Transitioning between graduate school and a career in pesticide education

For most of us, graduate school is where we found our passion, if not solidifying our path to the career we want. With my Ph.D. work focused on pesticide alternatives, I got pulled into the world of pesticide stewardship. I’ll briefly talk about my dissertation work but focus on my career’s next step. I will be working with the public and anybody planning on using pesticides to educate how to properly handle and apply them to protect human health and the environment. It may not look like it but working in Washington State University’s Pesticide Resource and Education Program (WSU PREP) will highly involve science policy. As educators, we will need to be the first to know and understand policies surrounding pesticides and build relationships with local, state, and federal agencies, such as the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Environment Protection Agency. Demystifying the role of our program will hopefully shed light on an amazing and fulfilling career that some have never thought about or even considered.