Faculty Spotlight- Camille Frazier

Tell us about yourself

I grew up in the small foothills town of Jamestown, California, and now live in Sacramento with my husband and two daughters. My career spans research and policy contexts and has taken me from Los Angeles to India, northern New York to Sacramento. I have a BA from Scripps College in Claremont, CA, and an MA and PhD from UCLA. I’m a cultural anthropologist by training and have published my research on food and the environment in India in a range of venues, from an article about rising urban temperatures in City and Society to my book, Cultivating Livability: Food, Class, and the Urban Future in India (University of Minnesota Press, 2024). In addition to lecturing at UC Davis, I’m currently the Agricultural Land Equity Program Lead at the California Strategic Growth Council. In spring 2026, I taught a new course for EPM titled “Governing for Environmental Justice and Equity,” and I’m looking forward to teaching the class again this coming spring. I’m also excited to teach “Policy Development and Implementation” (ENV 202) this fall. 

What inspired you to switch from a career in academia to working for the state?

I love teaching, research, and writing, but as I neared tenure at my previous institution, I began to feel that I wanted to be more directly involved in the issues I care about. I felt ready to jump into the messy, always in-progress work of analyzing problems and then implementing solutions. I was excited by the opportunity to lead the administration of the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force, a public body that was created by the Legislature in 2022. This topic is directly related to my research interests so it was a perfect way for me to transition from academia to the state.    

Can you tell us about the environmental issues you focus on through your work with the Strategic Growth Council?

I’m grateful to be part of the amazing team at the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC). As the program manager for the Agricultural Land Equity Initiative, my team and I supported the administration of the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force, an independent body that submitted policy recommendations to the Governor and Legislature in December 2025. This project captured the  amazing work that farmers, ranchers, and Tribal land stewards are doing across the state to steward California’s invaluable agricultural lands into the future, while also documenting the historical and ongoing injustices that impact who has secure access to land. Now that the Task Force has concluded, I’m supporting work at SGC related to agriculture, regional economies, community wellbeing and resilience, and regenerative relationships with land and other natural resources. 

What do you hope students take away from your courses?

I’d like students to finish class with a foundational understanding of the topic (e.g., policy development or environmental justice) and the tools that they need to continue engaging with the topic moving forward. My goal is for students to learn how to situate their own passions and perspectives within a broader, complicated context that requires continual questioning, learning, and adjusting. If students walk away with a commitment to continual learning and the confidence that they’re ready to jump in, I feel I’ve done my job well. 

What do you think makes the EPM program unique?

I’m impressed by the students in the EPM program for many reasons. For one, they are truly passionate and knowledgeable about environmental issues and are always looking for ways to learn more. Second, they are willing to get into the messy details of what it takes to make good policy and want to do the hard work of continuously evaluating and improving on previous ideas. And third, the camaraderie among students in the program is energizing–it’s obvious that students have a deep respect for one another and a commitment to learning from both their peers and their faculty. 

What is a fun fact about you?

When I was 11, I  enrolled in a 4-H program for pygmy goats. For the next few years, I raised and showed pygmy goats at the Tuolumne County Fair. It was a blast!