Christina M. Getz
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Division of Society and Environment
135 Giannini Hall #3312
Berkeley, CA 94720-3312
510.642.8681
510.643.2504 fax
cgetz@nature.berkeley.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Department of Sociology, 2003
Dissertation: Re-Embedded Markets and the Pursuit of Livelihood Security:
Social Capital and Transnational Linkages in Agro Food Chains
Peter Evans (chair)
MA
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Sociology, 1997
Masters Thesis: Tomatoes for Thought: The Organic Processing Tomato
Commodity Chain in Northern California
Rachel Schurman (advisor)
BA
Pomona College, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Pomona Scholar
International Relations, 1987
Honors Thesis: Foreign Aid During the Reagan Years and The Private Sector
Initiative in Costa Rica: A Critical Perspective
Nuket Kardam (chair)
RESEARCH AND OUTREACH
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist, 2002-present.
Area of emphasis: natural resource dependent workers and communities.
Currently developing an integrated program of research and outreach related
to sustainable livelihood issues in California’s rural communities, with an
emphasis on complex relationships among communities, natural resource use
and the environment. Working to broaden UC Cooperative Extension’s
historical focus on industry groups to include other important California
constituencies, including formal and informal labor groups. Current research
includes exploring the non-timber forest products industry in California, with a
focus on labor issues and the industry’s interface with federal agencies; and
assessing the economic and sociological context of UC Extension-affiliated
agricultural partnerships. Current outreach includes building capacity around
community economic development issues in Trinity County; developing a
workshop for agency professionals on the principles of community forestry;
and working with watershed groups to increase input from and participation
of underrepresented populations. http://espm.berkeley.edu/divisions/se.html
Researcher, Sage Foundation. 2000-2001.
Member of team doing research and data analysis for SAGE foundation book. My
area of expertise and focus was family and household change in the United States
over the last century. Data sources include Integrated Public Use Microdata
Surveys, Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.
Dissertation Fieldwork, 1999-2000
Conducted interviews with over 100 people involved in specialty vegetable food
chains originating in Baja California, Mexico. Interviewees included small farmers
(ejidatarios), migrant farm workers, agronomists, agricultural extension workers,
produce brokers, labor contractors, and local government leaders.
FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS
Mellon Fellowship in Latin American Sociology, UC Berkeley 1998-2001
Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to pursue independent dissertation
research and writing.
NICHD Traineeship in Demography, UC Berkeley 1996-1998
Funded by the National Institute of Child and Health Development to pursue
advanced training in demographic methods and theory.
SCHOLARLY WORK
Publications
“Organic Farming: Social Movement or Capitalist Appropriation?” with Daniel Buck
and Julie Guthman. Sociologia Ruralis, April 1997, vol. 37: 3-20.
“Consolidating the Commodity Chain: Organic Farming and Agribusiness in
Northern California,” with Daniel Buck and Julie Guthman. Institute for Food and
Development Policy, Oakland, CA, 1996.
Presentations
“Musings from the Field: Embeddedness and Livelihood Security in Transnational
Commodity Chains.” Paper presented at the meeting of the Latin American Studies
Association, Hyatt Regency Miami, March 16-18, 2000.
Works in Progress
“The Commodification of Plant Genetic Resources: A Theoretical Perspective.”
Revisions in progress.
LANGUAGE ABILITY
Advanced competency in Spanish. Honed written and verbal communication
abilities while studying in Spain in 1990, living in Colombia 1991-92, and carrying
out dissertation fieldwork in Mexico 1999-2000.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Sociological Association
Latin American Studies Association