Read Time:

Ah, Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year. Spending time with friends and family, eating your body weight in festive foods, consuming the entirety of the alcohol cabinet, playing board games until the silly hours of the night and decorating the Christmas tree that sits aglow amidst the celebrations.



Wouldn't it be grand if it could be Christmas every day? Well, for one researcher, it sort of is.





Meet Mr Christmas Tree



Meet Plant Pathologist and Extension Specialist Professor Gary Chastagner, also commonly referred to as "Mr Christmas Tree".



For the last 40 years, Chastagner has dedicated his scientific career at Washington State University (WSU) to researching Christmas trees, grappling with tree diseases, analyzing different species from across the globe and tackling the issue of needle retention. His latest endeavors include a $1.5 million United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded project that aims to identify genetic markers of fir trees with desired characteristics and resistance to Phytophthora root rot, a major issue for the Christmas tree industry.



I know what you're thinking. Working with Christmas trees all year round – is this fir-real? It sounds like the dream job, and I'm keen to discover how one finds themselves in such a seemingly "niche" career.



Chastagner tells me "I was hired in 1978 by WSU to work on diseases of ornamental bug crops, cut flowers and turf grass. I'd been here maybe a year or so and the Christmas tree industry in Washington and Oregon (which supplies about 40% of the total US production of Christmas trees) were having problems with a fungal needle cast disease that was really affecting their ability to produce Christmas trees."



He continues, "The state legislature (in response to growers) asked WSU to identify a person that could help work on this problem, and I was asked to do that. So, I started working on Christmas trees in 1979," he laughs, "And it's just kind of expanded since then."



A scientist's research focus is a very personal choice. I ask Chastagner if the move to Christmas tree research proved a burden or an exciting switch-up in his early career. He says, "It was not a problem, I just basically added Christmas trees to the things that I was already doing. I have a very diverse program that works on a variety of different things."





Credit: JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash.





History of the Christmas tree

Protecting Christmas trees against disease

Can DNA save Christmas?

Real deal or artificial?

An "Australian Christmas"

Credit: Yannis Cotsonis on Unsplash.



In addition to conducting critical research for the future of Christmas trees, it sounds like Chastagner and team have a lot of fun. "Last year we had a project where we were looking at the potential use of confers as cut trees in the southern hemisphere, and of course that is a very different situation," he tells me. "It's like going out and harvesting your Christmas tree in June in the Northern Hemisphere and expecting the tree to last. We have two very large display rooms where we have about 4000 square feet of temperature controlled area, and in this project we had some trees set up and we put ornaments on them – in June!" He laughs. "It was our 'Australian Christmas', if you will. We have a lot of fun."





The past, present and future of Christmas tree research

Professor Gary Chastagner was speaking with Molly Campbell, Science Writer, Technology Networks.