PULLMAN, Wash. — Incoming students and their families got a juicy introduction to Washington State University’s land-grant mission, and in some cases a bite-sized Q&A session on apple breeding, during fall 2026 move-in weekend on Aug. 15 and 16.
University pome fruit breeder Kate Evans and Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission Executive Director Ines Hanrahan joined WSU students and staff to treat new Coug families to 1,600 donated Cosmic Crisp® apples Aug. 15 and 16 at Beasley Coliseum.
“A Cosmic Crisp® apple is a great way to connect to WSU,” Evans said.
The second-annual giveaway was also her chance to “nerd out” with hundreds of dedicated Cosmic Crisp® fans on the art and science of breeding new varieties.
The Cosmic Crisp® booth rapidly went through their inventory of individually boxed apples on both days.
“Everyone seemed so interested, not just in the apple, but in meeting Dr. Evans and learning about breeding,” said WSU student Leisly Hernandez. The WSU ag biotechnology major and Horticulture Alliance club member from Quincy, Washington volunteered alongside her younger sister Natalie Ramirez during move-in to help recruit members for the Horticulture Alliance student club.
Helping his son Ethan, an engineering major, move onto campus, WSU alumnus, veterinarian, and amateur apple grower Nathanial Stewart eagerly conversed with Evans.
“I’ve wondered for a long time how WSU managed to come up with such an amazing apple,” he said.
Learning how WSU breeders screen tens of thousands of individual cultivars and gradually narrow down the top performers, Stewart was wowed.
“That’s an amazing level of patience, diligence, and sheer perseverance,” he said. “It’s like going through a forest of apple trees to find the perfect one.”
First planted in 1997 at WSU’s Columbia View Research Orchard at Wenatchee, Washington, where the mother tree still grows, Cosmic Crisp® went through more than 20 years of selection, growth, and study before arriving on store shelves in fall 2019. Today, more than 20 million trees have been planted in Washington, and the apple is the top royalty generator that supports the breeding program and partially funds the new Wenatchee Plant Growth Facility.
“The Cosmic Crisp® apple is a wonderful ambassador for our college’s land-grant mission,” said Raj Khosla, Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “Kudos to our farmer partners, the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, and all of the students, staff, and faculty who helped share this delicious fruit of discovery with new Cougs.”
Apples for the giveaway were donated by Double Diamond Fruit, Price Apples, Legendary Fruit Co., and Douglas Fruit, and brought to Pullman by Hanrahan. With the research commission, she helps growers by acting as an intermediary between researchers, growers, and consumers.
“We want to give Cougars who may not know this apple’s story a chance to root for us,” said Hanrahan, whose family grows the apple commercially. “Once they know it, they happily do it.”
Canvassing the crowds, Hanrahan said that half of her visitors are still learning about Cosmic Crisp®.
“The other half say it’s their favorite,” she said. “We hand people an apple, and when they walk by five minutes later, they’ve eaten it to the core. That’s fantastic.”
