WSU secures more than $1.5 million for specialty crop research
Seven research teams in CAHNRS will improve Northwest crops by fighting devastating diseases and advancing sustainable agriculture, thanks to more than $1.5 million in Specialty Crop Block Grant funds from the Washington State and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture.
To support Washington’s $3 billion apple and pear industry, its $734 million potato industry, and other important crops like fresh strawberries, cut peonies and cider apples, WSU crop scientists, engineers, plant pathologists, economists and other specialists will join forces.
At the Summit, more than 200 state and national leaders met for panel discussions on issues such as health care, critical infrastructures including broadband and economic growth.
While in the nation’s capital, Hansen and Babine met with members of the state’s congressional delegation and federal agencies. Building on WSU Extension’s work on local, regional and national rural broadband initiatives, the Division of Governmental Studies and Services is lending its expertise with the new WSU Economic Development Council and its priority initiative to expand broadband access in underserved areas of Washington.
The story highlights the Viticulture & Enology Program at WSU, as well as the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Wine Science Center at WSU Tri-Cities, sharing how WSU provides cutting-edge research and training for the next generation of vintners and grapes growers.
New training facility opening at Creamery
Join the WSU/UI School of Food Science in celebrating an expanded Ferdinand’s production facility at a dedication, 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at the WSU Creamery on the Pullman campus.
The new whey processing facility, which will be attached to the creamery and Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe, will filter out organic material from the whey. Having hands-on experience in whey processing will give WSU students an advantage in an industry that looks for innovative uses for leftover whey, says Manager John Haugen said.
The morning ceremony is followed by an open house. Visitors who RSVP on the Creamery’s Facebook page are entered to win a can of Cougar Gold.
AMDT students fashion reusable bags for pantry
The pasta, fruit and vegetables in CJ’s new shopping bag will feed her family until payday. And that new bag is more than stylish and reusable: it means more groceries for the other 250 families who depend on the Community Food pantry.
Working with the WSU Center for Civic Engagement, students in the Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles created the bags this fall as a dual class project. Teams of students, mostly freshmen and sophomores, learned to track down quality used textiles and assemble a real product, at the same time gaining lessons in community service. Every reusable bag means more groceries that Community Food can afford to buy, said Community Action Center Director Barbara Mays.
BIOAg seeks proposals for projects that advance the development, understanding, and use of biologically-intensive, organic and sustainable agriculture in Washington. Projects should stimulate new research initiatives, augment existing research to address critical gaps, or move existing, game-changing research out into the real world.
The request for proposals and application forms can be found here. Letters of intent are requested by Nov. 17, and project proposals are due Dec. 15.
Mindfulness Symposium is Oct. 28 at Chinook
WSU students and staff are invited to the second annual Mindfulness Symposium, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 28, in room 150 at the new Chinook Student Center on the Pullman campus.
Join the Center for Transformational Learning and Leadership for a half-day exploration of campus and regional mindfulness resources. Get an introduction to several practices, including guided reflections, meditation and qi gong, and learn more through interactive discussions and a presentation on mindfulness. Space is limited, register here. An optional 8 a.m. yoga session is included.
Intensive pasture workshops
to help westside Extension faculty
Extension faculty, conservation district advisors, natural resource professionals, nutritionists and consultants in western Washington and Oregon can learn the latest ideas in pasture management at upcoming, intensive Westside Pasture Calendar Training sessions in both states.
Developed by agricultural researchers at Washington State University, Oregon State University and the University of Idaho, the Westside Pasture Calendar share key concepts for good decision making in pasture and grazing management, animal performance, and other areas.
More than 20 CAHNRS faculty, staff and emeriti will be honored as part of the WSU Quarter Century Club this month, with more than a dozen gaining recognition for 50 years at the university.
Extension, Metro Center unite communities to solve health challenges
Extending science to serve communities is what Extension is all about. And when it comes to health, entire communities—from youth to elders, rural and urban—must band together to find solutions.
Jacoby, micro-irrigation team wins national award for water conservation
For groundbreaking work on micro-irrigation, Pete Jacoby, plant ecologist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, along with teammates from across the United States, won the 2017 National Water & Energy Conservation Award from the Irrigation Association.
The award, given by the association of the irrigation industry, honors their achievement in conserving water and energy.
Adekunle Adesanya, doctoral candidate in the Department of Entomology, has received a 2017 Barth Hass award for Innovative Research in Hops. Barth Haas Group is the world’s largest supplier of hops and other products associated with beer production.
Adesanya’s project, evaluating the role of a specific enzyme in resistance to the spotted spidermite in hops, was reviewed by the group’s scientific board and selected for this prestigious award.
Soon-to-be Dr. Adesanya is co-mentored by faculty members Fang Zhu and Doug Walsh. He is excited to both win the award and keep exploring the hop-mite model for sustainable solutions to pesticide resistance. He hopes to find new and precise biomarkers for mite resistance that work for hops and other crops.
Society award for women’s exercise clothing paper, AMDT’s Bradley
The award recognizes their paper, “Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women,” as the best in the humanities and social sciences, selected annually among the papers published in the society’s journals.
Grants: Honey bee surveys, pollinator protection, pest controls
Congratulations to recent WSU Entomology grant awardees:
• Professor Doug Walsh received $35,000 from the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance for work on integrated pest management and pollinator protection on alfalfa produced for seed; $13,963 from the Western Alfalfa Seed Growers to work on alfalfa seed integrated pest management; $13,200 from University of California Davis IR-4 to study magnitude of pesticide residue trials; $8,014 from USDA/ARS for alfalfa pollinator research initiative; and $7,000 from the Washington Hop Commission for hop entomology research.
• Assistant Research Professor Fang Zhu, Professor Laura Lavine and Walsh received $25,210 from Renotech for characterizing molecular mechanisms of EcoRaider for pest control.
• Professor Walter Sheppard and Assistant Research Professor Brandon Hopkins received a $13,000 grant from USDA/APHIS to conduct honey bee surveys.