Victoria Hornbaker

Victoria Hornbaker was appointed Director of the Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services Division (PHPPS) by Secretary Ross in May 2024. Victoria has been with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for 16 years in various positions, before becoming the Director of the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division in 2019.

In 2001, she joined the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), where she conducted pesticide registration reviews, efficacy evaluations and risk assessments. After seven years with CDPR, Victoria joined CDFA in 2008. During her tenure with CDFA, Victoria has managed multiple environmental programs including the Vertebrate Pest Control Program, Cotton Pest Control Program, Beet Curly Top Virus Control Program, and from 2013 through 2019 the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program. In 2017, Victoria was named Branch Chief with the Integrated Pest Control Branch where she has successfully managed multiple programs, as well as successfully developed new programs including a Nutria Survey Program and an Apiary Program. In August 2018, Victoria was appointed as the Interim Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program Director where she was charged with leading the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program in their quest for dedicated resources. In addition to her work at CDFA, Victoria represented California on the United States Department of Agriculture's Huanglongbing Multi-Agency Coordination Project, she was an invited technical expert at the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization's Expert Working Group on Huanglongbing in Valencia Spain in 2018 and was a member of the North American Plant Protection Organization working group on huanglongbing in 2023.