Leadership change at WSU Mount Vernon

Dr. Chad Kruger

Chad Kruger is the new director for the Washington State University Mount Vernon Northwestern Research and Extension Center.

Kruger will continue to lead the statewide WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR), based in Wenatchee, Washington. A new assistant director position has been created at CSANR to oversee activities that Kruger will set aside.

“Chad’s leadership and expertise in sustainable agriculture is an excellent fit for the research and extension programs at Mount Vernon,” Rich Koenig, director of WSU Extention, said in a statement.

Kruger says he plans to build on NWREC’s existing success, as well as expand research into regional concerns, including soil health, water quality and quantity, and dairy management.

“I want to ensure that the productive capacity of faculty, staff and students here is solid,” Kruger says. “I’ll be looking for opportunities to build and increase the capacity of the current programs.”

Kruger assumed his new role Aug. 17. He succeeds Steve Jones, who left the position earlier this year to direct the Mount Vernon Bread Lab and oversee its new research facility.

Archive Video

Dr. Chad Kruger talks about what growers in the Pacific Northwest should expect regarding climate change and drought potential during the WSTFA Annual Meeting on December 1, 2014.