Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/386317
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER OCTOBER 2014 13 W ashington State University plans to interview candidates this fall for a plant pathology research position in Wenatchee that has been open for two years since Dr. Chang-Lin Xiao left to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in California. The position was advertised last year, but none of the candidates interviewed were considered a perfect fit. Dr. Scot Hulbert, interim chair of WSU's plant pathology department, said the university launched a second search for candidates this year, but with a different approach. The position was changed from associate professor to the lower level of assistant professor, in order to attract more early-career scientists, and the job advertisement doesn't ask for tree fruit experience, in order to cast a wider net. He said a talented pathologist who has worked on other crops should be able to adapt to tree fruits quite quickly once he or she is working with other tree fruit scientists in Wenatchee. "We're just looking for a person with the right talent and the right personality to work with the industry," he said. It is possible that the successful candidate could begin work on January 1, though Hulbert said that would be an optimistic timeline. The position is a huge priority for the pathology department and one of few positions that will be filled in the coming year, he said. "This was a top priority last year, so it's still our top priority." Oregon Filling Dr. David Sugar's plant pathology position at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center is a priority of Oregon State University. Sugar retired last May, leaving OSU with no postharvest tree fruit plant pathologist anywhere in the state. Dr. Robert Spotts, pathologist at the Mid-Columbia Research and Extension Center in Hood River, retired in 2009. Dr. Stella Coakley, associate dean at OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, said filling Sugar's position is a top priority for the college. Coakley said the state has reduced its commitment to agricultural research and extension. Last May, residents of Jackson County voted in favor of a service district to help fund the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center and retain Sugar's position. They will pay a levy of 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which will generate more than $800,000 annually. The pear industry in the Hood River area has been helping to fund research and extension at the Mid- Columbia Research and Extension Center for some time, and that's the reason the positions now held by horticulturist Todd Einhorn, entomologist Peter Shearer, and postharvest physiologist Yan Wang were filled. However, because of continuing cuts in state funding, OSU does not have the luxury of filling all the positions it would like to fill, Coakley said, and Spotts' position remains vacant. Wang has been working on some decay problems, but is not a pathologist. When Spotts retired, there was talk of Washington and Oregon stakeholders pooling their resources to fill the pathology position, Coakley said. OSU has tried to partner with Washington to fill positions, but there doesn't seem to be a mechanism to do so. "Our hope would be that the industry in the Mid- Columbia—pears, cherries, and wine—will come up with something that will make it possible for us to put another position in that location," she said. "The station is very important to us and the industry is very important to us." —G. Warner WSU, OSU seek tree fruit pathologists