Our Team

Ermias Kebreab

Associate Dean of Global Engagement and Director of the World Food Center

Ermias Kebreab is a renowned scholar and skilled administrator with extensive experience in sustainable agriculture and animal science. Alongside his leadership of the World Food Center, Dr. Kebreab serves as the Associate Dean of Global Engagement in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, and through both positions he oversees the advancement of the college's international goals while working in collaboration with extensive internal and external partnerships to magnify the grand challenges facing our global food systems.

Dr. Kebreab is the Sesnon Endowed Chair in the Department of Animal Science. He has conducted extensive research in developing strategies for using feed additives to reduce methane emissions from livestock and has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications. He is chair of the United Nations FAO Technical Working Group on Feed Additives, a committee member for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Panel on Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in the United States and also serves on the NAS Committee for Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle. He is a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2019 Update on Good Practices Guideline in Chapter 4, "Emissions from Livestock and Manure Management." Dr. Kebreab is a recipient of the 2018 Bouffault International Animal Agriculture award and the 2014 American Feed Industry Ruminant Nutrition award from the American Society of Animal Science.

Dr. Kebreab has previously served as the Associate Vice Provost of Academic Programs for Global Affairs and as the Deputy Director for the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. Hailing from Eritrea, Dr. Kebreab received his B.Sc. in biology from the University of Asmara, followed by a M.Sc. in integrative biology and a Ph.D. in ecological modeling from the University of Reading, UK.

Andrea Thompson

Associate Program Director

Andrea Thompson’s career spans the fields of food communications, project management and food product development. Prior to becoming the Associate Program Director for UC Davis’ World Food Center, she was Special Projects Manager with UC Davis’ Departments of Food Science and Technology, Viticulture and Enology and Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and Industry Relations Manager for the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Before joining UC Davis, she was a television culinary producer, test kitchen manager for Williams-Sonoma’s corporate headquarters in San Francisco, and worked in new media at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. She's held positions as the the editor of Edible Sacramento magazine, and the food columnist for the Sacramento Business Journal.  She is an active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage and hospitality. She has a BA in writing from Western Washington University as well as a degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.