Bill Zittel
Chair
Owner/Manager, Amos Zittel & Sons, Inc.
Appointing Authority: Majority Leader NYS Senate
County of Residence: Erie
Board term ends 2028
Bill Zittel is an owner/manager of Amos Zittel & Sons, Inc., a family owned and operated 5th generation farm. Zittel’s grows wholesale fresh market vegetables, hand harvested on 400 acres, as well as rooted liners and a potted flower crop in 3.5 acres of greenhouse. Currently they harvest peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, squash, grape tomatoes and sweet corn marketed primarily through Eden Valley Growers. The rooted liners are sold through Ball Seed Company as well as other brokers. The finished flowers are direct marketed to local independent garden centers. Bill also serves on the Board of Directors of Eden Valley Growers and the Town of Eden Planning Board. He is past president and trustee of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Bill graduated from Cornell Ag & Life Sciences.
Read BioRichard E. Stup, PhD
Co-Chair
Director of Agricultural Workforce Development, Cornell University
Appointing Authority: Dean of Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
County of Residence: Tompkins
Board term ends 2029
Dr. Richard Stup leads the Agricultural Workforce Development program at Cornell University. He teaches leadership and management, and conducts research into labor challenges facing the industry. His focus is on helping agricultural employers avoid labor risks, create engaged employee teams, and operate profitably. Cornell Ag Workforce Development focuses on helping employers with regulatory compliance, developing managers and supervisors, employee housing management, and developing the future farm workforce. Before joining Cornell, Rich practiced as an organization development consultant, served as a senior leader in Farm Credit, was an extension specialist with Penn State, and worked in the feed industry. He earned his doctorate from Penn State in the field of Workforce Education and Development, including research into human resource management on employee organizational commitment.
Read BioMembers
Jim Bittner
President and General Manager, Bittner Singer Orchards
Appointing Authority: Minority Leader of the NYS Senate
County of Residence: Niagara
Board term ends 2030
Jim Bittner is the managing partner of Bittner-Singer Orchards, a 400 acre fruit farm located in Northern Niagara County in Appleton, NY. The farm currently grows apples (including some organically), sweet cherries, tart cherries, peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines. Markets for the fruit include U-pick, Buffalo Market, delivering to retail farmers markets, servicing CSAs, and supermarket deliveries. Bittner is a first-generation farmer. Previous to Singer Farms, Mr. Bittner was a partner in Retawta Farms, an 80-cow dairy. He received his BS degree from Cornell University.
Read BioLiz Calahan
Executive Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties (CCESO)
Appointing Authority: Governor’s Office
County of Residence: Otsego
Board term ends 2032
Liz Callahan is the Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties (CCESO). CCESO shares research-based resources and engaging outreach programming and activities with the residents of these predominantly agricultural counties. Before joining the staff of CCESO, Liz had a 30-year career in cultural stewardship which focused on rural and agricultural communities in the Northwest Catskills, worked in higher education, and assisted with refugee resettlement as a VISTA volunteer. Liz holds a Master’s in History Museum Studies from the State University of New York College at Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program, and has training in grassroots community leadership, non-profit governance and management, and strategic planning and resource development. Present and past board service includes the Historic Preservation & Architectural Review Board of the Village of Cooperstown (chair), the Catskills Folk Connection, the Friends of the Parks of the Village of Cooperstown, the United Way of Otsego & Delaware Counties, and the Cooperstown Graduate Association.
Read BioKeith Clark
Owner, Top Notch Timber Harvesting
Honorary Member
County of Residence: Broome
Board term ends 2031
Keith began Top Notch Timber Harvesting in 2007. He currently has one long-time employee, and they use both conventional and mechanized methods to harvest timber. They primarily work in the Catskills and Central New York region. Keith studied civil engineering at SUNY Broome and holds the Trained Logger Certification (TLC) from New York Logger Training. He often works closely with the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) and is passionate about reducing water erosion and lessening the environmental impact of timber removal.
Read BioCarrie Edsall & Daniel Zeh
Owners, Black Willow Pond Farm
Appointing Authority: Speaker of the NYS Assembly (appointment pending)
County of Residence: Schoharie
Board term ends 2031
Carrie Edsall and Daniel Zeh own and operate pasture-based Black Willow Pond Farm in Cobleskill, NY. They raise beef, chicken, turkeys, sheep and pigs. Throughout their time working the land, they have increased soil fertility with strict pasture management and intensive rotational grazing. Carrie and Dan sell their products at local farmers’ markets and have a large on-line business, as well. In addition to her work on the farm, Carrie teaches Animal Science at SUNY Cobleskill.
Read BiosAlicia Fletcher, MPH
Research Scientist/Epidemiologist, NYS Department of Health Occupational Health Surveillance Program
Appointing Authority: NYS Department of Health
County of
Residence: Albany
Board term ends 2029
Ms. Fletcher is a Research Scientist 4 (epidemiologist) with more than 26 years of experience in the NYS Department of Health’s Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention. She serves as the Principal Investigator of the NIOSH-funded “Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance in New York State” cooperative agreement and provides oversight to the Bureau’s occupational disease surveillance systems and registries. She also oversees the NYS Occupational Health Clinic Network, the nation’s only state-based occupational health clinic network and provides technical oversight to the Clinics as well as assisting in the understanding and interpretation of clinic data.
Read BioLisa Ford
Member Programs Manager, Cayuga Marketing
Appointing Authority: Speaker of the NYS Assembly (appointment pending)
County of Residence: Cayuga
Board term ends 2031
Since 2014, Lisa Ford has worked with Cayuga Marketing, a group of Central NY dairy farmers, on projects such as safety, animal well-being, and milk quality. The topics fit well with her interest in people and agriculture, developed through time with Peace Corps Guatemala, graduate studies at Cornell in International Agriculture and Rural Development, and years providing on-farm training and support.
Read BioJessica Garcia
Assistant to the President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Appointing Authority: Governor’s Office
County of Residence: New York
Board term ends 2030
Jessica García is Assistant to the President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a national labor union representing workers along the food supply chain, as well as workers in non-food retail and healthcare. She previously served as Deputy Political Director for the RWDSU, where she worked to advance the union’s legislative and political agendas. She currently serves as president of the board of directors of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. In 2021, she was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) and by NYS Governor Hochul to serve on the NYS Cannabis Control Board.
Read BioKitty Gelberg, PhD, MPH
Consultant, KayG Consulting, LLC
Honorary Member
County of Residence: Warren
Board term ends 2028
Kitty Gelberg is a public health consultant focusing on drug user health, suicide prevention and occupational health. She has worked extensively on improving data systems which includes making data accessible and understandable to high-risk communities, and improving the ability to collect and use data. This includes using data to evaluate activities that influence behavior and potentially change health outcomes. She has extensive history working on occupational health and safety, public health surveillance, and injury prevention. She has both a PhD and a Masters in Public Health in epidemiology from Yale University.
Read BioBruce Gibson
Managing Partner, Locust Hill Dairy LLC
Appointing Authority: NYS Assembly Minority Leader
County of Residence: Oswego
Board term ends 2033
Bruce Gibson is the managing partner of Locust Hill Dairy LLC, a family farm with a team of 80 employees who are responsible for milking 4800 cows, raising 2900 replacement heifers, and cropping 7000 acres in Oswego and Jefferson Counties. Brian develops and implements farm safety training plans for Locust Hill Dairy, is passionate about assisting employees with maximizing their healthcare benefits through our private insurance offering and services from other agricultural industry partners, and understands the health and safety challenges in agriculture. Prior to joining Lucust Hill Dairy in 2015, Bruce was a systems engineer for Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks, where he worked extensively with healthcare providers and schools on their business and technology challenges. Bruce earned a BS in Electrical Engineering Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.
Read BioVictor F. C. Jones
Emergency Services Coordinator, Otsego County Office of Emergency Services
Honorary Member
County of Residence: Otsego
Board term ends 2030
Mr. Jones’s department is dedicated to serving and protecting the residents of and visitors to Otsego County. As coordinator of Emergency Services, he oversees the training of Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel. Using the “Five Phases of Emergency Management,” his department focuses on prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery to natural and man-made disasters. In addition, the office directs the Homeland Security Program and Health and Safety Program. Mr. Jones serves as the captain of the Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department and on the SPCA Animal Rescue Task Force.
Read BioJames Shuford
Migrant Health Project Manager, Sun River Health
Honorary Member
County of Residence: Suffolk
Board term ends 2032
James Shuford is Project Manager of Migrant Health at Sun River Health. In addition to supporting the organization’s farmworker health care programming, James works with the Community Health Center Association of New York State in building a collaborative workgroup of organizations providing farmworker health care services throughout the state. James also advocates nationally for farmworker health as a member of the AgAccess 2020 taskforce, and has presented to the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health. In addition to his work increasing access to care for agricultural workers, he also works with the Sun River Health Advocacy team to organize events with elected officials in the Hudson Valley, and is a trained Advocate through the Advocacy Institute. James received his master’s degree in socio-cultural anthropology from the University at Albany, SUNY.
Read BioRenee St. Jacques
Senior Associate Director of Public Policy and Promotion & Education, New York Farm Bureau
Appointing Authority: President Pro Tempore/Senate Majority Leader (appointment pending)
County of Residence: Washington
Board term ends 2032
Renée St. Jacques is Senior Associate Director of Public Policy and Promotion & Education at New York Farm Bureau and works on a variety of policy issues, including cannabis, broadband, and food policy. She resides near her family’s farm in Washington County, New York where they used to raise sheep, but continue to produce maple syrup and train dogs for livestock herding. She received her master’s degree in leadership from SUNY Plattsburg and is a graduate of LeadNY (Class 19). Prior to joining NYFB, she worked with farmers in Cameroon for two years as a Peace Corps agribusiness volunteer.
Read BioBecky Wiseman, LCSW-R
Family Consultant Case Supervisor, Cornell University NY FarmNet Program
Appointing Authority: Governor’s Office (appointment pending)
County of Residence: Suffolk
Board term ends 2033
Becky Wiseman, LCSW-R, is the Family Consultant Case Supervisor for Cornell University’s NY FarmNet Program. She has worked in the agricultural industry for nearly 30 years, as the Associate Director for Long Island Farm Bureau, the Agricultural Stewardship Coordinator at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Suffolk County, and for the past six years as a NY FarmNet Family Consultant. She is a graduate of Boston University with a Master of Social Work, and has experience working with adults, families and adolescents in county mental health, in-patient psychiatry and private practice. Becky lives in Westhampton, New York, with her husband and two cats.
Read BioElizabeth Wolters
Deputy Commissioner, Department of Agriculture and Markets
Appointing Authority: Commissioner, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
County of Residence: Albany
Board term ends 2032
Elizabeth Wolters serves as Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture and Markets. In this capacity, she oversees the Department’s Divisions of Plant Industry, Land and Water Resources, and Animal Industry. Under her direction, these departments administer a wide array of programs to protect the state’s plant and land resources as well as animal and public health.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Wolters worked for New York Farm Bureau as both Deputy Director of Public Policy and Senior Associate Director of National Affairs where she gained expertise on energy, climate, environmental, and dairy policy as well as Federal Farm Bill programs. She also worked in the State legislature in several capacities. Ms. Wolters holds Master’s degree in business administration from the Sage Colleges and a bachelor’s degree from Siena College.
Read BioUPCOMING MEETING
Thursday, June 11, 2026 | The Otesaga Resort Hotel, Cooperstown, NY | 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
NYCAMH Advisory Board Documents
Meeting agendas, minutes, by-laws, & the public health law that established our Advisory Board
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – December 11, 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – December 11, 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – September 11, 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – September 11 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – June 12, 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – June 12, 2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes 3/13/2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda 3/13/2025
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – 12/12/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – 12/12/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – 9/12/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – 9/12/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – 6/13/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – 6/13/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Minutes – 3/14/2024
NYCAMH Advisory Board Meeting Agenda – 3/14/2024
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Phone: 607-547-6023
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info@NYCAMH.org
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