Terry Brase is Director of the Farm of the Future and assists in teaching and developing precision
ag courses. He has BS and MS degrees in Ag Education from Iowa State University. He
taught at two Iowa community colleges for 30 years, teaching ag geospatial technologies
for the last 23 years. He developed the first in the nation two-year degree in Precision
Agriculture in 1995 with funding from the National Science Foundation. In 2001 he
was the originator and Principal Investigator of AgrowKnowledge, the National Center
for Science and Technology in Agriculture. He has been instrumental in two ESRI Special
Achievement in GIS awards, the recipient of the 2012 Educator Award of Excellence
at the International Precision Ag Conference, and the Lifetime Achievement in Geospatial
Education Award in 2018.
Contact Terry via email at terrybrase@whccd.edu or by phone at 559 934-2701.
Dr. Tim Ellsworth joined West Hills College in August 2013 as an agriculture technology instructor.
In addition to agriculture, he also teaches geology and environmental science courses.
His primary academic areas of expertise are soil science, with a focus on precision
agriculture and nutrient management, and distance education. Tim currently serves
on the Advisory board for the Canadian Biochar Consortium.
Prior to joining WHC, Tim worked for 23 years as a professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where part of his duties included serving as the faculty director of the online master’s program for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science. Tim obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. In addition to working at the University of Illinois, his prior work experience includes serving as a soil scientist with the USDA U.S. Salinity Laboratory, a visiting faculty member at the Centre for Water Research, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Western Australia in Perth and a senior scientist performing hazard assessments and hazard evaluations for the U.S. Army with regard to management of the U.S. Army Chemical Weapon Stockpile.
Tim and his wife, Jennifer, have three daughters and a son.
Contact Tim via email at timothyellsworth@whccd.edu or by phone at 559 934-2711.
Chris Chaney is a full-time Agriculture Industrial Technologies Instructor, teaching Truck Driving,
industrial maintenance technology and heavy equipment. After teaching welding as part
of the Pathways out of Poverty and C6 for 3 ½ years for WHCC, Chris was hired as a
Field Operations Representative for Neil Jones Food Company working with tomato growers
in the Valley to ensure quality and market timeliness for the processor.
He grew up in San Joaquin on his family's farm, where they grew cotton, alfalfa seed, corn, grain hay and ran a dairy. Chris attended Kerman High School where he won the national proficiency for Specialty Crop Production. After completing his American FFA degree, Chris attended West Hills College Coalinga where he earned his Associates of Science in Crop Science. He then transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and earned a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Systems Management. While attending college, Chris owned and operated a hay harvesting company. An interesting fact about Chris is that he, along with two other West Hills College Coalinga Alumni, won the Junk Yard Mega Wars, a three episode mega special that included three separate competitions from LA to Vegas.
Chris and his wife Kimberly have two boys, Josh and Caleb
Contact Chris via email at christopherchaney@whccd.edu or by phone at 559 934-2705.
Valeria Hochman Adler completed her B.S. degree at the National University of La Pampa, Argentina in Management
of Renewable Natural Resources and worked in Argentina on environmental projects.
Valeria completed her Master’s degree in 2004 at the Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Israel. Upon completion, she worked for several years at the Ben-Gurion University
in the Life Science Department. In 2008, she began her PhD research at the same institution,
focused on insect spillovers from agricultural fields to the surrounding natural areas.
In 2015, Valeria came to the UC Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier as a Postdoctoral Scholar, participating in a collaborative research effort on vine mealybug involving HPLC technology, following insecticide movement in grapevines. In 2020, Valeria joined the post-harvest research group at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center as an Assistant Project Scientist.
While still a postdoctoral scholar, she began to teach at several community colleges in the San Joaquin Valley. Over the last 6 years, Valeria has amassed a wide breadth of experience in Biology and Agriculture education as an adjunct instructor within the State Center Community College District (SCCCD) and West Hills Community College District (WHCCD). She got hired as a full-time instructor at WHCCD in August 2021.
Adrian Jenkin - Farm Technician
Larry Parades is a full-time Industrial Science Instructor. Born and raised in the San Joaquin
Valley, Larry left to serve in the United States Navy as a Corpsman and Field Medic
with the U.S. Marine Corps. After spending more than twenty years in the private
sector as a welder, fabricator, and machinist, Larry followed his dream to become
a welding instructor to teach others the trade about which he is so passionate.
Larry has a Certificate in Welding Technology from Reedley College and a B.A. and M.A. Fresno Pacific University including a K-12 CTE teaching credential. Is certified with NCCER’s (National Center for Construction Education and Research) as an instructor. Completed ACUE’s (Association of College and University Educators) Certification in Effective Teaching Practices. In March 2022 was awarded a Fellowship with the Association of Career Technical Educators and is currently working on an M.A. in TESOL/SLAT at Fresno State University.
Contact Larry via email at LarryParedes@whccd.edu or by phone at 559 934-2709.
Alissa Trevino is the Program Assistant for the Farm of the Future
Juana Tapia is the Academic Advising Specialist for the Farm of the Future