Growing Careers in Agricultural & Food Law: A Webinar for 1890s Institutions

Kellie Adesina serves as Director of Government Affairs at Bayer where she is responsible for crop science issues like gene editing, biotech regulation and approvals, biostimulants, oilseeds, vegetables, and food security. Prior to joining Bayer, she served as Chief Counsel on the House Agriculture Committee for Chairman Collin C. Peterson. In this capacity, she successfully drafted several provisions that were included in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. She also provided strategic and legal counsel to the Chairman and other Democratic Members of the Committee.

Before joining the House Agriculture Committee, Kellie was Senior Counselor in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this role, she served as the chief of staff to the General Counsel and provided legal advice and services regarding the broad range of activities at USDA.

Prior to USDA, Kellie was Legislative Director to Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio where she developed and implemented the Congresswoman’s legislative agenda, as well as managed the legislative staff. She also guided the Congresswoman through the 2014 Farm Bill Conference Committee negotiations. Additionally, Kellie has worked for Congresswoman Judy Chu of California as Legislative Counsel and in various roles for Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, her home state.

Kellie holds a Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Bethune-Cookman College. In her spare time she serves as a mentor and volunteers through her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Rusty Rumley, Senior Staff Attorney at the National Agricultural Law Center, was born and raised on a family farm in Cogar, Oklahoma. He graduated magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University in 2004 with a B.S. in AgriBusiness and in 2007 earned his juris doctor from the University of Oklahoma. While attending the University of Oklahoma he was a member of the American Indian Law Review and worked part-time for Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation.  After law school, Rusty earned his LL.M in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas.  He is licensed to practice law in the states of Oklahoma and Michigan.

Rusty has published law review articles discussing the future application of special use valuation for inherited farmland, “right to farm” statutes, and the enforcement of animal cruelty statutes by private organizations. He has also written on landowner liability, agritourism, food labeling, local food production, business organizations, crop insurance, estate planning, leasing, and other land use topics in his work at the Center. Further, Rusty presents around the country to producer, consumer, extension, industry and legal groups on an array of topics.

Additionally, he has  co-taught a course titled “Animals and Agricultural Production, Law and Policy”  several times at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and most recently at the University of Nebraska College of Law and teaches an introduction to agricultural law course through the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, & Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.  He is also an adjunct faculty member in the  University of Arkansas’ Animal  Science Department  and the Agricultural  Economics and Agribusiness Department.

Jana Caracciolo, Staff Attorney at the National Agricultural Law Center, grew up on a small honey tangerine farm in Clermont, Florida which spurred her interest and fascination in the workings of the food system. Prior to attending college full time, Jana served as the 2014-2015 Area III State Vice President for the Florida FFA Association. In 2018, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida with a B.S. degree in Food and Resource Economics. While attending the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida for law school, Jana was a member of the Florida Moot Court Team, served as a co-chair of the 26 Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference, participated in the National Food Law Student Network, and was a research assistant for Professor Michael Olexa at the UF/IFAS Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Law. In addition, she interned for the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic as well as the Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs Division of the United States Department of Agriculture Office of the General Counsel.

Jana graduated from law school in 2021, and began her work at the Center shortly afterwards. At the Center, Jana primarily focuses her research and scholarship on food labeling and food safety related issues.