Stories

May 3, 2021

Carol Swaim Receives Haynes Distinguished Service Award from the CAFNR Alumni Association

Carol Swaim, administrative assistant, Agricultural Education and Leadership program, has been named the recipient of the 2021 Dana Brown Haynes Distinguished Service Award, given by the CAFNR Alumni Association each spring. Swaim has been part of the Agricultural Education and Leadership team for 16 years, and at Mizzou for 27 years. She is a three-time recipient of the CAFNR Staff Advisory Council’s Above and Beyond award (2009, 2013 and 2018). In 2015 she received an Honorary State FFA Degree – the highest degree presented by the Missouri FFA Association to individuals for their dedication to furthering agricultural education and FFA.

April 7, 2021

CAFNR Announces Dissertation Research Improvement Grantees

The University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Office of Research recently announced its inaugural award winners of the CAFNR Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (C-DRIG). Each grant is worth up to $2,000 to support or partially support dissertation research projects proposed by doctoral students in the College. Proposals were evaluated by the CAFNR Research Council, an advisory body that advises the CAFNR Office of Research and is made up of representatives from each division in the College. Student: Pawan Basnet (Plant, Insect and Microbial Sciences) Advisor: Andrew Scaboo (Assistant Professor, Division of Plant Sciences) Development…

Dec. 16, 2020

CAFNR Office of Research Recognizes Drivers of Distinction

The CAFNR Office of Research recently recognized 10 faculty members as Drivers of Distinction. The honor was given to the faculty members, listed below, who had the highest total shared credit research expenditures over the past 10 years (2011-20). David Diamond – director, Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership (School of Natural Resources) Felix Fritschi – C. Alice Donaldson Professor in Bioenergy Crop Physiology and Genetics (Division of Plant Sciences) Shibu Jose – associate dean, CAFNR Office of Research; professor (School of Natural Resources) Henry Nguyen – professor (Division of Plant Sciences) Craig Paukert – cooperative professor (School of Natural Resources) Randy…

Dec. 7, 2020

Yanu Prasetyo Received Outstanding Student Contribution Award from MU Council on International Initiatives

Yanu Prasetyo, PhD student in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, recently received an Outstanding Student Contribution Award as part of the 2020 MU International Engagement Awards. These recognize the meaningful and outstanding international work carried out by faculty, staff and students. This work can be carried out on campus or brought back from engagement abroad. A sampling of his international work includes publishing two research articles in international scientific journals related to his dissertation on the impact of Walmart closures in rural Missouri, leadership involvement with the Deaton Scholars Program and supporting MU African Interdisciplinary Studies Hub (Africa Hub).

Dec. 7, 2020

Rebecca Mott Appointed to Committee With American Association for Agricultural Education

Rebecca Mott, assistant Extension professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, has been appointed to a three-year term on the North Central Region’s Program Improvement Committee with the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE). AAAE aims to foster excellence in the discovery and exchange of evidence-based solutions for social science challenges in agriculture and related sciences. Her service term will continue through 2023.

Dec. 7, 2020

Sarah Low Receives Provost’s Award for Creative Extension Programming by New Faculty

Sarah Low, associate professor of regional economics in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, received the 2020 Provost’s Award for Creative Extension Programming by New Faculty. This award recognizes faculty with a current (at least 25 percent) Extension appointment who have had exceptional extension or continuing education accomplishments in their first four years of their service to the University of Missouri. Low’s Extension program focuses on economic and entrepreneurial development as a rural and regional economic development strategy and enhancing economic development opportunities by providing high-quality research and insights to partner organizations.

Nov. 20, 2020

Elizabeth Prentice Receives Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Elizabeth Prentice received the 2020 Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award as part of this year’s virtual Celebration of Excellence awards celebration in CAFNR. She defended her dissertation, “Narrating Disturbance: Risk, Power, and Mountain Pine Beetles” and completed her doctoral degree in rural sociology in summer 2020. Her advisor is Hua Qin, associate professor of rural sociology. Both Prentice and Qin were honored as part of Celebration of Excellence. Her dissertation work explores the competing narratives of attribution surrounding a massive bark beetle outbreak in north central Colorado. This research fills an existing gap in the understanding of the human dimensions of…

Nov. 20, 2020

Austin Sanders Receives Distinguished Thesis Award as Part of 2020 Celebration of Excellence

Austin Sanders received the 2020 Distinguished Thesis Award as part of this year’s virtual CAFNR Celebration of Excellence Awards. 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. He received his Bachelor’s in political science from Mizzou in 2015. 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…

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. 5, 2020

Hua Qin Wins National Excellence Award as Part of Research Team

Hua Qin, associate professor of environmental and resource sociology/demography in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Division of Applied Social Sciences (DASS), is part of a multidisciplinary, multi-institution research team that was recently awarded the National Excellence in Multistate Research Award from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This prestigious and highly competitive award recognizes scientists who conduct exemplary research and outreach efforts across multiple states and in doing so enhance the visibility of USDA multistate programs. The team was awarded the Western Region Excellence…