Missouri Governor Mike Parson and the Office of Administration recently recognized five state teams with the 2021 Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity. The awards, which were handed out during a ceremony in the Missouri Capitol’s First Floor Rotunda on June 15, acknowledge accomplishments that serve as an example for continuous productivity, quality, efficiency and improvement.

The Coronavirus Sewershed Surveillance Project, which includes the University of Missouri and the Departments of Natural Resources, Health and Senior Services, Corrections, Mental Health, and Public Safety, was honored in the Pinnacle Award category. Two Mizzou professors, and their teams, have helped lead the project, Marc Johnson and Chung-Ho Lin. Lin is a research associate professor and lead scientist in the bioremediation program at the MU Center for Agroforestry. Johnson is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the School of Medicine and investigator in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.