Meet Our Team

The PERC team includes administrators, organizers, instructors, communicators, advisors, writers, and more. Some of the Advisory Board members have been serving since 2016. Some writers join us to develop one publication. The core team is described below.

Suzanne Forsyth

Co-Chair
UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
  • B.S. in Environmental Toxicology UC Davis; MPH in Public Health UC Berkeley
  • Nearly 30 years' experience in serving pesticide regulatory officials and stakeholders at the tribal, state and federal levels
  • Experience as a pesticide registration chemist, water quality specialist, and risk assessment associate bringing subject matter specificity to her work in pesticide safety education
  • Formerly served as Coordinator for the Tribal Pesticide Program Council (TPPC)
  • 18 years successfully managed the nationally acclaimed Pesticide Regulatory Education Program (PREP)
  • In 2014 honored with Life Membership to the American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO)

Kaci Buhl

Co-Chair
Oregon State University
  • Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) Coordinator in Oregon
  • Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Environmental & Molecular Toxicology
  • 10 years as the Project Coordinator of the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at Oregon State University
  • Worked in pesticide enforcement and incident coordination at the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA)

Christian Gella

Program Coordinator
UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
  • B.A. in English Literature from UC San Diego
  • M.A. in Asian-American Studies from UCLA
  • Experienced in data management, operations, and building scale-able systems
  • Co-founded a middle school in Stockton, CA

Emily Ripken

Program Coordinator for Ag Community Non-Profits
UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
  • B.A. from Brandeis University
  • MPH in Public Health from UCLA
  • 7 years leading a safety team and education for vineyard farmworkers
  • Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES)
  • Experienced grant-writer for agriculture and environmental topics
  • Developed pesticide and safety training videos in English and Urdu
  • Fluent in Spanish

Dwight Seal

National Project Coordinator
UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
  • B.S. and M.A. in Biology from Appalachian State University
  • Over 36 years of experience in pesticide regulation
  • Experience as the Western District Manager with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
  • Experience in structural pest and agricultural pesticide regulations
  • Served on SFIREG POM and AAPCO committees

Ann Marie O'Shea

PERC Marketing Specialist
AMOS and Advisors, LLC
  • PhD in Organization Development and Change Management; Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Business, Drexel University; B.A. in Communications & Psychology, La Salle University
  • President and CEO, Amos and Advisors, LLC
  • Seasoned executive and entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of strategic, financial, marketing, and operational skills and successes

PERC Projects

We develop, revise, and update pesticide safety resources to advance the protection of humans, communities, and ecosystems from the risk of pesticide poisonings, illness, and injury.

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