Claudia Carter is the Executive Director of the California Wheat Commission, a wheat farmer-funded organization. Claudia oversees the CA Wheat Lab operations and manages the CA Grain Foundation. Through the Lab, Claudia and her team work closely with public and private breeders, millers, and flour users such as tortilla, pasta, and bread makers. Since 2017 she has worked with local schools and community members to promote whole-grain foods. In 2021 she received the Farm-to-School grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to support education, procurement, and consumption of whole grains among students and their communities. In 2022, she received the USDA Farm-to-School grant. Claudia brings a holistic perspective from working in agriculture, food, and nutrition to generate solutions to break the cycle and growing public health challenges specifically related to childhood obesity. She was born in Ecuador, has a B.S. in food Science, M.S. in cereal science, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Exercise Science and Nutrition.

Allison Krill-Brown is the Research Advisor for the Small Grains program at SCOPE. Allison is a plant breeder working on small grains and spinach.  As part of the SCOPE program Allison oversees and advises students on projects to develop wheat varieties for organic growers and specialty markets.  She is also part of a collaboration of US plant breeders developing naked barley varieties for multiple uses including food, animal feed and malting.  Allison leads the UC Davis spinach breeding program in developing baby leaf spinach with improved disease resistance.

Charlie Brummer is the Director of the Plant Breeding Center and a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He breeds alfalfa, spinach, and hemp, among other crops. His lab conducts research on improving breeding methodologies for outcrossing crops, on applying genetic markers to practical plant improvement programs, and on using genomics to understand the genetic control of important traits. His program evaluates and incorporates various untapped germplasm sources into breeding populations to expand genetic diversity and introduce new traits. In addition to research, he teaches courses on advanced plant breeding, forage crop management, and occasional seminars on breeding for organic systems. He co-teaches “Principles of Horticulture and Agronomy,” an introductory course for the graduate program in horticulture and agronomy. He leads the Student Collaborative Organic Plant-breeding and Education program, which includes several student-led breeding projects on tomato, pepper, wheat, zinnia, and celtuce.