CAHNRS News is published monthly. Please submit items for the November issue by October 28.

Honors and awards

Alix Whitener, an entomology Ph.D. student, received the Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology from the Entomological Society of America. More details here.

Juming Tang, a professor in biological systems engineering, and Meijun Zhu, a professor in food science, received nearly $1 million as a part of a $5 million, five-year grant from USDA NIFA to develop scientific knowledge and technologies for control of pathogens in low-moisture foods. The team will work closely with Decagon Devices in Pullman, a world leader in development and manufacturing of water activity measurement instruments, on the project.

Vancouver human development professor Karen Peterson’s book “Helping them Heal” won the 2015 Revere Award for Professional Resources from the American Association of Publishers. More details here.

Several grants were awarded in the Department of Entomology:

Carol Black received a $137,095 grant from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.
Jay Brunner received a $179,713 grant for the USDA/FAS/TASC.
Brandon Hopkins received a $12,000 grant from USDA/APHIS.
John Stark received a $52,070 grant from WA DOH/EPA.
Doug Walsh received a $5,000 grant from DOW.

Patricia Pendry received a 3-year grant from Mars-Waltham to study the effects of interaction with service animals on stress, emotion regulation, and executive functioning.

Rich Zack, an entomology professor, was selected to serve on the WSU Presidential Search Advisory Committee.

Ellen Bornhorst, a Ph.D. student in food engineering, was awarded a Seligman APV Travel Bursary in 2015. She participated in the 12th International Congress on Engineering and Food June 14 – 18 in Québec, Canada. More details here.

Tom Power, a human development professor, received a multi-site grant from USDA/NIFA/AFRI, titled “Use of Engaging Online Videos in Conjunction with New Feeding Content to Enhance a Current EFNEP Program in the Prevention of Child Obesity.”

WSU Extension’s Rural Pathways to Prosperity (P2P) conference received the University Economic Development Association Award of Excellence in the Leadership and Collaboration category. The award was presented to Monica Babine and Debra Hansen on September 29 at the UEDA Annual Meeting in Anchorage. More details here.

Chris Blodgett, director of the Child and Family Research Unit (CAFRU), is coordinating part of a US Department of Education grant submitted by Washington State. CAFRU is part of the grant, with support set at $150,000 for each of three years. The scope of work is to conduct geocoded analyses of community characteristics predictive of educational outcomes in early learning and post-secondary youth. The new grant is an extension of analyses conducted in the March 2015 No Schools Alone report requested by the Washington state legislature.

Three faculty members in the Viticulture and Enology Program, Markus Keller, WSU professor of viticulture, Jim Harbertson, associate professor of chemistry, and Tom Collins, WSU assistant professor of chemistry, have all taken on leadership positions in the American Society of Enology and Viticulture. More details here.

October 2015

News

Associate dean testifies on specialty crop research before U.S. House Agriculture Committee

Jim Moyer, associate dean of research for CAHNRS and director of the Agricultural Research Center at WSU, testified before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, September 29, in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the hearing was to review innovations in research by U.S. agricultural colleges and universities. More details, and a video, here.

Extension disaster unit provides aid during wildfires

During this summer’s disastrous wildfires, WSU activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to help local EOCs and Extension offices with disaster recovery and coordinating response efforts, education, and information. Extension directors helped local EOCs with animal relocation, animal evacuation, and a variety of other needs, especially with communication, information, and education about wildfires and what to do in the aftermath of these disasters.

Extension also created the Wildfire Response and Recovery team to coordinate and enhance their activities. The Stevens and Ferry County Extension offices worked with members of that team and the Spokane County Extension Office to coordinate a regional collaboration team with Conservation District, Department of Natural Resources, FEMA, Red Cross, USDA, Rural Resources, County Commissioners, and other agencies responsible for or assisting in the disaster recovery process. Extension offices will host a series of workshops with recovery information and education to support those impacted through the fall.

“This has been a challenging time for many people,” said Ferry County Extension director Trevor Lane. “The areas of loss and subjects we will be addressing are youth and family, small business, agriculture, livestock, and forestry.”

Spokane Extension’s director Dori Babcock and 4-H program coordinator Kate McCloskey helped obtain hay donations so cattlemen could avoid major devastation by the massive expense of bringing in cattle early. In collaboration with Spokane Extension, Lane got approximately 36 tons of hay to cattlemen adversely impacted by the wildfires.

Lane said the impact from these wildfires and the recovery process will be long term, especially with regard to small business, economic development efforts, range land issues, ecology, water quality and the potential for flooding, and more issues yet to be fully realized.

The WSU Extension Wildfire Response and Recovery Team created a wildfire microsite with information and resources to assist the general public. County Extension offices are also available to help with information about the various programs available to help with recovery efforts. Individual Extension offices may have a recovery assistance web page like those maintained by Ferry and Stevens Counties.

International research grant for work in Tanzania

WSU’s International Research and Agricultural Development (IRAD) has recently been awarded $3.7 million by the USDA-FAS to assist the USAID/Tanzania Office of Economic Growth through providing support for technical assessments and research. In addition to managerial expertise in sub-Saharan Africa, IRAD brings specific engagement in agricultural development in Tanzania with current programs and partnerships with ministries, universities, cooperatives, and NGOs. IRAD will draw on the breadth of faculty expertise in the areas of production agriculture, economics and agribusiness, horticulture, value added processing, irrigation, animal sciences, youth development, natural resources and forestry/forest products, food processing and safety, and veterinary medicine.

Bread Lab featured in Saveur magazine

Steve Jones and the WSU Bread Lab were praised in Saveur magazine by San Francisco restaurant owner Chad Robertson for their work helping bakers make better bread.

Undergraduate researchers featured

The Columbian newspaper in Clark County ran an article about the “Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics of the Columbia River Basin” Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project at WSU Vancouver. The story highlighted eight undergraduate students’ summer research experience, allowing the community to learn about the ways WSU is supporting undergraduate research.

Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens and Steve Bollens serve as Co-PIs of the WSU Vancouver REU project, which is funded by a three-year, $260,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Master Gardeners honored at state conference

365 Master Gardeners from around the state attended the 2015 WSU State Master Gardener Conference, held September 17-19. Washington first lady Trudi Inslee was the keynote for the welcome session. The conference also provided advanced education classes ranging from leadership and promoting the Master Gardener Program, to gardening in a changing climate and looking at GMOs objectively.

Twenty-three WSU Master Gardener volunteers received the President’s Volunteer Service Awards from the White House for giving more than 500 hours of volunteer service to their communities, and thirteen received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Awards for giving over 4,000 hours of service as a WSU Master Gardener.

Phyllis Pugnetti was named 2015 Master Gardener of the Year for her innovation in creating an Heirloom Garden and for her commitment to teaching classes ranging from worm composting to winter gardening and raised beds. Her classes are always well attended and her enthusiasm has been a wonderful boon for the Yakima Master Gardener Program.

Joshua Lackey, a Pierce County Master Gardener, received the Van Bobbitt Scholarship, awarded to a high school senior or other student who is entering college to study horticulture and its related fields. Lackey attends Pierce College in Puyallup and is majoring in landscaping with a focus on golf course design. In high school, he authored and illustrated a book for Master Gardeners titled “Don’t Stomp the Bug.” He volunteered 462 hours in the Pierce County Master Gardener Program during his first year as a Master Gardener volunteer.

Tyler Baker received the Mary Robson Scholarship, which is offered each year to a student already studying agriculture at WSU. Baker, a sophomore at WSU, has a dual major in fruit and vegetable management and landscape nursery greenhouse management, with a minor in horticulture. He plans to study pomology as a graduate student after completing his bachelors degree.

Nancy Davidson Short received the Ed LaCrosse Distinguished Service Award. The first editor of the Pacific Northwest Edition for Sunset magazine, she supported Steve Lorton’s article that helped to launch the Master Gardener Program in 1973. She has given a lifetime of support to the Master Gardener Program from her position with Sunset Magazine. She recently celebrated her 103rd birthday.

Mary Shane, a Grays Harbor County Master Gardener volunteer, received the Media Award for her continuing support of Master Gardener voices throughout the state. She has been the editor of the newsletter Seeds for Thought since 2009. In 2012 and 2013, Mary edited the Northwest Perennial Alliance’s annual Open Gardens Directory and was co-editor in 2013 and 2014 for the Grays Harbor-Pacific Counties Master Gardener Foundation’s eNews Weekly.

Events

Nov. 4: CAHNRS town hall meeting

The CAHNRS administration will host a town hall meeting Nov. 4, 3-5 p.m. in FSHN T101 and via AMS to statewide locations. Please join us for discussions on:

Administrative changes and an update on the WSU Presidential Search
Budget constraints and realities for CAHNRS in 2016–2017
Business Centers – best practices for units
Intra-college communications—Getting the message to all corners

CAHNRS Acting Dean Kim Kidwell and Associate Deans Rich Koenig and Jim Moyer will present updates on these topics and more, and will field questions from the audience. Your input is welcome and needed! For the most thorough responses and answers, please submit questions in advance here.

The meeting is open to all CAHNRS faculty, staff, and students. Please mark your calendar.

Oct. 15: Poplar farms as a wastewater management tool: Planting strategies to align with potential markets

WSU Extension’s Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest team hosts this event, which will include lessons learned from current poplar growers and case studies from three communities in the Willamette Valley. Event is Oct. 15, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, Wash. Cost $40. More information here.

Oct. 17: Park and playground design workshop

The WSU Rural Communities Design Initiative, the Soap Lake Parks and Recreation Committee, Friends of the Lower Grand Coulee, and Grant County Health District host a community workshop to continue design for parks and recreation opportunities for Soap Lake in the Soap Lake High School library.

Priorities of the workshop are designing the playground and general parks plan, a connecting trail between the beaches and walking and biking trails. Participants will be building on work undertaken in July.

Saturday, October 17, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Oct. 21: National Bioenergy Day celebration – webinar

Celebrate National Bioenergy Day with Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest’s Wednesday Webinar – Converting hybrid poplar to biofuels: Feedstock properties and conversion techniques. Event is Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 11:30-12:30. Register here.

Oct. 28: Using qualitative methods in your evaluation – webinar

Rebecca Sero, Evaluation Specialist with WSU Extension, will present a webinar titled “Using Qualitative Methods in your Evaluation” on Oct. 28, 10-11 a.m. This webinar will show how to use qualitative methods during an evaluation. It will discuss when it’s most appropriate to choose a qualitative method and how choosing that method can benefit the program evaluation. While geared to Extension faculty and staff, registration is free and open to all university staff.

Nov. 4: Analyzing your qualitative evaluation results – webinar

Rebecca Sero, Evaluation Specialist with WSU Extension, will present a webinar titled “Analyzing Your Qualitative Evaluation Results” on Nov. 4, 10-11 a.m. One challenge of collecting qualitative evaluation data is figuring out what to do with it! This webinar will provide “hands-on” learning about how to categorize information collected and interpret your qualitative findings. While geared to Extension faculty and staff, registration is free and open to all university staff.

Nov. 17-18: Fruit school is open

The latest research on apple and pear crop responses to environmental stress and manipulation will be presented at the WSU Fruit School, Nov. 17-18 at the Confluence and Technology Center in Wenatchee. The event will be simulcast to Richland and Yakima, Wash., and Hood River, Ore. Simultaneous English-to-Spanish translation will be offered at Washington locations.

Pre-registration is required and seats are limited. Cost is $160 and includes lunch. Click here to register or learn more.