The National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently awarded a $2.9 million grant to an OSU team, led by Jeff Chang, Associate Professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, to conduct research on broad host range, gall-forming bacterial diseases: plant diseases that are difficult to diagnose, spread quickly and easily, and eventually kill all infected plants.
The research team has partnered with OSU’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) unit to develop a series of online courses offered in both English and Spanish.
According to Luisa Santamaria, OSU Extension specialist, 80–90 percent of the agricultural workforce in the United States is native Spanish speaking. With this innovative program, cutting-edge research will be disseminated quickly to the industry in a language and approach tailored to the workforce, closing the gap and providing nurseries with the tools necessary to combat plant pathogens effectively.
“The most effective management of disease is to educate all levels of the industry… with relevant information and training.”
— Jeff Chang, Associate Professor
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