Candidate for Councilor-at-Large
Hannah Rivedal
United States Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service
Leadership Experience
Since 2021, I have served as a research plant pathologist with the USDA-ARS Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit in Corvallis, OR. I lead a research program on diseases of grass seed and turfgrass. I am committed to educating the next generation of plant pathologists and have been co-advisor for four graduate students and a committee member for two additional students.
Since 2015, I have actively engaged in APS and have assumed multiple leadership roles. I joined the Extension Committee during my first annual meeting. During my time on the Extension Committee, I served as vice chair (2017–2019), chair (2019–2020), and social media lead (2020–2021). I served on the steering committee for the GROW: Plant Health Exchange network (2019–2020). In 2020, I was selected as the Early Career Intern for the APS Public Policy Board, where I helped organize Phytopathology News articles and an advocacy training workshop. In 2022, I served as president-elect for the Pacific Division, where I provided leadership in coordinating the first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic. I served as Pacific Division president from 2023 to 2024, leading, organizing, and hosting a joint meeting with the Conference on Soilborne Plant Pathogens (CSPP) in Corvallis, OR. This meeting was among the largest meetings in Pacific Division history. I completed my service as immediate past president in March 2025, after we hosted another joint meeting with CSPP in Davis, CA.
I am a regular reviewer for Plant Disease, Phytobiomes, PhytoFrontiers, and Plant Health Progress. From 2020 to 2022, I served as assistant feature editor for Phytobiomes, developing social media content and outreach materials to highlight articles in the journal. Since 2022, I have served as an associate editor for both Plant Disease and PhytoFrontiers.
Outside of APS, I am a review editor for Frontiers in Horticulture: Sustainable Pest and Disease Management (since 2022). I am an active member of the Society of Nematologists and the International Herbage Seed Group (IHSG). Since 2024, I have served as the communications director for IHSG. Since 2022, I have been a Planning Committee member for the Oregon State University Hyslop Farm Field Day, which attracts over 200 growers, industry reps, local politicians, and researchers each year.
In my community, I am a regular volunteer at Stone Soup Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides free daily meals for vulnerable community members, and I served as a lead cook from 2023 to 2024.
Statement of Vision for APS
- Goal A: Advancements in plant health science are accelerated through professional collaboration.
- Goal B: A growing workforce has the skills necessary to ensure sustainable plant health.
- Goal C: Our science impacts decisions leading to a sustainable future.
I joined APS in my first year of graduate school. It immediately became clear to me how influential and supportive this community of my colleagues and peers could be during my career. I have found great value in APS, from networking and professional development opportunities to technical training to the ability to publish my research after rigorous peer review. My membership in APS has increased my reach and impact through connections with my peers. Having the opportunity to continue to foster the value of our society to the greater membership by serving the APS Council as a councilor-at-large (CAL) would be a great honor.
As a CAL, I would prioritize communication between the membership and APS Council, not only during Committee Connections week or the annual meeting, but throughout the year. A CAL serves as a liaison between members and leaders, and we need voices from all corners of our society to make equitable decisions for APS. I hope to continue to expand CAL office hours, while using the Online APS Community web platform for broad dissemination and collection of information. I envision using the APS Commons page to facilitate discussions across the entire membership on relevant topics for APS Council. In addition, I would actively participate in my assigned committees, making sure committee leaders have the requisite tools to meet yearly responsibilities, and carefully consider member suggestions or insights to ensure all voices are heard by council. As a CAL, I would be reflective and continuously refine communication efforts. After a decade of involvement with APS, I have a strong sense for what works and is efficient. I would continue the tradition of communication that works for our members and utilize my experience to improve areas with the potential for growth to ensure all members feel they are well-informed and empowered to provide feedback easily and effectively.
As a CAL, I would keep the society’s strategic goals at the forefront of my service. For example, I would like to leverage APS’s connections to other societies to increase our reach and collaboration across disciplines and plant health networks (Goal A). Building relationships with societies and working groups outside of APS would help us identify joint training efforts, engage with untapped journal reviewers, and increase membership. A critical role of our society is providing a publishing platform for plant health research and sharing the impact of this research beyond our membership. As our world continues to grow more connected and information is spread more rapidly than ever, we as plant health scientists need to work together to provide accurate resources for sustainably securing the health of our food and fiber industries. I would work to provide our members with resources to communicate the impact of their plant health science to the broader public (Goal C). I would facilitate connections between members or committees and our external impact groups like the Public Policy Board or Private Sector Relations Group. These connections would help to identify ways to highlight our members’ work to decision-making groups outside of APS. This would lead to developing tools and trainings for navigating conversations with the public or private sector in targeted, meaningful ways (Goal B). I am honored and energized to be nominated as an APS CAL. If given the opportunity, I will be a CAL who listens, connects, and serves all members of APS.
