A tradition at the North WillametteResearch and Extension Center eachspring is the beginning of the annualfarm equipment and tractor training sea-son. This past Spring Break was no excep-tion. Twenty-six youth, ages 14 to 17,received classroom and hands-on equip-ment training focusing on operationalskills, safety, driving skills, attaching three-point hitch equipment, and emergencypreparedness. Youth participating werefrom around the Valley—Canby, Donald,Woodburn, St. Paul, Salem, Turner, SweetHome, Corvallis, Silverton, Molalla,Beavercreek, Oregon City—just to name afew of the locations.

“The annual three-day Spring Break classgives us a chance to work with the youthduring a time when they are off school andbefore the spring and summer field seasonbegins,” said Derek Wells, NWREC’s Buildingand Trades Maintenance staff. Wells has

been teaching the farm equipment safetysessions since 2012. “It’s really a lot of fun.I enjoy working with the kids. We getsome great young people from all aroundthe Valley. The training focuses on safety

and making sure these folks know whatthey are doing and why and how to keepthemselves safe. Safety is #1!”

Over the years, Wells estimates that hehas trained and certified about 300 youth.Students who complete the three-day, 22hour training and pass the classroom testplus a driving/operation skills test, are cre-dentialed through a national certificationprogram. Youth with the certification canbe employed on farms.

A Newsletter for Friends of North Willamette Research and Extension Center SPRING 2019

Tractor Training—must be spring!

Derek Wells teaching the youth class about trac-tor equipment (above). Volunteer Mike Rusherwatches a student hooking up a 3-point (right).

The Farm Foundation is an agricultural policy institute whose mission is to provideobjective information and cultivate conversation and collaboration to address soci-ety’s needs for food, fiber, feed and energy. The non-profit organization, formed in1933 and based in Illinois, seeks to connect leaders in farming, business, academia,organizations and government. The Farm Foundation’s goal is to address issuesthat lead to informed policy decisions.

Just in the past year, the Farm Foundation has begun sponsoring agricultural toursfor congressional staffers in Washington D.C. to help them become more informed

Farm Foundation Event Comes to NWREC

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .continued on page 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .continued on page 2

oregonstate.edu/dept/NWREC

Wells will teach a second youth tractortraining and certification class when

school is out in June. Those dates areJune 19-21. Registration is limited to 20to ensure adequate supervision and hands-on equipment time for the students. Seehttps://extension.oregonstate.edu/nwrecfor more information and to register. Theregistration fee for the course is $95.Needs-based scholarships are available, too.

Adults interested in a tractor training classcan sign up for one of two 31⁄2 hour ses-sions at this year’s Clackamas Small FarmsSchool on Thursday, July 18. Wells will

teach a morning class and an afternoonclass at NWREC as a part of the programthat day. Register through the MetroExtension Small Farms program.Registration opens on May 22. Go to theOSU Small Farms Extension website athttps://extension.oregonstate.edu/small-farms to register.

Additional farm equipment classes aretaught, too, based on interest. Examplesinclude Advanced Adult training, Women’sONLY adult classes, and ATV classes.Contact Wells at derek.wells@oregon-state.edu for more information.

Strawberry Field Day, June 12 (1:00-5:00pm); focuses on commercial cultivars andproduction system research for industry audience. Contact: Bernadine Strik.

Youth Tractor Safety Training and Certification Course, June 19-21 (8:30am-4:30pmeach day).Three day course includes classroom and equipment instruction and driv-ing. Class size limited. See NWREC website for registration information. Cost: $95.

Blueberry Field Day, July 17 (1:00-5:30pm); focuses on commercial cultivars andproduction systems research for industry audience. Contact: Bernadine Strik.

Small Farm School, July 18, 2019 (registration opens on May 22); Contact: HeidiNoordijk.

NWREC Community Open House, July 31 (4:00-7:00pm); program exhibits anddemonstrations plus farm tours, tractor driving, and fresh berry tasting and vegeta-bles for sale. Contact: Mike Bondi.

Caneberry Field Day, August 7 (1:00-5:00 pm); focusing on late blackberry and pri-mocane-fruiting raspberry cultivars and production systems research for an industryaudience. Contact: Bernadine Strik.

Summer Vegetable Variety Field Day, September 12. Contact: Heidi Noordijk.

NWREC Harvest Dinner, September, TBD. Contact: Mike Bondi.

Please contact the NWREC office at 503-678-1264 for more information orvisit the website at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/NWREC

Calendar of Events

about critical issues facing farmers.Since it began in February 2018,nearly 30 congressional staff mem-bers have participated in farm toursto Central Florida, Central Indiana-and, this past February, to WesternOregon. One of the recent tour stopsincluded the North WillametteResearch and Extension Center, atour of the farm, and discussionsover dinner.

The farm tour program is an opportu-nity for congressional staff membersto experience food and agriculturalenterprises, first hand, and to talk tothe owners and operators of thosebusinesses about the issues that theyaddress on a daily basis. Participantssee a variety of agricultural produc-tion, processing and marketing sys-tems and are provided with one-on-one interactions with farmers,researchers, industry leaders, as wellas, agency and local government lead-ers, to discuss timely issues and chal-lenges facing food and agriculture inthat region. Discussions range fromwater quality, sustainability and tech-nology, to marketing and global trade.

Farm Foundation Event continuedfrom page 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tractor Training continued from page 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jaden Stewart (right)—high school student work-ing on our Farm Crew the past two summers—teaching one of this year’s trainees how to hookup the hydraulics during this year’s Spring Breaktractor safety and certification course.

Derek Wells, lead instructor for the tractor and farm equipment safety courses at NWREC, explaining thefiner points of successfully backing a trailer. Students spend much of their training time on the equip-ment and must demonstrate proficiency driving and operational skills to become safety certified.

• PA G E 2 •

By Heidi Noordijk, Metro Small FarmsOutreach Coordinator

Cold and windy weather provided anappropriate atmosphere for NWREC’sWinter Vegetable Variety Field Day onFebruary 26. Farmers, breeders, seed com-panies, researchers, and Extension Agentsbraved the weather to walk through theNWREC Learning Farm to evaluate vari-eties and share knowledge on winter veg-etable production. Nick Andrews, LaneSelman, and Heidi Noordijk of the Metro-area Small Farms Program hosted thefield day to highlight the vegetables theygrew for a Western SARE-funded projectfor summer and winter vegetable andcover crop cultivar performance in organ-ic fresh vegetable cropping systems inOregon. Radicchio, cabbage, cauliflower,and purple sprouting broccoli were plant-ed in August 2018, including a total offorty-six varieties, made up these trials.The goal of the project is to help farmersselect cultivars for summer and wintervegetables and cover crops for irrigatedorganic fresh vegetable cropping sys-tems. Cover crop variety trials of peas,vetch, fava beans, and clover are alsobeing evaluated for winter hardiness andsuitability in the Willamette Valley.Summer trials will be planted beginningin May.

The demand for direct market local veg-etables is increasing. A winter vegetableadvisory group selected the four crops toinclude in this year’s trials and made vari-ety recommendations. Having vegetablesmature throughout the winter will helpmeet market demands. OSU Extensionworked with growers and seed compa-

nies to determine appropriate plantingtimes and selecting enough varieties tohave crops mature from mid-Decemberthrough late March. Raddichio and somecabbage varieties were ready for harvestin mid-December; purple sprouting broc-coli and more cabbage in February; fol-lowed by cauliflower, late maturing purplesprouting broccoli, and even more cab-bage in March.

Winter vegetable variety trial work willcontinue with an Oregon Department ofAgriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant on‘Enhancing Oregon’s Winter VegetableMarket’. This project will showcase: wintersquash, garlic, celeriac, Brussels sprouts,cabbage, cauliflower, chicory, and purplesprouting broccoli. Keep an eye out forfield days and marketing promotionsthrough 2022.

Developing Oregon’s Winter Vegetable Market—variety trials

Selecting the proper field planting date is impor-tant. You want the plants to be mature enoughto survive cold temperatures, but not too maturewhere the harvestable crop will be damaged.Cauliflower selected for overwintering in theWillamette Valley has many leaves protectingthe young head and as day length and tempera-tures increase the head begins to grow quickly.The wrapper leaves still protect the head fromtemperatures and pests. Timely harvest is impor-tant to cauliflower quality, as soon as the headstarts to show, harvest immediately.

John Navazio, plant breeder with Johnny’sSelected Seeds, and Lane Selman discuss pre-ferred harvest methods and desired traits forpurple sprouting broccoli. Navazio recommendsremoving the main head to encourage sideshoot production and increased stem length.Purple sprouting broccoli with stems at least 6inches long could be bunched for easier market-ing and sales at stores and the farmers market.

Purple sprouting broccoli harvest late-February.

Radicchio heads hit with late December frost were evaluated for cold injury in early January. There wasdamage to the outer radicchio leaves, peeling back a few layers led to a marketable head.

Winter vegetable variety trials at NWREC wereevaluated for quality and winter hardiness.January and February included 15 days withtemperatures below 30° F, several days after thecrops thawed in the field winter damage evalua-tions were made.

• PA G E 3 •

This past several months has been a hec-tic time for personnel changes and hir-ings at the North Willamette Researchand Extension Center. At this writing, wecurrently have nine personnel actionsunderway and three more coming. Here’sa summary of the new positions and peo-ple at NWREC.

Derek Wells—Building and TradesMaintenance; Farm Staff: Derek officiallystarted his new posi-tion in January—for-merly held by long-time employee GeoffLewis. Lewis retiredthe end of May andDerek had assumedthe role last summer.Derek is now respon-sible for all facilities at NWREC plus allsafety requirements at the Center—ahuge job at NWREC with over 15 build-ings and structures and growing safetycertifications, testings, and universityrequirements. Derek had been aBioScience Technician for the past tenyears working mostly on general farmsupport and leading our farm equipmentsafety training education programs foryouth and adults. “Derek’s experiencewith our programs, faculty and staff, andour facilities over these years makes him agreat person to lead this important posi-

tion into the future,” said NWREC Farmand Facilities Manager, Marc Anderson.“As our programs and staffing grows, weare needing more and more attention tofacilities, upgrades and operations.”Derek and his wife and three children livein the farm house at NWREC—adjacent tothe main parking lot—and provides secu-rity and after-hours and emergency over-sight, too.

Heidi Noordijk—Outreach Coordinator;Metro Small Farms Program: Heidijoined the NWRECstaff in 2012 as anEducation ProgramAssistant in the MetroSmall Farms program.In this new profes-sional faculty posi-tion, Heidi willassume responsibilityfor managing the program in conjunctionwith Nick Andrews, Metro Small FarmsExtension Agent. Nick’s position haschanged over the past two years as hehas taken on leadership for developing anOrganic Extension program for OSU and,thus, is only able to devote about one-halfof his time to the Metro Small Farms pro-gram. Heidi has been taking more andmore leadership responsibility for theMetro program these past months andthe day-to-day activities at NWREC.

Included in Heidi’s new role will be con-ducting needs assessments with areasmall farmers; designing, delivering andevaluating educational programs; provid-ing leadership for the Clackamas SmallFarms School, vegetable variety field trialsat NWREC, and working with local part-nering organizations and agencies.NWREC Director, Mike Bondi, said,“Heidihas made excellent contributions to theMetro Small Farms Program since shejoined our staff seven years ago. She is adelight to work with—always with a posi-tive and cheerful attitude, is a wonderfulteam player at the Center, an incrediblyhard worker. We are pleased to haveHeidi join our faculty group.”

Ann Rasmussen—Faculty ResearchAssistant; Vegetable and SpecialtySeed Crops Program: Ann began hernew position sup-porting KristieBuckland’s programin early February. Shecomes to NWRECfrom two years as aFaculty ResearchAssistant in the PlantPathology lab atOSU’s Southern Oregon Research andExtension Center in Central Point. Annearned a Ph.D. in Biology from Universityof Mississippi for her research on forestmicrobial communities. Ann’s currentwork includes research trial support, pes-ticide applications, background researchfor grant and funding applications, datacollection and analysis, and assistance inwriting publications. Projects for thecoming season include a planting dateand variety trial with quinoa (including 17varieties), efficacy trials on radish and car-rot in the IR-4 program, drone surveyingfor blackleg in brassicas, and a study onhow pesticide residues affect bees. Anngrew up in Tennessee, but previously livedin the Portland area for over ten years andis happy to be back in the WillametteValley. Ann says,“I’m enjoying the oppor-tunity to study a variety of crops and con-tinue using some of my plant pathologyskills. I’m happy to be working with Kristieand am excited about her ideas for futureresearch on cropping systems, soil health,and vegetable nutrient content.”

Winter and Spring Brings New Positions and New Faces to NWREC

• PA G E 4 •

IR-4 Program Leader UpdateThe applications closed on a national search for the next IR-4, Pesticide RegistrationResearch, Program Leader at NWREC, on January 23. A pool of 19 candidates wasreviewed by a seven-person Search Committee with university faculty, industry andagency representatives, and community stakeholders. Seven candidates were inter-viewed on the telephone in late February and three invited to Oregon for the finalin-person two-day interviews. Those interviews were held April 2, 3 and 4 at NWRECwith the following days for each candidate on campus in Corvallis. The finalist can-didates came from the University of California, University of Arizona, and MichiganState University. We are evaluating the candidates, and all of the feedback from uni-versity and the community, prior to making an offer and negotiating the hire. Wehope to have the new IR-4 Program Leader in place by early summer.

A special thanks goes to an outstanding Search Committee for managing thisprocess and the leadership of Search Chair, Cindy Ocamb, Extension PlantPathologist at OSU. Cindy’s committee included: Mike Iverson, Aurora Farms;Michael Horak, University of California-Davis, IR-4 Western Region Field Manager;Rose Kachadoorian, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Pest Division; SteveSalisbury, Oregon Seed Council-Research Coordinator; Kristie Buckland, NWRECVegetable and Specialty Seed Crop Extension Specialist; and Ed Peachey, OSUVegetable and Weed Extension Specialist.

Brian Hill—Faculty Research Assistant;Nursery Production Research Program:Brian Hill is just com-pleting his Master’sdegree (still has hisdefense later thisspring) at OSU in theDepartment ofBotany and PlantPathology, but beganwork at NWREC onMarch 18. Brian is working under thesupervision of Lloyd Nackley, NWREC’sNursery and Greenhous ProductionResearch and Extension faculty. Brian’ pri-mary focus will be supporting the on-going Intelligent Sprayer project, butother activities in Lloyd’s program will besupported, too. Brian is originally fromsouthern California—a city kid from LosAngeles area—and, is coming into agri-culture, research and education as a sec-ond career. He is passionate about thescience of plant and animal systems,learning and taking this knowledge andcommunicating clearly with others. Brianand his wife relocated to Oregon about10 years ago, and since then, he hasobtained a Bachelor’s degree in Crop andSoil Science, and soon to be, Master’sdegree, both from Oregon StateUniversity. Brian is proud to share, hebleeds orange and black!

Faculty Research Assistant; NurseryPathology and Bilingual EducationProgram: An offer has been accepted forthe position of Faculty Research Assistant(FRA) supporting Luisa Santamaria’s educa-tion and research program. Publicannouncement is pending backgroundand DMV checks. This new hire is complet-ing Master’s degree coursework and thesisat the University of Idaho in June andexpects to arrive at NWREC on June 24.The new FRA will support Luisa’s on-goingresearch and education program by over-seeing the pathology lab activities plusgreenhouse and field projects. Luisa hasnot had support staff in her program sinceGilberto Uribe resigned his EducationProgram Assistant position to work for theOregon Department of Agriculture in theirPesticide Division. “I am really looking for-ward to the help in my program,” Luisasaid. “We have many projects that willkeep us busy, including a new training andcertification program for nursery workers.”

BioScience Technician—Farm Irrigationand Vegetable and Specialty SeedCrops Program; Farm Staff: The applica-

tions closed for a new farm staff positiondesigned to support the irrigation needsof the faculty, staff and programs atNWREC (half time) and farm support forKristie Buckland’s Vegetable and SpecialtySeed Crops Program. Phone interviewswere complete in mid-March and an offerhas been extended. “With some 60 to 70or more field trials each year at NWREC,now, we need a staff person to focus theirtime and energy on irrigation needs—especially in the summer,” said NWRECFarm Manager Marc Anderson. “Our for-mer facilities person had this responsibili-ty, but the growing season was just get-ting way to hectic.” The other half of theposition will be devoted to supportingthe Vegetable and Specialty Seed Cropsprogram and all of the farm field workfrom plot installation to on-going mainte-nance and equipment operation. Wehope this position will be filled by April 1.

BioScience Technician—General FarmManagement; Farm Staff: A full-timegeneral farm management position wasadvertised this winter, too. This would bethe position Derek Wells vacated when hebecame our new Building and TradesMaintenance staff person. The search forthe farm management position was con-sidered a failed search in mid-March dueto lack of qualified candidates. The post-ing has been revised and is open forapplications until April 15. See the post-ing on the OSU Jobs site at www.oregon-statejobs.edu. With this entry level posi-tion, we are looking for someone withgood farm equipment operating skillsand experience including farm equip-ment maintenance and upkeep, basicconstruction skills, and attention to detail.Please share this job advertisement withanyone you know who may be interested.

BioScience Technician, Orchard CropsProgram: An offer has been accepted forthe position of BioScience Technician sup-porting Nik Wiman’s education andresearch program. Public announcement ispending background and DMV checks. TheBioScience Tech position will provide fulltime field and farm operation support inthe Orchard Crops program and follows thedeparture of Faculty Research Assistant,Aaron Heinrich, who resigned his positionin November to take a research positionwith Wilbur Ellis Company. “I am excited toget re-staffed in our program,”said Nik.“We have a big backlog of field work thatneeds attention and the changes of seasonmeans things are moving fast, now.

Having the help to support the farm work,maintaining field trails, equipment opera-tions, and overall maintenance in ourgrowing number of project—will be great.Can’t wait to get started!” Nik hopes tohave his new technician on staff any day.

• PA G E 5 •

It’s also that time of year and duringthe biennium when the State ofOregon prepares its next two-yearbudget. As you may know, SenatorArnie Roblan sponsored a bill, SenateBill 257, that provides a $30 millionincrease to the Public StatewideServices program that funds theOSU’s Extension Service, AgriculturalExperiment Station, and ForestResearch Laboratory. Approximatelyone-half of the proposed increasewill provide a continued servicelevel—i.e., cost-of-living increases foremployee salaries and benefits plusoperational expenses for their cur-rent programs. The other one-half ofthe proposed increase would be fornew education and research pro-gramming including faculty posi-tions and special initiatives.

Community stakeholder supportersfrom around the state have beenworking tirelessly to share theirvoices during the budget processthis winter at hearings in Salem atthe Legislature and at field hearingsaround the state during March andearly April. Stakeholder representa-tives supporting our Metro SmallFarms, Forestry and NaturalResources, Community and UrbanHorticulture, and Nursery andGreenhouse, and 4-H have all beeninvolved locally.

We thank you for the support!

Final budgetary decisions will bemade by the Legislature later thisspring. If you’d like your voice heard,reach out NOW to your OregonRepresentative and/or Senator inyour district. They will be happy tohear from you.

Legislative PushUnderway by

Stakeholders—wethank you!

Patrick Jones, Faculty Research Assistant—NWREC; Bernadine Strik; Berry ResearchLeader—NWREC; and Chad Finn, BerryBreeder—USDA Agricultural Research Service

The berry crop breeding program at theNorth Willamette Research and ExtensionCenter is a cooperative effort betweenthe U.S.D.A.’s Agricultural ResearchService (USDA ARS)and Oregon StateUniversity. This collaboration has been anongoing effort since 1911 and has result-ed in the development of numerous well-known berry varieties with one of themost famous being the Marionberry.

Today, Dr. Chad Finn is the berry breederwith the USDA ARS in Corvallis. Dr.Bernadine Strik, is NWREC’s BerryResearch Leader. Together, they are devel-oping new cultivars (i.e, cultivated vari-eties) every year in an effort to produceexcellent, high-quality fruit that can beharvested by machine or hand and suit-able for the fresh market and theprocessed fruit industry. Finn producesthe crosses between male and femaleparents in Corvallis using traditional linebreeding techniques. New crosses are

grown into young plants that are plantedat NWREC by Strik’s team where they canbe evaluated under conventional fieldgrowing conditions. Field evaluations areconducted over a several year periodcomparing the new crosses to currentindustry standard varieties searching for

something better than available in theindustry today.

The importance of this breeding and fieldevaluation work—and the cooperationbetween the USDA ARS and OSU—is evi-dent by the status of Oregon’s berryindustry. As of August 2018, the OregonDepartment of Agriculture reported thatOregon is the #1 producer of blackberriesin the Unites States, followed closely byblack raspberries and blueberries (#2rank) red raspberries (#3) and strawberries(#4). Blueberries are the largest segmentof Oregon’s berry industry with a farmgate value of nearly $150,000,000 thispast year. Estimates of the annual finan-cial impact of the berry breeding programbased on plant and fruit sales of all theUSDA-ARS/OSU developed cultivars,including those jointly developed withother programs (i.e. Washington StateUniversity), over the past 5 years, is $69million/year.

Since 2013, 18 new berry cultivars havebeen released from the USDA ARS/OSUprogram, with four of those beingreleased in cooperation with theUniversity of Arkansas or WashingtonState University. Most of these cultivarsspend 10+ years under development,from the original cross between the twoparents to naming and release, goingthrough yield trials and field evaluationsat NWREC, before being more widely test-ed at local farms. The new cultivar is then

• PA G E 6 •

Berry Breeding Program Continues to Release New Cultivars

Berry Cultivar Name Release Year

Blackberry Columbia Star 2013

Strawberry Charm 2013

Strawberry Sweet Sunrise 2013

Raspberry Cascade Gold (w/WSU) 2013

Blackberry Black Magic (w/Univ. of Arkansas) 2014

Raspberry Cascade Harvest (w/WSU) 2014

Blackberry Columbia Giant 2015

Blueberry Mini Blues 2015

Strawberry Marys Peak 2016

Raspberry Kokanee 2016

Blackberry Columbia Sunrise 2017

Blackberry Hall’s Beauty 2017

Blackberry Galaxy 2017

Blackberry Eclipse 2017

Blueberry Echo 2017

Blackberry Twilight 2018

Blueberry Norman (w/Univ. of Arkansas) 2018

Raspberry WSU 2166 (w/WSU) 2018

Colum

biaSt

ar

“cleaned up” to ensure it is as geneticallyuniform and free of known diseasesbefore being distributed to nurseries forwholesale and retail sales.

Several recent standouts from the pro-gram include:

Columbia Star: Trailing, thornless black-berry with a growth habit mimickingOregon’s iconic ‘Marion’ (the most famousblackberry cultivar developed 70 yearsago through the USDA-ARS/OSUCooperative Breeding program); however,this berry has been repeatedly ranked ashigher quality and with higher Brix (ameasure of sweetness) than ‘Marion’, aswell as, producing higher yield, firmerfruit, more concentrated ripening, andwith better fruit quality from the 1st tolast harvest. Harvest of this cultivarbegins almost a week earlier than ‘Marion’.‘Black Diamond’ and ‘Columbia Star’ are

rapidly replacing the thorny ‘Marion’. If“Columbia Star’ is productive enough, it islikely to become the main blackberry cul-tivar in Oregon!

Sweet Sunrise: June-bearing strawberrywith an average berry size similar to‘Tillamook’. This cultivar produces fruitwith more intense flavor than ‘Tillamook’while having similar Brix. ‘Sweet Sunrise’ isnamed for its harvest season, which isconsistently five to seven days ahead ofother June-bearing strawberry cultivars.

Mini Blues: A unique, very small-fruited,highbush blueberry with yield comparableto ‘Aurora’ and ‘Draper’. ‘Mini Blues’ isnamed for its exceptionally small fruit,weighing in at an average of 0.9 g, or one-third to one-half the size of other cultivars.This miniscule size, coupled with outstand-ing flavor and sweetness, makes it ideal forthe processed market, fitting in well with

bake goods and other secondary productssuch as yogurt and ice cream.

Hall’s Beauty: A new early-ripening, high-quality, firm- and sweet-fruited, thornlesstrailing blackberry. Its name comes fromits exquisite flower, averaging almost 5 cmin diameter and having three times asmany flower petals as standard cultivars.With flavor comparable to that of ‘Marion’,‘Hall’s Beauty’ would make an excellentalternative as a much more attractive andmanageable plant in a home garden.

• PA G E 7 •

Each summer NWREC hires a team of seasonal employees to assist with farm work,field research, and educational support for projects and activities managed by thefaculty and staff. We expect to hire about 20 students-a mix of high school and col-lege-this coming summer.

Could this be you or someone you know?

If interested, positions are already posting. The Oregon State University Jobs web-site is the best place to monitor available positions for all of our hiring at NWREC.See https://hr.oregonstate.edu/employment-opportunities-osu. Click “OSU Jobs”and search “Student Employment Opportunities.” To find all positions at NWREC, fil-ter by location using “Aurora.” At this writing, we are posting four student positions.Each is described. More than one student could be hired for each position.Additional positions will be posted in the coming weeks, too.

Thanks for your interest or directing us to those interested in a great learning expe-rience in agriculture and on the farm for the summer.

Summer Students Right Around the Corner.Do You Know Someone Interested?

Mini bluesSweet Sunrise

Luisa Santamaria, NWREC NurseryPathology and Bilingual Educator,became a U.S. Citizen this past April 4.Luisa came to the U.S. from Ecuador inthe mid-1990s to further her educa-tion studying for her Master's degreeat the University of Delaware. Shehad the opportunity to continue forher Ph.D. at Delaware. Upon comple-tion, she did a two year Post Doc atTennessee State University at a nurs-ery research field center.

Luisa was offered the OSU positionshe now holds in 2009 with theunderstanding that she needed toobtain permanent residence status.When she accomplished that goal,she proudly announced that shewanted to become a U.S. citizen, assoon as possible. And, now she has—applying and passing all of these testsand enjoying the official swearing inceremony.

Congratulations, Luisa. We are allvery proud of you!

Coming to America!

Non-Profit Org.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSIPRINT

Oregon State UniversityNorth Willamette Research & Extension Center15210 NE Miley RoadAurora, Oregon 97002-9543

Oregon State University–North Willamette Research & Extension Center15210 NE Miley Road, Aurora, OR 97002 • Phone: 503-678-1264 • Website: oregonstate.edu/dept/NWREC

Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm

North Willamette Researchand Extension Center

FACULTY & STAFF

Administration & Support StaffMike Bondi, DirectorShelley Hughes, Administrative

AssistantJan Egli, Office SpecialistMarc Anderson, Farm & Facilities

ManagerDerek Wells, Building and Trades

MaintenanceTBA, Irrigation/Vegetable &

Specialty Seed Crop ProgramTrevor Wood, Farm Assistant

Extension & Research FacultyBernadine Strik, Berry Crops Research

LeaderWei Yang, Berry Crops Extension AgentJavier Fernandez Salvador, Special

Berry InitiativeLloyd Nackley, Nursery & Greenhouse

Production & Management ResearchRobin Rosetta, Nursery IPM Extension

AgentLuisa Santamaria, Nursery Pathologist/

Bilingual Extension AgentChal Landgren, Christmas Tree

Extension SpecialistNick Andrews, Metro Small Farms

Extension AgentKristie Buckland, Vegetable & Specialty

Seed Crops Extension SpecialistJoe DeFrancesco, Pesticide

Registration Research, EmeritusNik Wiman, Orchard Crops

Extension SpecialistNicole Anderson, Field Crops

Extension Agent

Research & Program StaffAmanda Vance, Berry Crops ResearchPat Jones, Berry Crops ResearchErica Chernov, Berry Initiative ResearchHeather Andrews, Orchard CropsDavid Lowenstein, Brown

Marmorated Stink Bug ResearchGina Koskela, Pesticide Registration

ResearchJudy Kowalski, Christmas Tree

ResearchBrian Hill, Nursery & Greenhouse

ResearchHeidi Noordijk, Metro Small Farms

Outreach CoordinatorBrian Donovan, Field Crops ResearchAnn Rasmussen, Vegetable & Specialty

Seed Crops Research

Become a Friend of NWREC Today!

Membership forms for the Friends of North Willamette Research and Extension Centerare also available by contacting the NWREC office at 503-678-1264 or downloading from

the website at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/NWREC.Contact Director, Mike Bondi, for more information or to discuss life or deferred gifts options.

Phone: 503-678-1264 • E-mail: michael.bondi@oregonstate.eduCell. 503-705-2434

Name:

Address: City, State, Zip:

Phone(s): Email(s):

I prefer to remain anonymous. Please do not publish my name in future publications.

Membership Category (circle one):

$25 Member $100 Second Crop $500 Director’s Club $2,500 President’s Club

$50 First Crop $250 Bumper Crop $1,000 Dean’s Club $5,000 Sustainable Agriculture Club

Make checks payable to: OSU Foundation–NWREC. Mail to:North Willamette Research and Extension Center, 15210 NE Miley Road, Aurora, OR 97002

Membership—Friends of North Willamette Research and Extension Center