U.S. Senator Patty Murray toured WSU’s Plant Growth Facility on April 16, learning about dynamic research projects conducted by WSU graduate students and witnessing the innovative partnership that exists between WSU and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
WSU President Kirk Schulz, CAHNRS Dean André-Denis Wright, Associate Deans Rich Koenig and Scot Hulbert and USDA-ARS scientists spoke with Sen. Murray about shared advancements involving ARS and WSU. Industry representatives from the Washington Grain Commission joined the tour to talk about how the partnership benefits growers and consumers as well.
“I’ve worked at three land grant universities, and I’ve never seen such a positive and mutually beneficial connection with a federal agency,” Dean Wright told Murray.
Murray, a 1972 WSU graduate, came to learn about a USDA proposal to fund a new building on the WSU campus for ARS researchers and how this effort could benefit science around the nation.