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California State University Fresno
6014 N. Cedar Ave.
Fresno, CA 93710
Phone: (559) 278-4405
Fax: (559) 278-6032
Office hours:
Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Summer hours (mid-May through mid-August): 7:00 am - 3:30 pm
Per Governor Newsom's order for Californians to shelter in place due to concerns over COVID-19, IFA office staff will be working remotely until further notice. We can be reached via email. Please see below for individual contact information.
Dr. Susan Pheasant
Director
Phone: 559.278.4405
Email: spheasant@csufresno.edu
Dr. Susan Pheasant was hired in 2018 as the 6th Director of the Institute for Food and Agriculture. Her educational background includes undergraduate degrees in Agricultural Economics and Business Administration (WSU) as well as an MBA-Ag Specialization (Cal Poly-SLO) and an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. incorporating ag econ, marketing, education, and rural sociology (WSU) to evaluate how growers make decisions to adopt new technologies and ideas. Dr. Pheasant has consulted with national and international agribusinesses and non-profit organizations to implement change technologies and educational programs, helped fresh fruit/vegetable growers prepare for food safety audits, and conducted 3rd party audits. She is part of a six-generation lineage of apple growers within the USA (primarily Washington State).However, her “friends” fondly describe her as a “world nomad fruit bum.”
Allyson Baldus
Administrative Coordinator
Phone: 559.278.4380
Email: abaldus@mail.fresnostate.edu
Allyson Baldus was hired in June 2019 as the Administrative Support Coordinator II for the Institute for Food and Agriculture. She is responsible for providing administrative support to IFA faculty, staff, and students, with an emphasis on research projects and workshops.
Allyson is a Fresno/Clovis native and a Fresno State Alumni. She holds a Masters in Kinesiology: Sports Administration Emphasis from Fresno Pacific University. Allyson has a business background through prior experience in the fitness industry.
Morgan Henson
Student Assistant
Phone: 559.278.4405
Email: ifa.demeter@mail.fresnostate.edu
Morgan Henson is a Senior here at Fresno State, majoring in Agriculture Education with an emphasis in Animal Science. Morgan grew up in Clovis and graduated from Clovis East High School in 2016. She was a member of the Clovis FFA chapter and plans to use her degree to become an agriculture teacher somewhere here in the valley. Currently, Morgan is an officer in the Agriculture Education Club as well as the Meat Science Club.
Karthik Ramaswamy, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Email: karthikr@csufresno.edu
Dr. Ramaswamy joined the Institute for Food and Agriculture in January 2020 as Research Fellow. He earned his Ph.D. in 2019 from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. Karthik holds a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State and a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy – Anna University. Dr. Ramaswamy has strong education history and research experience in the field of operations research and mathematical programming.
Dr. Ramaswamy’s research at Oklahoma State primarily focused on identifying groundwater management strategies to maximize the economic value of the water from the declining Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation use. His current research interests at IFA concentrate on developing economic models for challenges faced by California’s agriculture using mathematical programming, statistical methods, crop simulation models, and spatial analysis.