Meet the Staff
We are a small, but mighty team, with a passion for what we do.
Have a question or comment?
You can reach us at 800-700-AITC (2482).
Judy Culbertson
Executive Director
Favorite Ag Memory
Growing up on my family pear ranch, I started selling lemonade in our packing plant, graduating to pushing boxes around a corner on rollers, and finally, managing the fruit process and distribution.
Loves About Her Job
It is a win-win. The farmers appreciate the good will we bring to ag. Teachers appreciate agriculture's investment in them and their students.
Fun Fact
I enjoy boating, gardening and training in motor cars in my free time!
With Ag in the Classroom
I started with CFBF when Ag in the Classroom was one of its programs, in 1980.
Mindy DeRohan
Program Manager
Favorite Ag Memory
Growing up showing livestock (mainly pigs) throughout the state!
Loves About Her Job
Helping students and teachers truly understand where their food comes from. I am passionate about agriculture and education and this job allows me to work in an industry that I love while developing relationships with teachers throughout California.
Fun Fact
I love to run and have a one-year daughter who keeps us running all-the-time!
Projects
Taste and Teach, Imagine this... and special projects
Jennifer Harrison
Communications Coordinator
Favorite Ag Memory
Picking olallieberries. Every summer my mom would take my little brother and myself berry picking at a u-pick farm near our home on the central coast. The goal was to pick enough berries to make pies. Trouble was, we often ate all the berries before they made it into a dessert.
Why Learn About Ag?
Food is life. The more you know about how that California commodity gets from farm to fork the more you are invested in the future of agriculture and the future of our planet.
Loves About Her Job
Storytelling! I have a passion for using words and images to educate, inform and take complex subjects and make them digestible, no pun intended. Communicating about food and farming is the cherry on top!
Fun Fact
I have an Emmy and freelance on some TV shows you may or may not have heard of...
Projects
Spreading the Ag in the Classroom word! Annual and monthly communications, Imagine this… Story Writing Contest, and social media.
Lyn Hyatt
Administrative Coordinator
Why Learn About Ag?
Since I grew up in the city, it wasn't until I started working for Ag in the Classroom that I realized just how important agriculture is in our daily lives and how much we all benefit from it.
Favorite Ag Memory
The closest I came to ag was hearing stories about the chickens my grandparents kept in the backyard of their home in Rhode Island.
With Ag in the Classroom
Since 1989, just three years after it was founded.
Fun Fact
I love fiber arts—knitting, weaving, crocheting—all of it!
Projects
Grant administration, development assistance, special event assistance
Hayley Lawson
Curriculum Coordinator
Favorite Ag Memory
Every weekend, my family and I would travel to Waterford to go help at my uncle's cattle ranch. Running amuck with my cousins and taking the four-wheelers for joy rides were always a great adventure once the work was done.
Why Learn About Ag?
Agriculture and where your food came from used to be common knowledge. With the large disconnect from agriculture to consumer in today's day and age, it is important to educate the public about where their food, clothing, water, timber, and fuel are coming from. I am happy to be part of one of the moving pieces to help share the correct information with the next generations of agriculturists.
Loves About Her Job
Every day brings a new adventure! One day I am in the field, the next I am in the office. What other job do you get to work with farmers, ranchers, students, teachers, and the public?
Fun Fact
I can wiggle my ears! Currently section-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail! Youngest of 5 kids!
Projects
Curriculum Development including the following projects: Start to Finish (PPP), Farm to You, Commodity Fact Sheets, Ag Bites, Beef Council Campaign, and What's Growin' On.
Meet our Consultants
Mandi Bottoms
Curriculum Consultant
Favorite Ag Memory
Visiting my dad at work. He worked in a timber mill in Humboldt County for over 40 years. I was always amazed at the process of turning trees into useable products. Today, I make memories with my own family. I get to witness the same awe in my daughters' eyes as they ride tractors, watch prunes being shaken from a tree, and pick their own peppers.
Why Learn About Ag?
Agriculture makes learning relevant and interesting. It answers the question all students have asked since the beginning of time--"Why do I need to know this?" Math, science, language, history, art, and nutrition can all be taught using agriculture for context. Agriculture in the Classroom engages students with real-life problems that require students to carefully consider the world around them.
Fun Fact
I'm an avid cyclist and have completed several 100-mile rides.
Projects
Curriculum and resource development