California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Lindsay Buckley as director of communications at the California Air Resources Board. She has been the longtime spokesperson for the California Energy Commission. Buckley will start at CARB Feb. 18.
Anne Castle, one of Biden’s top water officials at the Interior Department, submitted her resignation. She was appointed the federal representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission in 2022.
Trinity Fruit Co. hired Anna O’Brien as a social media and public relations specialist. With nearly five years in social media marketing, she will lead social media and public relations. O’Brien specialized in influencer marketing with Walmart, Target, Nordstrom and others.
Brad Anderson w
Brad Anderson, California Dairiesill retire at the end of 2025 as president and CEO of California Dairies. He joined CDI as chief operating officer in 2018 and was appointed president and CEO in 2020. While in leadership Anderson oversaw the construction of a new processing facility in Bakersfield, optimized operations by restructuring the organization into global business groups, and established CDI's Golden State Advantage initiative.
Environmental Science Associates hired Eric Beightel as federal strategy director. He was executive director of the Biden administration’s Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council.
The National Association of Water Companies hired Ted Stiger as senior director of public affairs. He was chief external affairs and policy officer for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership and previously worked at the National Association of Development Organizations.
Grocery Outlet hired Jason Potter as the company’s president and CEO effective Feb. 3. He was previously CEO at The Fresh Market and a Canadian national grocery retailer, Sobeys. Potter will also join Grocery Outlet’s board of directors.
Jillien Streit was appointed director of the Montana Department of Agriculture by Gov. Greg Gianforte. She currently serves as financial controller at Flat Acre Farms in Chester, the town where she and her husband run a fifth-generation family farm with their three children.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here
The Meat Institute added two members to staff. Chris Chaffee is the new director of legislative affairs. Previously, Chaffee was director of industry relations at the U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation and during the first Trump administration served as associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison where he led outreach to the food and agricultural community. Brian Peteritas was hired as marketing manager to oversee the Institute's email marketing and social media efforts. Peteritas previously worked at the American Frozen Food Institute and the National Apartment Association.
Phil Radford, former Sierra Club chief strategy officer, has been named president and CEO of Consumer Reports. Radford started his career working on environmental issues at the Public Interest Research Group and global trade issues with Public Citizen.
Samantha Edwards has joined ClearPath as a policy adviser. She was a legislative aide for former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., focused on energy, environment and natural resources.
DTB AgriTrade added Gina Tumbarello as a partner effective Feb. 1. She was senior director of global strategies, policy and trade at the American Feed Industry Association, working to remove trade barriers and enhance market access for animal feed exporters. She managed international market development programs at the U.S. Grains Council. She was a private sector member of the Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds and the Department of Commerce Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness.
Tom Snipes has been appointed CEO of Ostara, a crop nutrition and wastewater treatment solutions company. He was CEO of Custom Agronomics and CEO of Plant Response Inc.
Stop Foodborne Illness hired Sandra Eskin as CEO. She was deputy undersecretary of agriculture for food safety during the Biden administration and earlier was project director for food safety at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington.
Diane Wray-Cahen was named deputy director of the trade support team at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. She has been with the Foreign Agricultural Service for nearly 15 years, lately as senior trade adviser for the animal division.
Brooke Appleton, an alumnus from the first Trump administration who has been vice president of public policy for the National Corn Growers Association for past six years, has been appointed USDA's deputy undersecretary for farm production and conservation, according to a USDA source familiar with her hiring. She will support Richard Fordyce, who has been nominated to be USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation.
The National Pork Producers Council has hired Kelcy Schaunaman as manager of competition, labor and tax in the Washington office. She was a senior policy adviser for USDA’s Farm Service Agency and associate counsel and legislative assistant for the House Agriculture Committee.
The U.S. Wheat As
Mike Carstensen, U.S. Wheat Associatessociates board of directors elected new officers for 2025-26. Mike Carstensen Almira, Washington, was named secretary-treasurer. His family raises soft white wheat, club wheat and feed grains. Carstensen is a member of the Washington Grain Commission. Current secretary-treasurer Gary Millershaski, Lakin, Kansas, becomes vice chairman and current vice chairman Jim Pellman, McClusky, North Dakota, will take office as chairman. Current chairman Clark Hamilton of Ririe, Idaho, will be past chair.
Climate First Bank hired Chris Castro as executive vice president and chief sustainability officer. Castro served as a senior adviser for the Department of Energy’s office of energy efficiency and renewable energy and was chief of staff for the office of state and community energy programs.
The American Coalition for Ethanol elected new 2025 officers. Dave Sovereign of Iowa, chairman of Golden Grain Energy’s Board, is president. South Dakota farmer Troy Knecht will be vice president representing Redfield Energy. Additional officers include part-time farmer and greenhouse gas emissions expert Ron Alverson of South Dakota as secretary, and John Christianson, founding partner and retired director of Christianson PLLP, as treasurer. Chris Studer, chief member and public relations officer for East River Electric Power Cooperative, and Bill Dartt, chief financial officer for Cardinal Ethanol, joined ACE’s board of directors.
Brian Johnson, vice president and corporate secretary at Hormel Foods, announced his retirement. He started with the company in 1995. He is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Association of Corporate Counsel, and Society for Corporate Governance.
Johanna Herrmann was promoted to senior vice president of global communications at Merck. Herrmann was previously vice president of global communications.
Whole Foods Market CEO Jason Buechel is adding a new responsibility, leading Amazon's Worldwide Grocery Stores. He will report to Worldwide Amazon Stores CEO Doug Herrington.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
