Mandy Bish, Extension specialist in the Division of Plant Sciences, was recognized at the 2020 North Central Weed Science Society annual meeting with a Distinguished Achievement Research award, which recognizes outstanding research achievements in weed science. The virtual meeting was held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

Bish has been with the university since 2014 and is responsible for assisting with direction and focus of research and education programs related to weed management in Missouri. She has experience in both basic and applied science research. Her PhD work at the University of Maryland focused on molecular genetic approaches to study ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis. During her postdoctoral research with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University, she studied the pathogen-host interaction between Phakopsora pachyrhizi and soybean. She was awarded an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) mass media fellowship to study science communication at Scientific American magazine. Her broad research training, communication fellowship and experience growing up on a farm in north central Missouri contribute to her desire to assist in designing and conducting relevant research and clearly communicating those results to stakeholders.