From a very humble start, National Invasive Species Awareness Week’s Kids’ Day has bloomed into an event featuring an invasive species magician, a 13-year old ‘invasive species hunter’ from Texas, and even Woodsy Owl from the Forest Service.
The event, sponsored by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, will take place on February 26 at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.—a perfect setting to educate kids about the importance of protecting our forests, agriculture and the environment from harmful invasive species. Read more »
Marie Griffin holds a raptor that will be relocated.
For APHIS Wildlife Services employees Marie Griffin and Steve Baumann, being recognized as “Outstanding Performers” by the U.S. Air Force’s 55th Wing is an honor. But the most rewarding feeling comes at the end of each work day, after none of the aircraft at Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base incurs a damaging wildlife strike. Read more »
Ensuring cut flowers are free from invasive pests and disease is a joint effort between the USDA and Department of Homeland Security. Here inspectors examine imported flowers at a Florida Plant Inspection Station run by USDA.
Did you know that USDA helps in bringing Valentine’s Day cheer every year? With the help of Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, USDA’s Animal and Plant health Inspection Service (APHIS) safely imports millions of cut flowers into the US free from harmful plant pests and diseases from Jan 1 to Feb 14th in preparation for the Valentine’s Season. Read more »
Okay, Times Square, you had your big New Year’s Eve bash. Now it’s time to usher in the Asian Lunar New Year—the Year of the Dragon—which starts on January 23. Many Asian Americans and their friends are looking forward to enjoying traditional foods, gifts, and parades during this holiday of great cultural significance.
If you’re in on the celebration, you may find it tempting to import tastes of Asia for the festivities. You may be ordering online or bringing food back from a trip overseas. USDA is eager to provide you with the information you need to ensure that these items won’t harm America’s agricultural and natural resources. Some agricultural items from certain Asian countries could be carrying pests or diseases that could seriously damage America’s crops, livestock, forests, rangeland, or community landscapes. Avoiding these items will help make the Year of the Dragon a prosperous and happy one. Read more »
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently hosted two examiners from China who were on hand to learn the U.S. system for examining new plant variety applications.
AMS’s Plant Variety Protection Office and the American Seed Trade Association invited Yang Yang and Lingo Gao from China’s Ministry of Agriculture to work to improve global intellectual property protection. The two countries are working toward harmonizing their respective plant variety protection systems. Read more »
Associate Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) Animal Care (AC) program Dr. Andrea (Andy) Morgan with her horse, Belle. While on a road trip with her parents as a young child, Dr. Morgan saw horses in Louisville and Lexington, KY and realized that she wanted to be a veterinarian.
In any large organization, it can be easy to overlook the contributions of individuals, each with unique stories and perspective. With this in mind, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) was proud to mark the 250th anniversary of the veterinary profession by offering a series of weekly blogs showcasing a different APHIS veterinarian each Thursday. Written in first person, the “world veterinary year” blogs share career paths – from dream to reality – and put a face on the sometimes overlooked aspects of ‘on-the-ground’ USDA employees. It is this creative use of social media to effectively showcase the rich personality of our workforce that makes this series our number 4 favorite new media moment. Read more »
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