Chad Kruger

Biography

Chad Kruger serves as WSU’s Associate Vice President for Research Advancement and Strategy in the WSU Office of Research. In this role, Chad works closely with the WSU Vice President for Research to provide long-range strategy and tactical planning, advancing WSU’s research mission in alignment with its land-grant purpose. He leads system-wide efforts to expand WSU’s research impact through partnerships with industry, national laboratories, and cross-disciplinary consortia, addressing critical challenges and delivering solutions-oriented strategies for Washington state and beyond. Prior to serving as Associate Vice President, Chad was faculty in WSU’s College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences where he directed WSU’s the Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources (CSANR) from 2008–2025. Chad continues with CSANR as a Senior Research Fellow providing mentorship and expertise in climate and energy projects. Chad also served as the Assistant Director for Agriculture, Extension, and Outreach for the WSU Institute for Northwest Energy Futures from 2024–2025.

He received a B.A. in Philosophy and History (1997) and an Academic Certificate in Ecointensive Agriculture Technologies (1998) from Northwest College in Kirkland, Washington, and he completed an M.S. (2003) in Land Resources from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He was an Au Sable Graduate Fellow at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He joined WSU in 2004 and spent the first 11 years of his career located at WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center (TFREC) in Wenatchee as part of the CSANR. He moved to Mount Vernon to direct WSU’s Northwestern Washington Research & Extension Center (NWREC) in Mount Vernon (2015–2020) and the Puyallup Research & Extension Center (2017-2020), and returned to Wenatchee in mid-2020 to direct TFREC (2020–2024).

Chad has collaborated on integrated research and extension teams that have secured more than $70M in competitive funding from multiple federal, regional, state agencies, and industry partners including USDA, NSF, DOE, EPA, NOAA, and the Washington Departments of Agriculture and Ecology, the Washington State Potato Commission and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. The diverse projects he’s collaborated on include multiple projects focused on dairy manure and nutrient management technologies, a wheat-focused USDA AFRI CAP entitled Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture (REACCH-PNA), a nation-wide USDA AFRI CAP entitled Fruit & Vegetable Supply Chain Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Options (F&V CAMO), and multiple state and federally funded projects focused on assessing climate impacts on water supply and management. He is currently collaborating on the NSF Funded AgAID Institute—an artificial intelligence in agriculture project, a DOE-funded partnership with Pacific Northwest National Labs evaluating sustainability trade-offs for cover crops and biofuels, a NOAA funded project focused on climate resiliency for underserved populations in rural communities, and a USDA NIFA funded project on using climate analogs for climate adaptation planning. He was the convening author of the multi-agency Washington Soil Health Initiative ($1.038M annually for WSU).

He has served on numerous state agency work groups and task forces, including Governor Gregoire’s Washington State Climate Action Team, the Washington Department of Natural Resources Climate Resilience Advisory Council, and the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Nutrient Advisory Committee. He co-chaired the Legislatively mandated Agricultural Sector Carbon Market Workgroup, is WSU’s representative to the Washington Food Policy Forum, and co-chairs the Sustainable Ag Committee for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. He was a Presidential appointee to WSU’s inaugural Sustainability and Environment Committee, co-chaired the Outreach, Extension, Service, and Engagement Concept Team for the current WSU Strategic Plan, has twice chaired the selection committee for WSU’s pre-eminent faculty award for Engagement and Outreach, served as the “Chair of the Chairs” for the Leadership Team of the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS), and led the CAHNRS Strategic Budget Task Force.

Chad has family roots from both Eastern (grain and livestock) and Western (berries) Washington farms. He is co-owner of a multi-generational ranch in rural Eastern Washington and is partner in a small-scale livestock enterprise that sells grass-fed beef direct to consumer.