USDA Blog

In a previous blog post, we took a look at the training of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Health Safeguarding Specialists (PHSS) at The Professional Development Center (PDC). Now, let’s meet some of the faces behind the manuals and microscopes: the 2011 class of Basic...

Today is World Rabies Day. Scientists, public health professionals, veterinarians, wildlife biologists, and others from around the globe will celebrate World Rabies Day by raising awareness about efforts to rid the world of rabies. Rabies is one of the oldest known diseases, yet it remains a...

I’m Dr. Beverly Schmitt. I work for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, where I’m the Director of the Diagnostic Virology Lab (DVL). I’ve been with NVSL for 19 years. Before I came to APHIS, I served as the virology lab...

National Preparedness Month is a good opportunity to reflect on progress towards ensuring the security of our Nation’s food supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers defense of the food and agriculture sector critical– all the way from farm to fork. Some animal or plant diseases...

Recently I got an intimate tour of a longleaf pine forest, a rapidly vanishing Southeastern ecosystem that is home to one-of-a-kind wildlife. Longleaf pines once dominated the landscape of coastal Mississippi, but deforestation and urbanization have decreased both these forests and the unique plants...

I’m Brian McCluskey, Chief Epidemiologist for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services. I’ve been with APHIS for more than 20 years and served in many different capacities. I decided to become a veterinarian during my junior year in college, as a way to combine my...

Hi, I’m Dr. Shanna Siegel, a Veterinary Medical Officer with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). I have been working for APHIS for the past 3 years on import and export matters here in Georgia. After finishing vet school I worked as a small animal practitioner in a semi-rural...

I’m an avid camper. There’s nothing better than spending a week in the woods enjoying the calm and quiet beauty of nature. Food tastes best to me when it’s cooked over a campfire. And I want to make sure that I’ll always be able to go camping when I want to relax.

USDA Forest Service research is transforming exhausted farmland in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee into thousands of acres of hardwood forests that will provide revenue to landowners, remove carbon from the air and serve as habitats for wildlife. In 1998...

Every day, thousands of USDA employees fight on the agricultural frontline to keep our nation safe from the “bad bugs” that threaten our nation’s $500 billion agricultural industry. The Professional Development Center (PDC) provides training, leadership and consultation to Animal and Plant Health...