Things change quickly. We have seen that over the course of this past week. Knowing that change will happen again keeps me optimistic that things will work out for the best. In the meantime, we can remain focused on doing good and supporting each other.
This week is the Washington & Oregon Potato Conference in Kennewick. I always learn a lot at this conference, and I look forward to seeing presentations from a number of our faculty and USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists. It will be good to catch up with our industry partners and CAHNRS personnel who will be in attendance. Like all of 2025 to date, the weather promises to make for easy travel.
Before heading to Kennewick, the CAHNRS Advisory Council met to plan for the spring meeting. We continued our discussion about providing students with opportunities to engage with industry professionals and what future plans to do so would look like. The council members are eager to support students during their time at WSU and as our future workforce and leaders.
I appreciate the contributions from all who volunteered to work on the strategic plan. It was a time commitment, and understandably many were unable to respond to the call for volunteers. But there is still time to contribute to the committees who will implement action plans and monitor progress. The strategic plan is now posted. During the next couple of months, we will collect baseline data for the monitoring plan and use it to benchmark progress in reaching our goals each year. Stay tuned for updates.
The weekend provided a good opportunity to see a few planets. I hope many took the time to look. About 10 days ago, one of my siblings took a great photo of three planets aligned just under the moon. It was a good reminder that we are part of something much bigger than we often recognize.