SATURDAY

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Kate Evans

Washington State University Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center, Wenatchee, WA

Interim Director, Professor of Horticulture (pome fruit breeding)

Kate leads WSU’s apple scion and pear rootstock breeding programs which released the Cosmic Crisp® brand apple recently to the Washington apple industry. Kate is currently also the Interim Director of WSU’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, based in Wenatchee, which also houses programs on entomology, post-harvest pathology, tree fruit physiology, post-harvest systems, orchard management/production systems, organic/sustainable agriculture, small farms and tree fruit extension.

Kate came to Wenatchee from the U.K. where she led an apple and pear breeding program at East Malling Research for 16 years. She received all her formal education in the U.K., a BSc(hons) in Genetics/Plant Biology and a PhD in plant molecular biology.

SATURDAY - LUNCH

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Noel Schulz

Edmund O. Schweitzer III Chair in Power Apparatus & Systems in School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Pullman. 

Noel Schulz received her B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. from Virginia Tech.  She received her Ph.D. in EE from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Noel has been active for over 26 years in teaching, research, and service at six U.S. universities.  She teaches electrical engineering and power engineering topics.  In research and graduate studies, she has graduated 45 MS and 13 PhD students; published 175 papers and 2 book chapters; and brought in over $40M in external research through individual and collaborative projects including a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER award.  

Her research interests are in power system design, analysis and operations including rural electrification, smart grid, renewable energy, shipboard power systems, and intelligent system applications.  Her other leadership interest areas are increasing the number of women and under-represented minorities in STEM as well as international engineering solutions.  In 2014 she received the IEEE HP Harriet B. Rigas Award based on her efforts to encourage women students and faculty in engineering careers.   Dr. Schulz also serves as the WSU representative on the Board for Washington STEM (https://washingtonstem.org/).