gentlegardener

#usda #dogees #horticulture #researcher #tuskshutdown #pnw

https://www.nwpb.org/2025/02/26/many-usda-researchers-working-in-the-northwest-are-fired-worked-on-everything-from-hops-to-potatoes/

Many USDA researchers working in the Northwest are fired, worked on everything from hops to potatoes - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Francisco Gonzalez, a Ph.D. researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who was stationed at Washington State University’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, has been fired by […]

Northwest Public Broadcasting
Feb 27 at 9:10amWeb
Show threadgentlegardenerFeb 27
Arielle Cooley, a professor of biology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, said she and two other science professors are organizing a local event, coordinating with a larger group called “#StandUpForScience,” on #March7. 
“The science that happens in the #USA is a major funding driver,” Cooley said. “These cuts are leaving scientists in a very dark way. We are hurting our future scientists. My students want to be doctors, health care providers and scientists.”
Show threadMCDuncanLabFeb 27

@gentlegardener

These programs really are the seed corn. Not just because of the scientists they foster (my first 'science' job was working at one of the USDA greenhouses at WSU).

The research is critical for agricultural innovation. The team I worked with propagated legume seeds from all over the world to maintain a seed bank of gene diversity, these seed banks are the raw materials needed to make new crop varieties.

Show threadMCDuncanLabFeb 27

@gentlegardener

Just checked, the entire team is wiped out, no employees listed--just one WSU faculty member associated with the unit.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/pullman-wa/plant-germplasm-introduction-and-testing-research/docs/prosser-facilities/

Prosser Facilities : USDA ARS