The Director's Corner
Alicyn Smart – Executive Director, NPDN
The Communicator: Volume 7, Issue 4, May 2026
I've been meaning to write to you all over the past few months, but time has a way of slipping by. I've shared some updates during regional, committee, and IT meetings; however, for those who couldn't attend, I wanted to provide a broader summary of what leadership has been working on.
At the end of February, Dr. Neil McRoberts and I traveled to Washington, D.C., where we met with NPDN’s National Program Leader, Dr. Amer Fayad, along with staff from three Senate offices, three House offices, and representatives from Homeland Security. We provided updates on NPDN’s current work and discussed the direction we hope to take in the future. Each visit becomes a bit easier, as we’re now building on established understanding rather than introducing our mission from scratch. Across the board, there was clear recognition of the value of the organization and the work you all do. We left encouraged and optimistic about continuing these conversations.
In early March, I organized an in-person leadership meeting—an opportunity we typically only have during national gatherings. With the next four-year grant cycle approaching, it was important to come together to plan strategically and refocus on our core mission in order to better serve our stakeholders. Ahead of the meeting, I asked committee champions and program area leaders to share key accomplishments from the past grant cycle, along with their goals for the future. These were compiled into a pre-read document that also included a budget overview, results from the most recent satisfaction survey, and other materials to help guide discussion.
During the meeting, we generated a wide range of ideas, prioritized them based on impact and feasibility, and identified key focus areas for the next four years. Following this, leadership responsibilities were assigned to ensure continued progress in each priority area. More on all of this will be shared!
At the beginning of April, I reached out to request your support in securing signatures from your senators for the Dear Colleague letter. We ultimately received seven signatures—from Hawaii, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, New York, Michigan, and Connecticut. I know many of you made efforts that did not result in signatures this time, but those efforts still matter. Each outreach helps build relationships and moves us closer to future success. Consistency remains key.
Leadership is now focused on the upcoming release of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for NPDN and is actively working on the budget. Please note that the USDA now requires Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms to be completed through SciENcv. This requirement applies to all subawards, and previously used formats will no longer be accepted. Dr. Sara May has created a helpful Steps for Using SciENcv PowerPoint with step-by-step screenshots to guide you through this process—thank you, Sara, for putting that together.
We just got word that both the PPCDL workshops and Morphological Fungal Identification Techniques Workshops (MFIT) projects were awarded for 2027! Thank you Karen Snover-Clift for your effort in applying for these funds on behalf of all our members.
You won’t be hearing from me over the summer, as I will be starting maternity leave in May but feel free to reach out to anyone within leadership with any questions. I wish you all a wonderful season ahead and hope you find time to recharge and enjoy some well-deserved time outside of work doing all the things that keep you going through the growing season!
Best,
Alicyn
