Office Staff

Ms. Elyssa Arnold is a Regulatory Risk Assessor in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), focusing primarily on ecological risk assessments including Biological Evaluations and Biological Opinions for endangered species. Ms. Arnold previously worked as a biologist and team lead in the Environmental Fate and Effects Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs from 2011 to 2020. From 2020 to 2021, Ms. Arnold worked as the Biosolids Program risk assessment lead in the U.S. EPA Office of Water. Ms. Arnold earned her MPH from the Yale School of Public Health and her MEM from the Yale School of the Environment, both with concentrations in environmental health. She earned her BA in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Cameron Douglass is an Agronomist (Weed Scientist) in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), and primarily handles policy issues involving registration reviews of herbicides and herbicide resistance management. Dr. Douglass’s portfolio also includes invasive species-related matters and serving on USDA’s Invasive Species Working Group, as well as pollinator issues and serving on USDA’s Pollinator Working Group. Dr. Douglass previously worked as a biologist in the Environmental Fate and Effects Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs from 2016-2020. Prior to working at USEPA, he was the Thomas McKenna Meredith Postdoctoral Scholar in Environmental Sciences at Trinity College (Hartford, CT). Dr. Douglass received his Ph.D. in Bio-agricultural Sciences and Pest Management from Colorado State University, his M.S. in Vegetable Crops (Weed Science) from Cornell University, and his B.A. in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic.

Dr. Julius Fajardo is a Senior Plant Pathologist in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). Dr. Fajardo joined OPMP in 2012 as a Plant Pathologist. In this capacity, Dr. Fajardo’s portfolio includes policy issues involving registration reviews of fungicides, biofungicides and plant growth regulators as well as fungicide resistance in collaboration with EPA. He has worked on emerging diseases and pathogens through USDA-ARS’ National Plant Disease Recovery System, USDA-APHIS’ Multi-Agency Coordination Group for citrus greening or huanglongbing including the Federal Interagency Committee on Invasive Terrestrial Animals and Pathogens (ITAP). Dr. Fajardo provides scientific support with the Office of the Chief Scientist on the role of antibacterial and antifungal compounds in crops on foodborne antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Fajardo received his Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Pathology from Texas A&M University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Master of Science degrees in Plant Pathology from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos.

Dr. Clayton Myers is a Senior Entomologist in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). His responsibilities include regulatory issues related to insecticides and insecticide resistance management. Dr. Myers also serves on USDA’s hemp working group, providing input on numerous regulatory issues for this newly legalized crop, with an emphasis on registration of needed crop protection tools. Prior to joining OPMP, Dr. Myers worked at EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs for nearly a decade, and he has extensive experience in pesticide benefits/usage analysis, label review, and insecticide efficacy review. Dr. Myers has both a research and practical background in IPM for specialty crops. He earned his Ph.D. from Penn State University and grew up on a small family fruit farm in Central Pennsylvania. Dr. Myers also served as a post-doctoral researcher with USDA-ARS at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV.

Ms. Claire Paisley-Jones is a General Biologist (Risk Assessor & Risk Management Analyst) in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), focusing primarily on pesticide use and usage data analysis in support of human health and ecological risk assessments (including Biological Evaluations and Biological Opinions for endangered species consultation). Ms. Paisley-Jones previously worked as a biologist in the Biological and Economic Analysis Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs from 2013 to 2022, where she gained extensive experience in pesticide usage/benefits analysis, label review, and risk assessment methodology development. Ms. Paisley-Jones earned her M.S. in Environmental Science (with a focus in Agricultural Ecosystems Management) from the Ohio State University, where she was a National Science Foundation GK-12 Teaching Fellow. She earned her B.A in Biology from the College of Wooster.

Ms. Lori Quade is the Administrative Officer for the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). Lori has been in the Federal government for the past 13 years. All of that time had been spent with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH. Lori has experience with a wide range of administrative tasks, as she has been a support staff assistant, administrative assistant, and for the last 6 years, an administrative officer. During her various roles, Lori has led meetings, mentored new staff, has been a purchase card holder, managed the division’s FedEx account, has been a liaison for assisting travel planners, and she beta tested a new SharePoint budget tracking tool. With 35 years in customer service, Lori has learned how to tailor her skills to meet the needs of a diverse clientele. Before entering the government, Lori was with Home Depot for 11 years, with the last 4 of those years as the lead of the inventory management team.

Ms. Michelle Ranville is a Senior Agricultural Economist in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). Ms. Ranville previously worked as an economist in the Biological and Economic Analysis Division (BEAD) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs from 2008 to 2015. Her work at EPA focused on evaluating the economic benefits of pesticides, primarily in agricultural applications. She also worked on cost-benefit analysis for regulations and led an effort to develop a method for establishing economic minor uses of pesticides. She has since worked as an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on surveys related to labor costs and occupational requirements. Ms. Ranville earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University and a M.A. and B.A. in Economics from the University of Toledo.

Dr. Jen Rowland serves as the Biotechnology Coordinator for USDA, facilitating cross-departmental and interagency engagement, and serving as a point of contact for stakeholders. Previously, Dr. Rowland was a science advisor in Foreign Agricultural Service New Technologies and Production Methods division, working to maintain and expand global market access for products of agricultural biotechnology. Dr. Rowland earned a PhD in microbiology in 2014 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. After many years at the lab bench Dr. Rowland turned to a career in science policy, as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow sponsored by AAAS at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in the Pests, Pathogens and Biocontrol Permits unit.

Ms. Julie Van Alstine is a Human Health Risk Assessor in the Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP). Ms. Van Alstine previously worked as an environmental health scientist, senior chemist, and supervisory chemist in the Health Effects Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs from 2008 to 2022. Directly prior to joining OPMP, she worked as a health science specialist at the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Ms. Van Alstine received her MPH in Global Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and her BS in Chemistry from Allegheny College.