Rural California Report

Dr. Glenda Humiston was appointed by President Obama on August 23, 2009 to serve as the California State Director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development. Humiston brings over 25 years of experience working on public policy development and program implementation supporting rural development and sustainable communities to the Agency.

Humiston previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, as Executive Director of a nonprofit advocating farmland preservation and value-added agriculture development, and has taken on many difficult challenges throughout the western states as a consultant on environmental and agricultural issues. In that capacity she developed a Rangeland Water Quality Management plan for the state of California that has become a model in many western states. More recently, she managed the “Sustainable Development Institute” at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City, Mexico in 2006.

Humiston served from 1998 – 2001 as Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at USDA. While there she received national honor awards from USDA and EPA as well as two “Hammer” Awards from Vice President Gore for outstanding government programs.

Humiston completed her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley in 2009; her dissertation was titled: “Sustainable Agriculture as U.S. Farm Policy: Opportunities and Threats to Reform”. She received her Master’s degree in International Agricultural Development from the University of California at Davis and her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Colorado State University. She has also completed Professional Certification in Environmental and Land Use Planning and a two-year fellowship with the California Agricultural Leadership program.