Accolades
April 12, 2023
Felix Fritschi Receives Mumford Award for Outstanding Faculty as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Felix Fritschi, C. Alice Donaldson Professor in Bioenergy Crop Physiology and Genetics in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, received the 2023 Mumford Award for Outstanding Faculty during CAFNR’s Celebration of Excellence ceremony held Tuesday, April 11. Fritschi is the interim director of the Missouri Soybean Center and the Missouri Plant Transformation Core Facility. He has advised 25 graduate students and 32 postdoctoral fellows. Fritschi’s research focuses on crop improvement for farmers, specifically tolerance to drought and heat, and water and nutrient use efficiencies. Fritschi has secured almost $14 million in research grant support for his…
April 12, 2023
Amanda Alexander Received Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Award as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Amanda Alexander, associate teaching professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences, was named the Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor during the 2023 Celebration of Excellence event, held Tuesday, April 11. Alexander teaches hospitality management courses at all undergraduate levels, from the intro course up to the senior capstone course. Additionally, she advises an average of 32 undergraduate students per semester, as well as serving as the faculty advisor to the Mizzou Special Events Society and the MU chapter of the Club Management Association of America. “Dr. Alexander is a cornerstone of the undergraduate experience in hospitality…
April 12, 2023
Antje Heese Received Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Antje Heese received the 2023 CAFNR Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award at the Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony April 11. She is an associate professor of biochemistry and part of the Interdisciplinary Plant Group; she chaired the Graduate Admissions Committee for biochemistry from 2018-20. Heese’s graduate students have achieved highly, thanks to her expert mentorship, according to nominators. For example, her students have given a total of 19 talks, including 10 at international conferences; presented 35 poster presentations; received 18 travel grants; been awarded nine fellowships; and have published 11 scientific publications. “Antje has high expectations…
April 12, 2023
Eric Aldrich Received 2023 Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award at Celebration of Excellence
Eric Aldrich, assistant teaching professor of meteorology in the School of Natural Resources, received the Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award at CAFNR’s 2023 Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony, held April 11. During the past five years, Aldrich has been the faculty advisor of the Mizzou Meteorology Club. He participates in the SNR Student Mentorship program where he mentors 12 Environmental Science students in the field of atmospheric science. Aldrich’s philosophy of teaching is centered on creating a learner-centered environment that allows students to take an active role in their own learning process. His instructional goals…
April 12, 2023
Deborah Finke Received Outstanding Senior Teaching Award as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Deborah Finke, professor and director of undergraduate studies, Division of Plant Science and Technology, was honored with the Outstanding Senior Teacher Award as part of the 2023 Celebration of Excellence event, held Tuesday, April 11. Finke is dedicated to inquiry-based student learning and teaches courses including Insect Pest Management, Plant Stress Biology and Insect Ecology, with teaching evaluations consistently higher than average. She leads a study abroad opportunity to Italy, is the advisor for the C.V. Riley Entomological Society student organization, and works with faculty on the development of courses and curriculum as the undergraduate program director.
April 12, 2023
Bing Yang Receives Distinguished Research Award as Part of 2023 CAFNR Celebration of Excellence
Bing Yang, professor of plant science and technology, received the Distinguished Research Award at the Celebration of Excellence held April 11, due to his groundbreaking contributions in crop genome engineering and plant pathology. Yang has cloned and characterized a rice disease resistance gene used by breeders to protect rice plants from a devastating bacterial pathogen. Additionally, his research program focuses on developing and applying genome editing technologies for gene/trait discovery and for engineering improved traits, such as disease resistance in crop plants. Yang’s research has been published in top-tier journals, including Nature Genetics…
April 12, 2023
Scott Peck Received Roger L. Mitchell Fellow Award as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Scott Peck, professor of biochemistry, received the 2023 Roger L. Mitchell Fellow Award at the CAFNR Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony April 11. Peck joined Mizzou in 2005 and has made numerous seminal discoveries on the functions of specific protein kinases and phosphatases that control plant defense responses to bacterial pathogens. His papers have garnered more than 10,000 total citations. Peck has been appointed as an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, and as a Joint Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan. He continuously…
April 12, 2023
Marie Dickerson Receives CAFNR Safety Leadership Award at 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Marie Dickerson was honored with the inaugural Safety Leadership Award during CAFNR’s 2023 Celebration of Excellence ceremony on Tuesday, April 11, setting the standard of the quality of work recipients of this new award should perform, notes the awarding committee. Dickerson is the building manager and safety coordinator in the Division of Biochemistry. In her role as the liaison to MU Environmental Health and Safety, Dickerson is an advocate for the safety and operation of our campus buildings, including laboratories. She is the point person for the maintenance and repair of all levels of…
April 12, 2023
Hank Stelzer Named J.W. Burch Specialist at 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Hank Stelzer is the 2023 recipient of the J.W. Burch State Specialist Agricultural Extension Award, presented at CAFNR’s Celebration of Excellence event April 11. Stelzer is an associate professor of forestry extension and education director of MU Extension’s natural resources program area. He is active in several professional associations including the International Society of Arboriculture and the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals and has received the Karkhagne Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Missouri Society of American Foresters. Stelzer has been instrumental in establishing numerous programs that improve the management of Missouri’s natural resources. He…
April 12, 2023
Jeff Wood Received Early Investigator Research Award as Part of 2023 Celebration of Excellence
Jeff Wood received the 2023 CAFNR Early Investigator Research Award at the Celebration of Excellence ceremony April 11. Wood is assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and an ecosystem scientist who studies carbon, nitrogen, water, and other mass and energy exchanges between the biosphere and the atmosphere in relation to global climate change. He manages Baskett Forest’s 106-foot-tall, instrumented tower “MOFLUX,” which measures the carbon and water balance of Missouri’s oak-hickory forests and is part of the Ameriflux network of over 110 field sites throughout the Americas. Wood has published 43 papers in…