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The excellent work being done by NPA locations and their research and support staffs is also being recognized by outside entities. Below is a list of NPA locations and employees who have won significant awards from outside organizations and scientific societies.
Silver-Level Award Recipients - Federal Electronics Challenge 2007
![Kevin Dahl and Jackie Couture](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081110050015im_/http://ars.usda.gov/sp2userfiles/Place/54000000/images/OutsideAwardsKevinJackie-cropped.jpg)
Congratulations to the Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, MT for the prestigious award they received in June 2008 for their efforts in reducing the environmental impact of electronics at their lab and in their community. The Sidney ARS location was the only entity within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be so recognized in 2008 by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their leadership in electronics stewardship in 2007.
Accepting the 2008 Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) Silver Level Award on behalf of the Sidney lab in a special ceremony June 18, 2008 were Kevin Dahl, IT Specialist, and Jackie Couture, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist. The FEC awards recognize the efforts of federal partners to increase their electronic stewardship efforts, with emphasis placed on three areas: purchasing greener electronic products; reducing impacts of electronic products during use and managing obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way. NPARL’s FEC award is the first for an ARS laboratory in the Northern Plains Area, and only the second for ARS nationwide. The USDA-ARS Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research Unit in Columbia, MO is the only other ARS award winner, earning both silver and gold awards under the program the previous two years.
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Two ARS Scientists Honored as Tech Museum Award Laureates - 2004 On November 10, 2004, two Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists were among 25 global innovators being honored with an international award as Tech Museum Award Laureates. The ARS scientists developed an improved soybean inoculum that increases crop yields and quality while contributing to a sustainable agriculture. David Kuykendall, a microbiologist at the Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., and William J. Hunter, a microbiologist at the Soil-Plant-Nutrient Research Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado, shared the award.
They won in the "Intel Environment Award" category for "applying technology to profoundly improve the human condition." Kuykendall and Hunter patented a specially selected strain of "Bradyrhizobium," a common soil bacterium. These beneficial symbiotic bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen; reducing the plants need for nitrogen fertilizer. Soybean farmers inoculate their seeds with these bacteria as they plant their crop. The bacterium developed by Kuykendall and Hunter, referred to as ‘the USDA strain,’ is especially beneficial because it forms more nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of soybean plants.
The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., is supported by several major corporations, individuals and government grants and is partnered with the United Nations Development Programme. The Tech Museum Awards recognize nominees for developing or implementing new technologies in ways that address global challenges. More than 580 nominees from 80 countries were judged by an international panel with Kuykendall and Hunter chosen as one of the 5 winners within their category. The ARS granted an exclusive license to Urbana Labs, St. Joseph, Mo., (recently acquired by Becker Underwood, Ames, Iowa) to produce the inoculant commercially.
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Other Outside Awards
Calvin Ferrell Clay Center, NE Animal Growth and Development Award American Society of Animal Science July 2006
John Nienaber Clay Center, NE Fellow American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers July 2006
Jorge Delgado Fort Collins, CO Fellow Soil and Water Conservation Society July 2006
Laj Ahuja Fort Collins, CO 2006 Environmental Quality Research Award American Society of Agronomy Nov 2006
Jorge Delgado Fort Collins, CO Fellow American Society of Agronomy November 2006
Ardell Halvorson Fort Collins, CO Soil Science Applied Research Award Soil Science Society of America November 2006
Kevin Jensen Logan, UT Fellow Crop Science Society of America November 2006
Paul Flinn Manhattan, KS Excellence in Integrated Pest Management Award Entomological Society of America December 2006
Lee Panella Fort Collins, CO Meritorious Service Award American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists March 2007
Christina Walters Fort Collins, CO Center for Plant Conservation Star Award Center for Plant Conservation May 2007
Jerry Miller (retired) Fargo, ND National Sunflower Association Gold Award National Sunflower Association June 2007
Jorge Delgado Fort Collins, CO 2007 Conservation Research Award Soil and water Conservation Society July 2007
Donald Tanaka Mandan, ND Conservation Research Award Soil Water Conservation Society July 2007
Calvin Ferrell Clay Center, NE Fellow American Society of Animal Science July 2007
Douglas Johnson Logan, UT 2007 Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources Crop Science Society of America November 2007
Lajpat Ahuja Fort Collins, CO Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science February 2008
Jeff Pedersen Lincoln, NE Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science February 2008
Joe Ford Clay Center, NE Fellow Award American Society of Animal Science July 2008
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