Congratulations to the Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC) team! On March 4, the team received a proclamation from the mayor of Prosser recognizing the “significant contributions IAREC makes to the community of Prosser and throughout the state.” It is great to see the hard work and impact of CAHNRS people recognized this way.
Congratulations also to the nine CAHNRS faculty who were approved for professional and retraining leaves! We will miss them while they are away but are eager to hear about their adventures and see what new ideas and tools return with them.
I previously mentioned that Lisa DeVetter is receiving the Faculty Mid-Career Award this year during the 2025 Showcase. Since that callout, I learned that Tarah Sullivan will receive the Faculty Diversity Award and Ken Casavant will be honored with the Emeritus Society Legacy of Excellence Award. Congratulations to Tarah and Ken! Be sure to congratulate them!
Congratulations also to Professor Emeritus Tim Murray, who will be recognized with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pacific Division of the American Phytopathological Society. This award has been 45 years in the making. Congratulations, Tim!
I’ve always said that CAHNRS “punches above its weight,” and the above recognitions are great examples of this. Compared to other institutions where I have been that may rank higher, CAHNRS has a smaller team, yet gets more done. Take, for example, our competitiveness for USDA funding. CAHNRS is consistently in the top one to three for university awards, and we leverage our state funds and faculty to a higher degree than some of our peer institutions. I truly believe it is partnerships with state and federal agencies, commodity groups, internal collaborators, and other entities that make such success possible for our outstanding faculty.
There’s so much more good work to do. I am confident CAHNRS’ success will persist through whatever challenges may come, because we can nimbly change and stay focused on the goal. In the meantime, I need to start thinking about my bracket picks.