Spudman 7: Lorie Ewing
Lorie Ewing, program manager of the nuclear seed potato program at the University of Idaho, is retiring this July after 33 years of managing the potato tissue culture lab and greenhouse.
Ewing received a bachelor of science degree from Montana State University and a master’s from Cornell University. She started at the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1983, when tissue culture was a new technology. It was a great opportunity to learn, experiment and develop more efficient techniques of potato tissue culture. She especially enjoyed working with so many wonderful growers, researchers and students in the potato industry.
What are the best words of advice you’ve received?
Be persistent, ask lots of questions and try new things.
What are your goals for the next 12 months?
Visit my parents, siblings and children who are scattered around the USA.
What do you do to relax?
Work in my garden and ride my horses.
What would you like to be your lasting legacy?
That students enjoyed working in the tissue culture lab/greenhouse and learned a lot about potatoes. That we were able to deliver a quality product.
What job or work would you have pursued if you had not become involved in the potato industry?
I set out to get a job in forest pathology but ended up in the potato industry, and I am very thankful for that.
What are three things on your bucket list/must do list?
1) Run a marathon
2) Travel long distance by horseback 3) Learn Spanish
What is the one truth you have learned about the potato industry?
How well people work together to solve problems and improve the industry as a whole.
