In attendance:  Wendie Cohick, Jason Hubbart, Anton Bekkerman, Puneet Srivastava, Angela Jagiello, Eric Bishop Von Wettberg, Vagner Benedito, Anna Katharine Mansfield, Beth Gugino, Blair Siegfried, Brian Farkas, Jason White, Jorge Atiles, Josh Kohut, Lee Hecker, Kumar Venkitanarayanan, Margaret Smith, Kal Kalavacharla, Tsakani Ngomane, Bill Miller, David Leibovitz, Rick Rhodes​

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Washington Visit Overview (Rick Rhodes)

• Rick attended an NCFAR event and visited Capitol Hill in June.  Ricki Schroeder (REE Chief of Staff) addressed the audience and mentioned all NIFA grants are under review for issues associated with climate change, diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Capitol Hill visits consisted of members of ag appropriations committees and the select committee on China.

• Major takeaway from Washington visits:  we need to hone our message – “our elevator speech” – in support of agricultural research and capacity funds.

• Some projects in our research portfolio have been paused, others have been deferred by NIFA.

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NIFA Update (Kal Kalavacharla)

• Jaye Hamby has been appointed as the Director of NIFA in 2025.  Day 1 reflections from Kal: the Director has taken time to have meaningful conversations with NIFA staff to learn their backgrounds.  Very engaged and practical, prioritizes small farms, understands who our stakeholders are.

• Brent Elrod is the current acting Chief of Staff, Kevin Kephart (former NE Liaison) has retired, Rachel Melnick is the acting Associate Director for Programs.

• Current Institute Directors: Kalavacharla, Rubella Goswami, Steve Zeng, Keith Harris.  Susan Moser serves as a co-northeast liaison with Kal.

• “Panel Managers” have been discontinued and replaced as “Panel Chairs” – the difference is that Chairs will not be temporary government employees, it will become easier to serve.

• New capacity projects are under review for their alignment with Executive Orders.

• New Plan of Work this year will need to adhere to Executive Order guidance.

• Kal will provide some information on forthcoming changes to SNAP to the Directors.

• Recommendation from Kal:  become familiar with the Executive Orders at the institutional level to inform how to draft proposals.

• Question to Kal:  Can we use the “Science Areas” on the May 2025 NIFA fact sheet as a guide to aligning our POW with EOs? – Kal will look into it

• All Directors are encouraged to email questions or concerns about anything related to NIFA to Kal Kalavacharla (venu.kalavacharla@usda.gov)  – please CC Rick Rhodes (rcrhodes@uri.edu)

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Open Discussion

• There is growing concern across the Northeast about language in regional multistate projects/committees that is not in alignment with Executive Orders.  Other regions have examined their portfolios and made language changes on multiple active research projects.

• New York Times article (gift link) listing trigger words under the new Administration:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-04.E44M.B6v94GFrweZN&smid=url-share

  • Also: https://pen.org/banned-words-list/

• All are encouraged to forward any specific questions and concerns about NIFA to Rick Rhodes (rcrhodes@uri.edu), those will be compiled for all to reference.

• Questions/feedback can also be submitted via Surveymonkey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/agInnovation-NE-questions