Meet the Team

I joined CAHNRS Communication in 2013 taking a position as a web developer and Google Analytics Analyst. My responsibilities include providing backend coding support for CAHNRS WordPress installation, developing new feature sets, and contributing to web services overall goal of creating effective websites that serve our customers well.

Prior to joining CAHNRS Communication I worked as a web coordinator for the University of Idaho providing content coordination, site management, and limited development support. I started designing and developing websites as part of a family business in the late 90’s and have continued to enjoy it over the past 15+ years. I am a graduate of the University of Idaho with a BS in Secondary Education and a BFA with an emphasis in oil painting.

When I’m not sitting at my desk writing lines of code I enjoy mountain biking, hiking, working on my house, and spending time with my wonderful wife and our daughter.

I started my career with CAHNRS Communication in 1995 when it was the Information Department. Currently, I am the Creative Manager and lead graphic designer for the unit. My responsibilities include maintaining the graphic identity standards of the WSU Extension brand, creating print and digital materials in support of CAHNRS and Extension programs, as well as fundraising and student recruitment efforts, and offering creative direction for marketing campaigns.

I hold a Bachelor of Applied Arts from Central Michigan University and a Master of Fine Art from Washington State University. I am fluent with InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop and competent with Word, Publisher, PowerPoint, and basic HTML. I am also a skilled illustrator specializing in pen and ink drawing.

Over the years I have won numerous honors and awards for my design work and was named the 2013 Alumni & Friends Staff of the Year. As a member of the International Academy of the Visual Arts, I have had the privilege of serving as a judge for the W3 Awards, the International Davey Awards, and the Communicator Awards since 2010.

I have been with CAHNRS Communications for almost 10 years. I provide customer service for Extension Publications customers. I process online, fax, mail, phone, and walk-in orders and answer a variety of customer questions. In addition to my front office duties, I coordinate our warehouse operations, processes, and ship orders to customers nationwide. I manage warehouse inventories of new, revised and out of print publications.

I am currently a video producer/director for Washington State University CAHNRS Communications. I have been at WSU since 1990, working on documentaries, informational and educational programs, and producing satellite and videostream broadcasts. During my time as a producer/director, I have worked on projects with a team, as well as individually, that have produced many award-winning programs on topics including recruitment for CAHNRS, innovative agricultural practices, stormwater management techniques, pesticide safety training, food safety and many others. I have been recognized nationally for my work in 2005 on a Stormwater Management series and in 2008 for his work in co-producing an American Distance Education Consortium’s ‘Barrier Buster’ on Strategic Innovations in Distance Learning.

The CAHNRS Communications video production shop has a vast array of possibilities to work on projects. I can work with you on recording events in HD using state-of-the-art cameras, cranes, dollies, tracking, and a quad-copter camera to get stunning aerial shots, and then work with you on editing them together, photography, audio recording and narration, and graphics work.

As the publishing coordinator for WSU CAHNRS & Extension, I am the lead contact for the Manuscript FastTrack Submission System and coordinate all incoming graphic design, editing and publications projects.

I have worked at WSU for 22 years; 20 of them with Extension Publishing.

Explaining the human stories behind research, discovery, working, teaching and learning is my passion. A 1999 graduate of WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, I’m practically a Palouse native—I grew up 30 miles down the hill in the Lewis-Clark Valley, ate Ferdinand’s ice cream and browsed the shelves of the original Holland Library as a kid.

Some in this college may have met my father, Tom Truscott, in his more-than-15-year career with USDA at WSU. He was a graduate in animal sciences from this university circa 1976.

As a WSU student, I wrote about student government, research, faculty and the arts for the Evergreen from 1997 to 1999.

New to CAHNRS as of 2015, I spent the last decade-plus as a weekly newspaper journalist—first in Yelm, Wash., at the Nisqually Valley News, chasing cop cars, covering local government and education, writing about giant ant hills, mysterious gel falling from the sky, and other small-town phenomena. My most recent vocation was as editor of the Snoqualmie Valley Record, writing about, photographing, designing, Facebooking and Tweeting for four communities, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Carnation and Fall City, on Seattle’s Eastside. I frequently met farmers and gardeners, educators, students, government leaders and business people, and it was my honor to tell their stories and help their projects and journeys succeed. I intend to do the same for the community at CAHNRS. It’s good to be home.

I write about the exciting research being done by the CAHNRS and Extension communities here at WSU. I also work to get those research stories noticed and written about outside of WSU, so even more people can learn about what CAHNRS is doing.I worked as a print and broadcast journalist and in public relations/marketing before joining the CAHNRS Communications team in August 2014. I have a B.A. in Communication and History from Purdue University and an M.A. in Journalism from Indiana University.If you have a new research paper coming out, just received a new grant, or have a great story about a student or alum, let me know. We want people to know about them.

I began my career with WSU and CAHNRS in 2006 as a video and graphics producer and have worked for WSU in various multimedia production appointments for over 10 years now.

In my current position as a Video Specialist for CAHNRS Communications, I am responsible for creating videos and multimedia assets that highlight the cutting edge research, instruction and achievements of CAHNRS faculty, staff and students.

I hold a B.S. in Virtual Technology and Design from the University of Idaho, and will complete my M.S. in Integrated Architecture and Design in 2017. I am always looking for new ways to implement emergent and novel tools and techniques from the virtualization and visualization world into my creative output here in CAHNRS.

In my free time I enjoy tinkering with technology, following my favorite podcasts, cooking (poorly), reading and traveling. I particularly enjoy exploring all of the interesting little corners of the Pacific Northwest.