal disease, and potential economic impact of bioterrorism. In addition, he is the co-author of several national articles including Histamine Poisoning in Tuna Burgers and Outbreak of Listeriosis among Mexican Immigrants as a result of Consumption of Illicitly Produced Mexican-Style Cheese. Mr. Reardon received the Department’s coveted Cornerstone Award in 2002-2003 in recognition for his outstanding leadership and commitment in the integral role as coordinator of special agricultural projects. In 2017, he received the James A. Graham award from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) for outstanding work in providing service to agriculture producers. NASDA previously recognized Mr. Reardon in 2013 with a Recognition of Service award for his tireless support of state and federal program collaboration. Mr. Reardon was selected to deliver the Glenn W. Kilpatrick Memorial address at the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) 117th Educational Conference in 2013 and received the Eugene H. Holeman Meritorious Service Award from the Association of Food and Drug of the Southern States (AFDOSS) in 2014. He was recognized by NSF in 2009, receiving the NSF Food Safety Leadership Award for System Improvement. Mr. Reardon received a Special Citation from FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach in June 2008 for the Department’s exemplary response to a national botulism recall. Mr. Reardon holds a degree in Food Science from North Carolina State University.