Ariel Rivers

Ariel Rivers is an interdisciplinary professional with a demonstrated history of leading- and collaborating with multicultural and cross-sectoral teams. 

She currently serves as the Central Sierra Area Director for the University of California Cooperative Extension, covering Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Tuolumne Counties. In that role, she serves as the administrative lead of all Cooperative Extension programs, including research, the Master Gardener and Master Food Preserver and 4-H programs. 

Prior to UCCE, Ariel served as the Director of Membership Engagement for the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD). In that role she combined her passion and energy for sustainability in agriculture and food security with her interest in science policy, public partnerships, and education. She relied on her well-developed skills in project management and stakeholder engagement to support grant programs, Farm Bill advocacy and the provision of technical assistance to producers across the US and several overseas territories.

Prior to NACD, Ariel served as Postharvest Coordinator for Latin America at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and as a Soil Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. She holds a dual-title doctorate in Entomology and International Agriculture and Development from Pennsylvania State University, an M.S. degree in Environmental Studies from San José State University, and a B.S. degree in Soil and Water Science from the University of California, Davis. 

She has lived, worked and traveled extensively in Latin America and the Pacific, but now spends her free time looking for the eggs of her free range chickens, milking her goats, and making cheese on her small farm in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.