PUYALLUP, Wash. – Nationally recognized Christmas tree researcher Gary Chastagner is available as a source for holiday news articles.
Possible topics include:
What to look for when choosing a U-cut tree
Buying the best cut tree on a lot
Which types of trees do best indoors
How to have your tree last through the season
The best stands for trees
Christmas tree safety
He can be reached at the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center at chastag@wsu.edu or 253-445-4528.
“Dr. Gary Chastagner, officially a plant pathologist with the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center, is better known as ‘Mr. Christmas Tree.’ For more than 30 years, his pursuit of new knowledge about the trees has been so thorough that it would be called obsessive, were it not science. He has studied tree diseases, analyzed species from around the world, deconstructed tree stands and grappled with that bane of the Christmas tree consumer, needles on the carpet.” Read the rest of the article by Eric Sorensen at http://wsm.wsu.edu/s/index.php?id=1078
Chastagner’s bio: http://plantpath.wsu.edu/aboutplantpath/research-highlights/5677-2/
Contacts:
Gary Chastagner, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center, chastag@wsu.edu, cell 253-882-6856, 253-445-4528
Betsy Fradd, WSU Extension, fradd@wsu.edu, 253-241-5043