Mio Katayama Owens
Assistant Dean
International and Executive Programs, Rausser College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley
Assistant Dean
International and Executive Programs, Rausser College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley
Dr. Mio Katayama Owens is the Assistant Dean of International and Executive Programs in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Anthropology as an international student at UC Berkeley, specializing in Anthropology of Food and East Asian Prehistory. With ten years of managing anthropological fieldwork projects in Japan, Owens examined the long-term environmental impacts of food consumption behaviors and the role cultural factors play in societal definitions of food. After earning her Ph.D., Owens oversaw a variety of graduate student initiatives including business model development, revenue stream identification, public health, and impact assessment as an academic coordinator for an international nonprofit. She has taught Anthropology of Food and Archaeology courses at UC Berkeley and St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. At the College of Natural Resources, she leads the International and Executive Programs, collaborating with UC Berkeley faculty, staff, experts, and external stakeholders to effectively link academic and professional entities and develop professional programs in Berkeley and overseas. Together with the Academic Directors, Dean Emeritus and Professor J. Keith Gilless and Professor David Zilberman, Owens leads the internationally acclaimed Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program.