Stories

Nov. 18, 2020

Walter Gassmann Receives Mumford Award for Outstanding Faculty as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Walter Gassmann, professor in the Division of Plant Sciences, received the Frederick B. Mumford Award for Outstanding Faculty during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Gassmann joined the University of Missouri in 2000 as an assistant professor in the Division of Plant Sciences. He became an associate professor in 2006 and a professor in 2013. Gassmann has served as the interim director of the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center since 2017. Gassmann majored in biochemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. He received his PhD in plant biology from the University of California,…

Nov. 17, 2020

Jared Decker Receives Early Investigator Research Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Jared Decker, associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences and state beef Extension specialist, received the Early Investigator Research Award during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Decker received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from New Mexico State University before earning his PhD in genetics from the University of Missouri in 2012. After earning his PhD, Decker served as a USDA-NIFA postdoctoral fellow at MU for a year before joining the faculty as an assistant professor in the Division of Animal Sciences. In 2018, Decker became an associate professor. He has served as the state beef…

Nov. 17, 2020

Felix Fritschi Receives Distinguished Research Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Felix Fritschi, C. Alice Donaldson Professor in Bioenergy Crop Physiology and Genetics in the Division of Plant Sciences, received the Distinguished Research Award during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Fritschi has published more than 100 refereed papers throughout his academic career and received more than 70 funded research grants, from entities such as USDA-AFRI, NSF, United Soybean Board and MSMC. Fritschi is part of several large grants, including one worth $15 million from the Department of Energy related to climate adaption in switchgrass. Fritschi has also had a major impact on graduate student and postdoctoral education, with…

Nov. 17, 2020

Michael Sykuta Receives Outstanding Senior Teaching Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Michael Sykuta, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics in the Division of Applied Social Sciences (DASS), received the Outstanding Senior Teaching Award during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Sykuta received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and his master’s degree and PhD from Washington University, with all three degrees coming in economics. He joined the University of Missouri in 1998 as an assistant professor before becoming an associate professor in 2005. Sykuta has served as graduate faculty since 1998 and doctoral faculty since 1999. He is the director of undergraduate studies in agribusiness…

Nov. 17, 2020

Teng Lim Receives Burch Extension Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Teng Lim, Extension professor in agricultural systems management, received the J.W. Burch State Specialist Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Award during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Lim earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biosystems and agricultural engineering from the University of Kentucky. He received his PhD in agricultural and biological engineering from Purdue University. Lim joined the University of Missouri as an assistant professor in 2009. He held the title of associate professor of Extension starting in 2014, and was promoted to professor in 2020. Lim works with regulators, livestock specialists, producers and the agriculture industry…

Nov. 16, 2020

Laura Friedrich Receives Mumford Award for Outstanding Staff as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Laura Friedrich, senior student services coordinator in the CAFNR Office of Academic Programs, has received the Frederick B. Mumford Award for Outstanding Staff as part of the 2020 CAFNR Celebration of Excellence Week. Friedrich has been part of the Office of Academic Programs for 10 years, impacting all CAFNR undergraduate students over the course of their studies. Her work on numerous campus committees, including the Summer Welcome Advisory committee, Early Alert Implementation team, and Decreasing Time to Diploma working group, impacts all MU undergraduates. Friedrich shows prospective students how their transfer credits will work toward a CAFNR degree. She works…

Nov. 16, 2020

Genevieve Howard Receives Outstanding Staff Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Genevieve Howard, web and social media strategist in the CAFNR Office of Marketing and Communications, received the Outstanding Staff Award as part of CAFNR’s virtual 2020 Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. Howard joined CAFNR 14 years ago, after working two years in the College of Education. She received a Master’s in Education: Information Science and Learning Technologies in 2008 from Mizzou, and has worked as an adjunct faculty member in CAFNR, teaching “Communicating on the Web.” She is an award-winning public speaker and often offers training at Mizzou and in Columbia on a variety of topics. She received the “Best-of-Track”…

Nov. 16, 2020

Rebecca North Receives Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Rebecca North, assistant professor of water quality in the School of Natural Resources (SNR), received the Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award during CAFNR’s 2020 virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration. North joined the University of Missouri in 2016 as an assistant professor of water quality in the School of Natural Resources. Before coming to MU, she served as a research associate for the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatchewan, Canada. North earned her bachelor’s degree (environmental science) and PhD (limnology) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She was a postdoctoral fellow for…

Nov. 16, 2020

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. IPG is one of CAFNR’s Programs of Distinction, a select collection of programs that exemplify…

Nov. 13, 2020

Q&A With Hannah Hemmelgarn

What are your job duties/job responsibilities in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources? As the Center for Agroforestry’s outreach and education coordinator, I develop informational materials like the Agroforestry Podcast and monthly newsletters, and I organize and execute a number of events. The Agroforestry Academy, an annual week-long intensive train-the-trainer program, is one of our most recognized offerings. We’re also looking forward to the upcoming Agroforestry Symposium, which will take place January 28-30, 2021; this year’s theme is Community Health and Resilient Food Systems. How long have you worked in CAFNR? I’ve been in this position…