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Felix Fritschi Elected as 2020 Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy Felix Fritschi, C. Alice Donaldson Professor in Bioenergy Crop Physiology and Genetics in the Division of Plant Sciences, was recently elected as a 2020 Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). The award was presented during the ASA-CSSA-SSSA annual meeting in November. The Fellow recognition is the highest bestowed by ASA. This honor follows Fritschi’s election as a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) in 2018. Fritschi is a member of the Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) at the University of Missouri. Read more here. Three Receive Graduate Student Awards as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence Elizabeth Prentice received the Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award, while Austin Sanders and Emily Piontek received Distinguished Thesis Awards as part of this year’s virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration in CAFNR. Prentice defended her dissertation, “Narrating Disturbance: Risk, Power, and Mountain Pine Beetles” and completed her doctoral degree in rural sociology in summer 2020. Her dissertation work explores the competing narratives of attribution surrounding a massive bark beetle outbreak in north central Colorado. Her advisor is Hua Qin, associate professor of rural sociology. Both Prentice and Qin were honored as part of Celebration of Excellence. Read more here. Sanders graduated with his Master’s in agricultural and applied economics from CAFNR in spring 2020. During the course of his Masters program, his thesis research was guided by his supervisor, Sarah Low, associate professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences. Both Sanders and Low were honored as part of Celebration of Excellence. Sanders’s thesis, Rural Agglomeration: How Does the Distribution of People Across Rural America Affect Entrepreneurship, researches how agglomeration can reduce costs and provide a market for businesses. Read more here. This past spring, Piontek graduated with her Master’s in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and a Certificate in Public Policy. During the completion of her research, Piontek was advised by Sonja Wilhelm Stanis, associate professor in the School of Natural Resources. Both Piontek and Wilhelm Stanis were honored as part of Celebration of Excellence. Piontek’s thesis, Residents’ perceptions of ecosystem services & environmental justice in urban greenspace: A mixed methods exploration in St. Louis, Missouri, provided a more in depth understanding of how members of the public in the St. Louis area weigh the benefits and costs of nature in their communities. Read more here. CAFNR faculty members have received the following recent grants (listed by Principal Investigator): Kaitlyn Bissonnette, SCN Coalition: Reinforcing and Maintaining Local Efforts and Sustainable Yields, 10/1/20-9/30/21, $27,000, University of Kentucky Research Foundation. Kevin Bradley, Integrating Best Management Practices for Herbicide-Resistant Weeds and Herbicide Stewardship in Soybean Production (FY21), 1/1/21-12/31/21, $172,000, Purdue University. Kevin Bradley, Take Action – Multi State Herbicide Resistant Crops and Weeds Educational Program, 10/1/20-9/30/21, $30,000, Purdue University. Michael Byrne, Application of UAV thermal imagery to survey Wild Turkey populations, 10/12/20-8/31/23, $182,082, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Felix Fritschi, Utilizing genes from the soybean germplasm collection to mitigate drought stress, 10/1/20-9/30/21, $199,661, University of Arkansas. Felix Fritschi, ZeaKal New Project, 7/1/21-9/30/21, $40,020, Zeakal, Inc. Henry Nguyen, Discover Sources, Genes, and Develop New Varieties and Germplasm with Improved Meal Protein and Amino Acids Utilizing Diversity in Cultivated and Wild Soybeans, 10/1/20-9/30/21, $79,984, Agricultural Research Services. Robin Rotman, CFP FY21 Colombia Eco-Friendly Ethanol, 12/1/20-12/31/21, $103,322, Foreign Ag Service. Andrew Scaboo, Discover Sources, Genes, and Develop New Varieties and Germplasm with Improved Meal Protein Utilizing Diversity in Cultivated and Wild Soybeans, 10/1/20-9/30/21, $79,492, Agricultural Research Services. Peter Scharf, 4Rs Fertilizer Management Handbook for Row Crops, 11/1/20-10/31/22, $94,160, MO Fertilizer Control Board. Reid Smeda, Integrating Best Management Practices for Herbicide-Resistant Weeds and Herbicide Stewardship in Soybean Production (FY21), 1/1/21-12/31/21, $16,000, Purdue University. |
