USDA Under Secretary Jennifer Lester Moffitt will visit Michigan State University April 14 for a presentation and tour.

At 1:30 p.m. at the Food Safety and Toxicology Building, the under secretary will announce a series of 14 USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service grants. MSU’s Rufus Isaacs is part of a team working with other states (CA, OR, WA, VT) on one of these grants related to crop pollination and pest management.

The presentation features MSU research related to blueberry and cherry pest management, pollination and the nature of multi-state grants and cross-institution collaboration. Those presenting include:

• Juliana Wilson, MSU Department of Entomology
• Nancy Nyquist, Michigan Blueberry Commission
• Jim Kells, Project GREEEN, MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Patrick Cudney, Director of Government and Stakeholder Relations, MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Following the presentation will be a tour of the Center for Integrated Plant Systems research lab on Spotted Wing Drosophila and new biological control agent, and the greenhouse on blueberry pollination research.