Inside this issue

Dear members: This issue of CSA News magazine contains our annual listing of theses and dissertations (see p. 36). For decades, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA have published thesis and dissertation titles of graduates in the agronomic, crop, soil, and related environmental science disciplines. This year, we received 613 submissions from more than 25 universities.

Congratulations to all of our master's and Ph.D. graduates. We encourage you to take full advantage of membership in the Societies as you pursue your professional careers. Your hard work, dedication, and perseverance has paid off, and an exciting career in our sciences now begins. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA are here for you every step of the way!

I also draw your attention to an Opinion/Perspectives piece written by Dr. Scott Hutchins, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics (29 Jan. 2019 to 20 Jan. 2021). The article takes a comparative look at the different approaches taken by the U.S. and the EU regarding sustainable agriculture. While there is common ground between the U.S. and the EU on some aspects of sustainable agriculture, Hutchins says they have mostly antithetical philosophies and approaches to achieve the outcomes. “This polarization on how to achieve sustainable agriculture,” he writes, “diminishes the role of science as the arbiter for advancing sustainable agriculture, risks the harmonization for global trade among all nations, and threatens agrarian nations already facing severe food insecurity” (see p. 24). In addition to this article, our podcast, Field, Lab, Earth, released an interview on this topic with Dr. Hutchins on 22 January. Find the podcast at https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com or through your favorite podcast provider.

Two of our three Features this month deal with horticultural crops. One reports on new research in which nearly 1,000 elite, heirloom, and wild varieties of strawberry were screened for Verticillium wilt resistance. The study's findings are an important step in the fight to increase strawberry resistance to fungal pathogens. The other article tested the salinity threshold of tomatoes to see how much salt plants can tolerate before yields fall, creating a model that can be applied to a variety of horticultural and agricultural crops. This could have a big impact in places like the southwestern United States where drought conditions are driving greater groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation, which increases water salinity.

Do you like what you read in CSA News or have an idea for a story? Drop me a line at Send Message. I'd love to hear from you.