Associate Dean and Director of Extension Interview
Dr. Rich Koenig has been invited to interview for the Associate Dean and Director of Extension position. Dr. Koenig currently serves as chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, the largest unit in CAHNRS and WSU Extension. Dr. Koenig has an exceptional background in Extension, having served as an Extension educator at both Washington State University and Utah State University. Dr. Koenig’s CV and vision statement can be viewed at http://bit.ly/Mty1lA through June 27.
Dr. Koenig will spend the day in Pullman on Tuesday, June 26 and travel to central and western Washington on Wednesday, June 27.
There will be a seminar on June 26 that will be video streamed and subsequently posted to the web for later viewing. The seminar will also include an interactive Q&A session and a meet and greet will follow the Q&A session for those in attendance in Pullman. The seminar/meet-and-greet will be open to all faculty, staff, stakeholders, and commissioners.
There will also be two additional open sessions and meet and greets for the central and western Washington faculty, staff, stakeholders, and commissioners on June 27 –- a morning session located in the Tri-Cities and an afternoon session in Everett.
Announcement Regarding Jim Lindstrom
Dr. Jim Lindstrom, WSU Extension’s Director of Professional Development, has accepted a new role with the University of Idaho. He will retire from WSU Extension on August 31 and begin as the University of Idaho State 4-H Youth Development Program Director on October 1. Jim started his Extension career in Montana in 1982 and was also with Arizona Extension for approximately five years prior to joining WSU Extension in 1996 as the Spokane County Director and 4-H agent. He has been the WSU Extension Director of Professional Development since 2006. We will certainly miss Jim’s leadership and system-wide engagement in professional development for WSU Extension, and wish him all the best in his new role with the University of Idaho. Plans to cover Jim’s duties in professional development will be established and communicated in the coming months.
Business Centers
CAHNRS has successfully implemented the recommendations of the Administrative Integration Task Force, beating the July 1, 2012, deadline. The Hulbert Hall Business Center officially opens today, and the Johnson Hall Business Center will launch operations next Tuesday. The first pilot business center serving Food Science/Clark Hall was established earlier this year. We started looking at a shared responsibility model in the spring of 2011 to make sure all units were being served adequately, that administrative staff had an opportunity to work in their areas of specialization, that we maximize efficiencies by standardizing best practices, and that administrative functions were being completed despite staffing reductions resulting from four years of budget cuts. We also wanted to allow academic units to maintain control over those areas most critical to their success. And, we wanted to do everything possible to maintain staff jobs. Thanks to the hard work of the task force, and all of you, we have accomplished those goals. The business centers will support grants management and processing, finance operations such as purchase and travel, and personnel functions such as hiring and payroll. Within the next few days, you’ll be receiving an update email with specifics about how to contact your business center and what staff members perform what functions at each center.
CAHNRS Automated External Defibrillators
CAHNRS facilities on the Pullman campus now have six automated external defibrillators. Two AEDs are in Hulbert Hall. The USDA’s (located in room 211) is available to anyone in Hulbert Hall, but will also be used as a mobile unit for field days. The other is on the fourth floor of Hulbert opposite the elevators, on the south wall. In Johnson Hall, there is one on the 3rd floor on the west wall of the west corridor, opposite the public restrooms, and one directly below it on the first floor. Vogel Plant Biosciences has one on the north wall of the second floor, outside the secure area, by the display screen. Food Sciences has one AED on the first floor, on the southwest corner of the building, outside room 102. Clark Hall has one on the second floor, across from room 299. And Tukey Orchard has one AED in Building 1180 (Building 121B on the old system) on the west wall of the shop between the eyewash and water fountain.
When the AED door opens, an alarm is triggered to alert others to call 911, however make sure that someone calls 911, and if CPR/AED trained, comes to help. You do NOT need to be trained prior to using an AED unit (SPPM 2.46). Washington State operates under the Good Samaritan Law and these units are built to guide you through their use (RCW 70.54.310 and RCW 4.24.300(1). This does not mean that no one in your work area needs to be trained as a first responder (First Aid/CPR/AED). University units are required to ensure that personnel trained in first aid are available to provide quick and effective first aid to all employees. Review SPPM 2.40 for details on how many first aid responders should be available in your work areas. Though it is not required that every employee receive this training, we still recommend it. The benefits of the training transcend the boundaries of the university. This sample video on the AEDs can help you become familiar with how to use this type of AED.
WSU Students Post Online Diary from Rwanda
WSU students working on several rural improvement projects are posting pictures, stories and videos of their experience at http://storify.com/. In this photo, the students help residents of the village of Gashora plan an eco-latrine. In other projects, they help implement a fruit and vegetable dehydration system and improve soil through composting, and build a mushroom growing facility. See a press release about the project.
Events
Save the Date: CAHNRS Fall Festival
The date for the festival has changed. Come join us for food, fun and games on Thursday, Sept. 6, 4-6 p.m. at Spillman Plaza (on Wilson Rd. next to Hulbert Hall). There will be student club exhibits, department displays, and more. See a video of the 2011 Fall Festival at http://bit.ly/KwzOZm.
2012 WSU Weed Science Field Tour
This year’s Weed Science Field Tour is Wednesday, June 20, at the Plant Pathology farm building adjacent to Cook Farm. For more information, see http://bit.ly/Nl8cU9.
International Organic Fruit Symposium
David Granatstein and Preston Andrews will be convening the second International Organic Fruit Symposium, June 18-21, in Leavenworth, WA. Although registration has filled to capacity and is now closed, a number of sessions will be offered as online webinars. See http://bit.ly/NB3AvT for more details.
Greenhouse Gases in Organic Agriculture Field Day
Farmers, Educators, Regulators, and Policy Makers are invited to come see how greenhouse gases are being quantified in the field, best management practices to reduce greenhouse gases from organic agriculture, and management practices that reduce tillage, including strip tilling. Monday, June 18,10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center, 2606 W Pioneer, Puyallup, WA 98371.
Plant Pathology Seminar Series
Shyam L. Kandel, M.S. student, “A survey of root lesion and cereal cyst nematodes in the dryland wheat production areas of eastern Washington and resistance of Pacific Northwest wheat varieties.” Monday, June 18, 2012, 1:00 p.m., Johnson Hall 343.
Tyler Bourret, M.S. Student, “Diversity of wild yeasts in a central Washington vineyard.” exit seminar.Thursday, June 28, 9:10 a.m, Johnson Hall 343.
Kudos
Brigitta Jozefowski, Program Assistant for WSU Professional Development and the WSU Master Gardener Program has earned her Master of Public Administration from Eastern Washington University, May 31st, 2012.
Amanda Murphy has received the 2012 Rob Williams Award for emerging environment and public policy leaders. Murphy received the award for demonstrating the promise to exercise the leadership exemplified by Rob Williams, a leader in the field of environmental conflict resolution. Murphy is a Project and Research Specialist with the William D. Ruckelshaus Center in Seattle, Washington.
Doctoral students from the Washington State University Department of Biological Systems Engineering won first place in an international student packaging design competition for an expandable/collapsible bottle that can hold powdered food drinks. Ofero Caparino, Sumeet Dhawan, Fermin Resurreccion, Roopesh Syamaladevi and Wenjia Zhang, supervised by team adviser and assistant professor Shyam S. Sablani, took the prize at the Polymers Laminations Adhesives Coatings Extrusions Conference held May 6-9 in Seattle. The conference is an annual event sponsored by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging and converting industries. Called boteFlex™, the winning design is intended for packaging various powdered drinks, such as infant formula, fortified juices, sports drinks and probiotic milk powder, as well as for nonfood powders. According to team members, the package’s relatively small volume and weight can significantly reduce handling, transport and storage costs and is more environmentally friendly than existing full-volume packages. The packaging design is being marketed to potential industry partners involved in processing high-value products through the WSU Research Foundation.
Recent News Releases
The Heat Is On: WSU Food Engineer Works to Commercialize Radio Frequency Treatments for Insect Pest Control
Family forest-owners field day for Eastern Washington slated for June 16 near Newport
Climate change primer presented online by WSU Extension, free to public
WSU stripe rust website alerts growers to threats, management strategies
All our news releases are archived at http://cahnrsnews.wsu.edu/news-archive/.
New in CAHNRS e-Newsletters
The June 6 issue of On Solid Ground features stories on rraspberry fumigation and oil seed case studies: http://bit.ly/KGMLv7.
The June 7 issue of Green Times has stories on alkali bees, international outreach, soil science, and climate change: http://bit.ly/NDgEku.
Archives
CAHNRS News is archived at http://cahnrsnews.wsu.edu/category/cnews/.