We are excited to welcome Corina Serban to the Tree Fruit Team as the new LCD – ITT Extension Coordinator. Corina is responsible for providing oversight and leadership for Little Cherry Disease (LCD) Extension and Outreach program, including originating and/or developing formal education programs related to LCD. This position will function as an integral member of the WSU Tree Fruit Extension Team and the LCD Task Force and will work with a network of research and Extension faculty, tree fruit producers, allied industry, and industry partners to deliver educational programs and resources on LCD.
Corina is originally from Romania where she earned her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Landscape Architecture in the Horticulture Faculty at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine located in Cluj-Napoca, the oldest and largest institution of higher agricultural science education in Romania.
She has a diverse professional career that reflects her innate curiosity, broad thinking, and interest in horticultural practices. She began her professional career in 2013 as a graphic designer for a two research journals: Notulae Botanicas Horti Agrobotanici Cluj Napoca and Notulae Scientia Biologicae were she provided technical support for communicating science in effective ways.
In 2014 Corina came to Washington State and joined the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission as a research assistant, where she had the opportunity to collaborate in several research projects. This experience helped her to learn about our tree fruit industry and the unique relation between growers, industry partners and the research community. In 2015 she took the opportunity to work for three months as a research assistant in postharvest physiology and technology at the Competence Center for Fruit Growing Lake Constance in Germany, to broaden her experience working on applied research in tree fruit.
Returning to Washington in 2016, she joined Lee Kalcsits’ program at WSU Wenatchee where she earned her M.S. degree in Horticulture and worked as research assistant. Upon finishing graduate studies in 2018, she joined Stemilt Growers LLC Research and Development department where she led several fruit quality projects.
In 2019, she accepted the position of associate in research for the WSU Stone Fruit Breeding and Genetic program in Prosser, WA. Her experience managing the orchards and overseeing laboratory activities, coordinating field operations, including nutrient management, irrigation, pruning, training, pest and disease monitoring, virus monitoring, among others, led her to a deep understanding on many aspects regarding sweet cherry production, and most importantly, understanding WA sweet cherry industry.
The LCD Information and Technology Transfer (ITT) Extension position is funded by the WSU Tree fruit Industry Endowment. Other ITT position currently funded by the endowment include Chris Hedges in Postharvest Systems at WSU Wenatchee and Jenny Bolivar-Medina in Horticulture at WSU Prosser. Corina’s office location is the WSU Extension office in Yakima 2403 S. 18th. St. Suite 100, Union Gap, WA 98903, phone number (509) 574-1595. Her email is corina.serban@wsu.edu.