Researchers in the agricultural sciences at Washington State University are among the most productive in the nation, ranking in the top 10 in almost every ag-related discipline, according to statistics recently released by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Specifically, WSU researchers in the plant sciences ranked No. 2 in the United States, only behind University of Wisconsin. WSU animal sciences faculty ranked fourth, and food scientists ranked sixth in terms of productivity. Agronomy and crop sciences researchers ranked seventh in the nation, while horticulture researchers ranked eighth.
Developed by Academic Analytics, the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranks 375 different institutions based on the productivity of their faculty in terms of books published; journal publications; citations of journal articles; federal grant dollars awarded; and honors and awards. The index was published in the most recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“Clearly, our faculty are excelling as they publish manuscripts that influence others’ thinking and science,” said James N. Petersen, WSU vice president for research.
Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, agreed.
“This reaffirms our position as a national leader in the plant and agricultural sciences,” Bernardo said. “These numbers are testimony to the hard work and innovation of our faculty and reflect both the breadth and depth of our programs.”
“In the incredibly competitive arena of federal research grants, the excellence of our faculty documented in these rankings is further reflected in the grant dollars they receive to support their outstanding research effort,” added Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean and director of the WSU Agricultural Research Center. Faculty members within the ARC have traditionally attracted the highest number of competitive grants and contracts at WSU – more than $25 million in the past fiscal year.