Notes from the Palouse
It doesn’t take long for autumn to settle in on campus. Football season, light jackets, the big lift of a new academic season. Ducks sense it and fly south in large v-formations.
I have been thinking about our many roles in community building — from Pullman to Seattle to Olympia to Washington, D.C., to East Africa.
In Pullman, for the Apple Cup, we participated in the Apple Cup Farmers Market, featuring sausage from gene-edited pigs. Gene-editing of livestock is a relatively new initiative at the college with the potential for deep impact.
In Seattle, our One Health clinic — a novel partnership in integrated medical care for unhoused young people and the pets that help sustain them — continues to thrive. It is an important Cougar-Husky partnership — in research, trauma-informed care, public health and compassion.
In Olympia, the Washington state Legislature funded a one-year study, House Bill 1705, that created a working group to address Washington’s growing shortage of large animal veterinarians. This bill tasks this group with developing recommendations for “recruiting, training, and retaining large animal veterinarians, especially in rural areas, to ensure food safety, public health, and the future of agriculture in the state.” Our work has just begun. Diverse stakeholders and data-informed conversations will hopefully drive some Washington-specific solutions to this national problem.
In Washington, D.C., work on the Farm Bill has begun and WSU has put forward an “Advancing Aquatic Animal Health and Sustainable Aquaculture through Artificial Intelligence” infrastructure package. Our External Affairs and Government Relations group is working with Sen. Murray’s office and others to highlight the amazing work we do with Pacific fisheries, salmon, sturgeon and others.
We touch people’s lives. We contribute to community health in the broadest sense — a perfect foundation for further development of our strategic initiative, a Center for Outreach and Engagement.
If you’d like to know more, you can always read the latest stories from our college on our news page. For even more content, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Be safe, healthy, happy, and stay hopeful.
Take care & Go Cougs, Dori Borjesson