MS student Asmita Gautam working on a microscope in one of the NRC’s state-of-the-art laboratories.
inception, industry leaders and Senator Cooper were instrumental in securing line-item-based funding from the State of Tennessee to support operations of the center, which are supported further by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funding, coupled with various extramural grants and contracts. In 2019, through the combined efforts of nursery industry leaders, Tennessee Republican National Committee
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representative Mrs. Beth Campbell, and Senator Janice Bowling, the Nursery Research Center received a substantial increase in state funding, making it essentially self-sufficient. Before collaborations with the governmental agencies even began, however, the NRC relied on its first partnership, that with local woody ornamental growers. The growers pushed the facility to come to be, and once established, worked extensively
with it over the years. For Gawel, the core of the partnership is that the NRC is specialized. “Our setup here is unique because we’re able to hit a lot of different areas and as such we do have some really good cooperative research going on here, some good team research,” Dr. Gawel says. “We really are extremely integrated with the industry. We have a very integrated relationship with our stakeholders here and that’s our