The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced Sapna Thottathil will lead the department’s statewide collaboration and coordination to foster sustainable pest management (SPM) across California’s urban, agricultural and wildland settings. Thottathil brings 20 years of experience as a leader in sustainable food and farming, and climate, health and equity program management, policy and research to her role as DPR’s Deputy Director of Sustainable Pest Management.  Prior to joining DPR, Thottathil was Managing Director at the University of California (UC) Center for Climate, Health and Equity, where she oversaw more than 20 research and education programs and facilitated a multi-stakeholder strategic planning process. Previously, she was the Associate Director of Sustainability at the UC Office of the President, where she helped lead a UC Regent-supported task force that developed a statewide IPM policy for UC’s 10 campuses and six health systems. Thottathil was also a leader in a variety of other roles that will advance her collaborative work in addressing the challenges of SPM adoption, including building strategic partnerships and supply chains between institutions like K-12 schools and hospitals and food producers. Earlier in her career, Thottathil was a climate researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in England and documented on-the-ground organic farming practices in India. She began her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an Environmental Protection Specialist. Thottathil earned a BA in environmental studies and at BA in international studies from the University of Chicago, an MS in environmental change and management from Oxford University, and a PhD in Geography from UC Berkeley.  Thottathil will join the department beginning Sept. 9, 2024.