Inspiring a World of Learning: Recognizing Our Exceptional Educators
You can’t be a world-class learning institution without world-class instructors. UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education is fortunate to have instructors who truly fit that category. Whatever their background—academia, private industry or public service—these educators expand horizons. They have a passion for teaching and, by sharing their experience and knowledge, transform the lives of their students.
We thank these educators for their service—to UC Davis CPE, to our profession and to the learners they so clearly inspire.
Outstanding Service Award Recipients
Lindsay Barr – Agriculture/Brewing
Lindsay is the founding partner and CSO of her company DraughtLab. Her influence in the network of brewing professionals has made her an invaluable ambassador of UC Davis CPE Professional Brewing programs. Lindsay’s knowledge of sensory science has transformed how her students understand the topic and she regularly conducts in-person special sensory sessions for her remote students.
Greta Brownlow – Land Use and Natural Resources
Greta is a senior environmental director for Ascent Environmental and a valuable partner of UC Davis CPE’s Planning and Sustainability portfolio. She demonstrates a commitment to teaching by developing an enriching curriculum for her students. Many of her students say that Greta makes complex topics easy to digest and understand through her deep knowledge of various CEQA examples. She constantly searches for opportunities to expand the portfolio, improving education for all its students.
Dan Buckley – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Dan volunteers to be an instructor for OLLI, where he currently teaches solo. His dedication to teaching has led to a devoted following of students who opt to routinely retake his courses. He also offers more sessions of his course to serve the interactive learning desires of his students and contribute to OLLI’s success.
Leticia Chacon-Rodriguez – Agriculture/Winemaking
Leticia is an expert in all things wine, serving as the head winemaker of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology and previously, a winery manager. She stays up to date with industry trends and insights to keep courses relevant and updated. She has also enhanced the learning experience for her students by recruiting guest lectures and industry experts to speak at her classes.
Beth Cohen, Human Services
Beth, one of our most beloved instructors, is a prolific curriculum designer who specializes in trauma-informed approaches, secondary traumatic stress, mindfulness and burnout. She is an invaluable asset to Human Services, pioneering Secondary Traumatic Stress training for social workers and serving as our lead consultant in the field. Her students ranked the effectiveness, presentation and delivery of her instruction at a 4.9/5, citing her “great understanding of trauma and the daily challenges and stresses that social workers experience.”
Roger De Leon, Human Services
Roger is one of the founding members of the Parent Partner program and advisory board at UC Davis Human Services. He uses his lived experience of successfully navigating the child welfare and court systems as a parent to inform his teaching and advocacy work. One of his students said “he has a way of drawing people in. He teaches from his heart... generating a level of inspiration and motivation that you don't get from all instructors.” Roger is tirelessly driving our programs forward by launching classes, leading panel discussions and expanding his advocacy for parent partners nationwide.
Bryan Enderle – Health Sciences
Bryan is a dedicated instructor and program developer of the Health Professions Post-Bac program. His passion for chemistry and teaching have made him a standout instructor, one that fosters a rich learning environment and tailors to each students’ individual learning styles and needs. Students appreciate that Bryan “took the extra mile to help each and every one of us,” ensuring student success.
Misty Kerrigan, Human Services
Misty is an invaluable instructor for Human Services. She creates programs to help leaders support the most vulnerable populations in the mental health field and helped pilot the standardized Foundational Wraparound curriculum, which has become a staple curriculum offered by the RCFFP. Most recently, Misty developed a Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression training, which was met with enthusiasm from our participants. Misty is an essential part of the Human Services team’s collaborative efforts – during a critical time for the RCFFP, she stepped in to help navigate rebuilding instrumental relationships and demonstrated exceptional work and flexibility.
Michael Kiley – Business/Leadership
Michael is the director of talent acquisition at Cisco and a passionate instructor and program manager at UC Davis CPE. His unwavering dedication and commitment to teaching are seen in his adaptability and accommodability to his students as he makes educating them his top priority. One student commented, “it’s wonderful to know your teacher is rooting for you versus setting you up for failure.”
Gabriel Lewall – Business/Leadership
Gabriel is a senior organization development consultant and the principal instructor for UC Davis CPE’s Lean Six Sigma Green Belt program. He uses his passion and expertise in the subject matter in his engaging teaching style, where he provides real life examples and practical projects to enhance the student experience. “His excitement for the content was infectious and helped us absorb the content and inquire further,” one of his students said.
Teresa Pargeter – International and Access Programs
Teresa is a long-time instructor and a skilled materials developer at UC Davis CPE, developing engaging activities and curriculum for students. She is committed to continuing education and teaching and is always searching for the best methods to help her students. Her students often register for classes that feature Teresa as an instructor because of her enthusiastic teaching.
Tammy Rice, Human Services
Tammy is one of the most highly requested instructors in Human Services and specializes in diversity, equity and inclusion, leadership and training for trainers. Her students have praised her interactive teaching style, saying “she needs to teach every training we are offered.” Tammy has gone above and beyond by supporting a uniquely challenging, high-profile statewide project for Human Services. She joined the collaborative curriculum development process under a very tight timeframe with unusual challenges and has proved an invaluable addition to the project.
Ron Rowan – Land Use and Natural Resources
Ron goes above and beyond as an instructor and in maintaining a partnership with CPE’s legacy client, the State Water Resources Control Board. His excellence as an instructor has been shared throughout the entire California Environmental Protection Agency for his open-mindedness, proactivity and responsiveness. Students appreciate Ron’s pacing and unintimidating teaching style.
Geneva Shaw, Human Services
Geneva is an invaluable asset to the Human Services team and serves as a lead trainer for classes about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). She is the creator of the one-of-a-kind ICWA Specialist training, which filled a huge training need for human services staff throughout California. Geneva’s commitment to developing the complex curriculum was tremendous and she continues to show her dedication by remaining on board as a main trainer in the program. This training has garnered state-wide interest, and she is becoming a highly sought-after instructor. As a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, Geneva’s heart is in her work, and it is palpable.
Amy Sullivan – Agriculture, Pesticide
Amy is one of three individuals who have served as an advisory board member of the Pesticide Educational Resource Collaborative (PERC) since 2016 and is the project lead for various pesticide educational materials. Her impact is shown through PERC’s success and national recognition for its curriculum in agricultural safety. Her connection with industry experts has been instrumental in recruiting instructors and advisors in PERC’s works.
Jose Torres – Health Sciences
Jose is a Human Immunology instructor at UC Davis CPE with a desire to share his expertise and create more learning opportunities. He actively encourages students to grow academically and goes out of his way to ensure diversity, inclusivity and success in his classes. One of his students said that “he provides multiple ways to connect, help and answer questions – you can always find a way to be helped.”