William Barnes

Education

• Bakersfield College
• Fresno State
• Cal Poly

Major: Ag Ed, Animal Science

Hobbies: livestock judging, raising show pigs.

Gay Gardella

Education:

• A.S. Animal Science, Bakersfield College
• B.S. Animal Science, CSUFresno
• M.S. Agriculture Science, California Polytechnic – SLO

Biography

Originally from a ranching/farming family in Nevada, Gay has lived in California for many years.

Her production background includes produce marketing, raising and showing registered Hampshire sheep, registered Red Angus cattle, commercial cattle, and American Quarter Horses.

Her newest adventure is racing Thoroughbred horses.

She joined the Bakersfield College Agriculture Dept. staff in 1993.

William Kelly

Bill Kelly was born and raised in Bakersfield. He developed his love of agriculture while a young student in 4H.

He is a graduate of Bakersfield High School and earned his AA at Bakersfield College. Mr. Kelly attended Fresno State College and received a BS in Agricultural Science and a MS in Animal Nutritition and Reproductive Physiology.

He taught agriculture and was FFA Advisor at South High School for many years before taking his current position as Professor of Forestry at Bakersfield College in 1982.

Mr. Kelly is a member of the American Society of Forestry, the American Society of Animal Science and also a member of the California Agriculture Teachers Association. He serves on the California Agriculture Vocational Education Advisory Committee.

Chris McCraw

Norman Oiler

Lindsay Ono

Lindsay Ono was born and raised in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley in Bakersfield, California. The son of a nurseryman, Mr. Ono developed a love for plants and landscaping from his family’s business.

He received his education from Bakersfield College and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in ornamental horticulture. Mr. Ono has taken on a wide range of horticultural jobs for over 28 years, working for retail landscape nurseries, as a laboratory research technician for a rose grower, radio talk show host and a horticultural educator in a federal prison.

He is an Associate Professor of Environmental Horticulture at Bakersfield College. In addition, he is the faculty advisor for the Bakersfield College Agriculture Ambassador Program. He is a member of the California Agricultural Teachers Association and is co-chair for the Community College Environmental Horticulture Curriculum committee. He also works with the California Statewide Career Pathways Project—Discipline Work Group and Champions Career Pathways Consortium.

Mr. Ono is Vice President of Education for the Kern County Chapter, California Landscape Contractors Association and also a board member and technical advisor for the Tree Foundation of Kern, a non-profit urban reforestation group.

During the summer of 2007, Ono was recognized as an E. (Kika) de la Garza Fellow in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program (HSINP). He was one of the 17 faculty members from Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) across the nation who were chosen for this prestigious honor.

He also is the organizer of Garden Fest, an event that highlights the Bakersfield College Agriculture program and brings the community together by combining educational garden seminars and fundraisers for community garden clubs.

Jerry Poncetta

Jerry Poncetta has been an adjunct agriculture professor at Bakersfield College for the last 10 years. Jerry retired from high school teaching in 2007 after 33 years as a vocational agriculture instructor at Clovis High , Arvin High and the Regional Occupational Center in Bakersfield where he established and taught the Animal Care Technology program to prepare students to work in the animal care field as veterinary assistants , animal shelter workers and large animal caretakers. Jerry has taught the An. Sci B20 Companion Animal Care and the An Sci. B22 Animals and Society courses at Bakersfield College in previous years. Jerry currently teaches a section of Agriculture B1 Society/Environment for the Agriculture Department at Bakersfield College.

Sally Sterns

Sally Sterns was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She traveled outside of the United States for many years and lived in Puerto Rico, Spain, Morocco and Canada. She developed her love of gardening from her grandmother.

Before moving to Bakersfield in 1999 she worked in the Retail Nursery Business.

Ms. Sterns graduated high school from the American School of Tangier, Morocco. She received her education from Bakersfield College with degrees in environmental horticulture and communication. Ms. Sterns is adjunct faculty and horticultural technician in the horticulture department.

She is a board member for the Tree Foundation of Kern, a non-profit urban reforestation group, and also is a member of the American Horticultural Society.

Ms. Sterns is organizer of Garden Fest, an annual event that highlights the agriculture department at Bakersfield College.