Cristina M Murillo-Barrick

Murillo-Barrick named Agricultural Land Acquisitions Academic Coordinator II

Cristina Murillo-Barrick (she / ella) joined UC Cooperative Extension as an Agricultural Land Acquisitions Academic Coordinator II on July 15, 2021. She will serve Fresno, Merced and Tulare counties.

In her new role with UCCE, Murillo-Barrick will support the mission of California’s Sustainable Agricultural Land Conservation Program (SALC) to address climate change by protecting productive farmland. Collaborating with the Strategic Growth Council and the California Department of Conservation, she will provide local and regional planning agencies, land trusts, nonprofits, landowners and other stakeholders with input on critical land use issues, strategies and opportunities. This work will involve actively engaging partners, providing technical expertise and enhancing capacity of underserved communities.

Prior to joining UC ANR, Murillo-Barrick worked as an environmental science educator in National Parks in the United States and protected areas in Central America. Murillo-Barrick has worked in areas of education, capacity building and ecotourism guide training, continuously centering on historically marginalized communities within California and abroad.

Last year she and Dr. Clare Gupta, UC Cooperative Extension specialist, teamed up with California Institute for Rural Studies and the Community Water Center to produce the podcast Water is Gold: How Central Valley Communities are Still Fighting the Drought; this work was part of a National Science Foundation funded multidisciplinary research project that examined the effects of groundwater, drought and climate change.

She earned an M.A. in Geography, M.S. in Community Development, a B.A. in International Relations, and B.A. in Spanish, all from UC Davis. She is fluent in Spanish and trained in both translation and interpretation. Within this position she hopes to “support, amplify and expand efforts to achieve agricultural sustainability and address climate change within California’s most impacted communities. A fundamental piece of this work will involve providing sound technical assistance while centering on equity, antiracism and language justice.”

Murillo-Barrick is headquartered in Fresno and can be reached at (559) 458-6193 and cmurillo@ucanr.edu.