Western Section Annual Meeting
Friday April 30, to Sunday, May 2, 2010
Washington State University

About Washington State University

Washington State University is a land-grant university that conducts transformational research and provides world-class education to more than 25,000 students statewide. Students are taught in an environment enriched by research activities and graduate study.  Founded in Pullman in 1890, WSU’s statewide system includes campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Vancouver, regional learning centers, extension offices in every county, and distance degree programs accessible around the world.  The Carnegie Foundation classifies WSU as one of 96 U.S. public and private universities with very high research activity.

The Pullman campus is situated in amidst beautiful rolling hills of wheat and peas in the Palouse of Eastern Washington - the perfect place to appreciate the importance of plant biology and agriculture.  This “Inland Empire” of the pacific northwest is one of the largest dryland farming regions in the world.  Whitman County can boast that it is the highest yielding wheat-growing county in the nation.  Pullman WA is closely neighbored by the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID, and together these universities provide access to many cultural and outdoor activities being located near the Blue Mountains and the Snake River Valley. 

The Molecular Plant Sciences Program at Washington State University incorporates faculty with diverse research interests in the plant sciences into a single graduate program.  Our faculty include members of the Institute of Biological Chemistry (IBC), the School of Biological Sciences, the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, the Department of Horticulture – and others.  Faculty have expertise in plant physiology, ecophysiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and crop breeding.  This program is considered one of the top programs of its kind in the world. Among the program's faculty are three National Academy of Sciences members and some of the most influential plant science researchers in the world.

National rankings for WSU plant sciences:

• Top-five research productivity: Second nationally in number of articles published in scientific journals; third nationally in percentage of faculty whose work is cited by other researchers; fifth nationally in overall faculty research productivity
• Most highly cited: WSU plant science researchers are among the most highly cited in the world, according to the ISI Highly Cited Researchers List. The Highly Cited list includes less than one half of one percent of all publishing researchers—and WSU has five plant science researchers on the list.