Washington State Student Wants To Make Meaningful Contribution To Potato Industry

Hanna Johnson, a Ph. D. candidate at Washington State University is the recipient of the 2025-2026 Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation academic scholarship.  In addition to the honor of being named the Potato LEAF winner, Johnson received $10,000 in scholarship money.  Johnson said one of the primary reasons she chose WSU for her doctoral work, is the opportunity to help growers be more efficient with their inputs.

“Particularly we have been focused on irrigation efficiency and trying to improve our water use," Johnson said.  "So that's something Dr. Pavek and his team have been looking a lot at is trying to find ways to help improve water use efficiency for producers, and they've been doing a lot of research with that. I think that's something that's really important. But beyond just irrigation, I think improving our efficiency with nutrient management, as well as how we're using our land, are some key issues that continue to need research.”

She said another research priority for the team at WSU is variety development.  Johnson, who graduated from Montana State, and earned her Masters at Michigan State, said she’s incredibly excited to be a part of the potato industry.

“I'm really passionate about continuing to learn as much as I can," she said.  "Throughout my career, I would really like to make a meaningful contribution to the industry. I really hope to continue to be involved in applied field research that's focusing on how can we benefit growers, how can we increase the competitiveness and the profitability of the industry as a whole. So I would like to continue to be involved in that side of research.”

Johnson noted her research focused on the relationship between in-season production practices and tuber dormancy, with the goal of improving emergence and stand uniformity.

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