September 2020 - 5

Carol Miles leads WSU's Mount Vernon operation
By Washington State University
Starting July 1, Carol Miles
became the new interim director
of Washington State University's
Northwestern Washington Research
and Extension Center (NWREC) at
Mount Vernon.
A horticulturist who finds solutions
for growing better vegetables and small
fruits, Miles has worked for 25 years at
Washington State University (WSU).
" I like to say I have soil in my
blood, " said Miles, whose father was
a Dust Bowler, walking off the family
farm in South Colorado at six years
old " with a suitcase in one hand. "
Her father went from sweeping
floors at a vegetable cannery to
becoming a U.S. diplomat. Carol
was born in Myanmar, and traveled
the world throughout her young
life. She encountered international
communities steeped in poverty,
where everyone grew food no matter
their social status.
" You could be a doctor, you could
be a lawyer, but you still grew your
own food because you could never
rely on food being available at a
marketplace, " she said.
After graduating from the
International School of Kabul,
Afghanistan in 1979, Miles enrolled
at Colorado State University. She
finished her undergraduate studies
in pre-vet training and completed
her internships, before realizing she
didn't want to be a veterinarian after
all. So, Miles joined the Peace Corps,
spending two years in Cameroon,
Africa, teaching vegetable production.
" That was the entryway into my
new career, " said Miles.
In Africa, she learned about a
research gap in vegetables, which are
" such an important component of
nutrition and the human diet. "
By 1993, Miles had graduated from
Cornell University with a Ph.D. in
vegetable crops.
Hired in 1994, Miles began her
career at WSU Extension, leading
and sharing on-farm research,
and producing experience-based
educational programs in horticulture
production.
She has been a vegetable Extension
specialist and a professor in the
Department of Horticulture, based
at NWREC, home to research
programs in entomology, small fruit
horticulture, vegetable pathology,
vegetable seed pathology, weed
science and plant breeding.
The campus includes a 140-acre
research farm in the heart of the
Skagit Valley, where scientists work
on a diversity of crops to improve the
future of food production and quality.
Carol MIles is the interim director
of Washington State University's
Northwestern Washington Research Center.
Photo: Washington State University
Miles focuses on crop production
issues, investigating alternative crops,
and investigates biodegradable plastic
mulch, vegetable grafting and cider
apples. Her team includes 15 graduate
students, and she is the major advisor for
two doctoral and two master's students.
Miles has continued to pioneer
new methods to advance agricultural
science. She successfully grafted
watermelon to disease resistant
rootstock, demonstrating that growers
can use grafted plants to overcome
verticillium wilt - a soil borne disease
present throughout Washington. Her
work in alternative crops revealed
that fennel grows well in northwest
Washington, despite the fact that it
is not commonly produced in our
region, or the U.S.
" Miles brings a legacy of leadership,
hard work, and innovation in
horticulture that will be instrumental
in her leadership of the WSU Mount
Vernon Northwestern Washington
Research and Extension Center, " said
André-Denis Wright, dean of the
College of Agricultural, Human, and
Natural Resource Sciences. "
Miles, who has a one-year interim
appointment as NWREC director,
said she hopes she can empower the
university to do more to track young
faculty toward leadership earlier, so
they see leadership as a career option.
WSU is working with farmers
amid COVID-19, and it is important
to continue the work of NWREC's
research programs while continuing
research projects that allow students
to safely move forward in their degree
program, she added.
" I think we have to keep very
positive attitudes, " said Miles of
her leadership goals. " We need to
stay constructive, and stay forwardthinking. "
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VGN | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 5
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September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020
