News 2016

Agtech: Higher yields, lower costs, better environmental protection

Fall 2016 | Washington Business Magazine, by Richard S. Davis Advanced technology has contributed to tremendous growth in production since the middle of the 20th century, while farmers have been able to reduce inputs, including labor, chemicals, and energy.  The agricultural and food industry accounts for 13 percent of Washington State’s economy. Biotech, “flying tractors”, designer orchards, and […]

BSysE 598 Graduate Seminar Awards

Best presentations in BSysE 598 1st place – Deepali Jain “A simulation model for microwave-assisted thermal pasteurization system” 2nd place – Jie Xu “Development of a dry inoculation method using freeze-dried inocula for inactivation studies in low moisture foods” 3rd place Innu Chaudhary – “Investigation of ‘lignin modification mechanisms’ in termite-inspired bio-pretreatment process- An Enzymatic […]

Grant funds test of market potential for jet fuel research

December 1, 2016 | WSU News, by  Maegan Murray, WSU Tri-Cities RICHLAND, Wash. – Researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities have been awarded a National Science Foundation I-Corps grant to explore the market potential of their biojet fuel research. The team has successfully demonstrated a new, water-based process for deconstructing and recovering lignin from biomass and […]

Sophisticated presentations in Spanish

November 30, 2016  |  Good Fruit Grower  |  Ross Courtney The range of topics for the presentations in Spanish of the annual WSTFA convention is from handling or handling pesticides to economics. BSE faculty Melba Salazar-Gutiérrez, from Washington State University, talks about the practical use of AgWeatherNet in orchards in one of the sessions in Spanish […]

Dr. Sankaran Presents at Inaugural Event

Wednesday, November 9th, the inaugural SciTech Northwest event was held in Seattle. This was the region’s first science and technology expo highlighting the latest innovations and collaborations in cyber/data analytics, clean energy, and biotechnology from three premier Washington research institutions. Twenty one groups and five speakers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Washington, and Washington State University showcased their cutting-edge technologies. The featured speaker […]

Protecting our food system in a changing climate

November 2016 | Adjacent Government Dr. Stephanie Pearl, Science Communicator at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, highlights a number of food safety measures and how these are integral in an ever-changing climate. [full article…page 53]

Grant Helps Farmers Use Smart Phones to Save Water

Don McMoran, director of WSU Skagit County Extension, and Troy Peters, associate professor with BSE at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, are helping growers statewide use every drop of irrigation water to the fullest. Using a $455,000 grant from the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, their Water Irrigation System Efficiency, […]

Peter’s Water-Saving Project Featured in Press

Irrigation uses 80 percent of the water in the Pacific Northwest, and center pivots irrigate over half of watered acreage. For the past three years, R. Troy Peters, associate professor and Extension irrigation specialist at BSE WSU Prosser, have been the primary investigator of Low Elevation Spray Application (LESA) technology for center-pivot irrigation. The project […]