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ARS Honors Scientists and Support Staff
By Ann Perry
February 10, 2009
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 Rangeland scientist
Tony
Svejcar of Burns, Ore., has been named Distinguished Senior Research
Scientist of 2008 by the Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) for his scientific leadership and rangeland research
discoveries. ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Svejcar heads the ARS
Range
and Meadow Forage Management Research Unit in Burns. He and other ARS
researchers and support staff were honored today at the agency's awards
ceremony here.
Over the past 25 years, Dr. Svejcars leadership has been
fundamental to developing rangeland management systems that address both
natural resource protection and agricultural production issues, said ARS
Administrator
Edward
B. Knipling. Under Dr. Svejcars guidance, the ARS scientists
working in Burns have excelled in conducting research that supports
agricultural producers, stakeholders and partners within the region and across
the country.
Svejcars research on rangeland ecology has yielded valuable
information about the complex interplay between grazing practices, riparian
systems, weed ecology and carbon cycling. Scientists and managers worldwide
have drawn on his guidance and expertise. In addition, he is widely respected
as an inspiring mentor for new scientists and students.
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ARS also honored the following "Area Senior Research
Scientists" today:
Kevin
Hicks, ARS
Crop
Conversion Science and Engineering Research Unit, Wyndmoor, Pa., for
outstanding research accomplishments and outstanding leadership during the past
20 years.
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Benjamin
F. Matthews, ARS
Soybeans
Genomics and Improvement Research Unit, Beltsville, Md., for outstanding
research accomplishments, scientific leadership and sustained support of fellow
scientists and scientists of the future.
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Edward
P. Richard, Jr., ARS
Sugarcane
Research Unit, Houma, La., for identifying and leading efforts to conduct
research that meets current and future needs of the sugarcane industry.
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Ronald
Thomas Riley, ARS
Toxicology
and Mycotoxin Research Unit, Athens, Ga., for significant improvements in
the science-based risk assessment of food-borne fumonisin mycotoxins.
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Timothy
P.L. Smith, ARS
Genetics
and Breeding Research Unit, Clay Center, Neb., for sustained productivity
and leadership in cattle genomics research and technology transfer.
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David
Spooner, ARS
Vegetable
Crops Research Unit, Madison, Wis., for outstanding research on the
systematics, evolution and domestication of potato, tomato and their relatives.
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Jean L.
Steiner, ARS
Grazinglands
Research Laboratory, El Reno, Okla., for outstanding research in conserving
and protecting the nations natural resources and dedicated leadership in
ARS national research programs. (More)
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ARS also
recognized exceptional "early career" scientists who have been with
the agency for seven years or less.
The top prize, the Herbert L. Rothbart Outstanding Early Career Research
Scientist Award, went to
Erica
Spackman, ARS
Exotic
and Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research Unit, Athens, Ga., for her
timely development of rapid diagnostic tests for the control of important
poultry diseases, including avian influenza virus, Newcastle disease virus and
enteric viruses of turkeys.
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The seven "Area Early Career
Research Scientist Award" winners for 2008 are:
Scott R.
Bean, ARS
Grain
Quality and Structure Research Unit, Manhattan, Kan., for outstanding
independent and collaborative research contributions to solve industry problems
resulting in new and more efficient uses of sorghum.
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Michael
H. Cosh, ARS
Hydrology
and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., for developing novel
methods of soil moisture remote sensing validation using in situ
networks and field experimentation.
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L.
Jason Krutz, ARS
Southern
Weed Science Research Unit, Stoneville, Miss., for creative research
programs investigating the relationship of crop management practices on
atrazine dissipation in soil.
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April B.
Leytem, ARS
Northwest
Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho, for excellence
in planning and conducting collaborative research within the environmentally
crucial field of phosphorus cycling.
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Martin A.
Riche, ARS
Harry
K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center, based at the
center's Ft. Pierce, Fla., worksite, for outstanding scientific contributions
and leadership to sustainable, low-salinity marine aquaculture.
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Alejandro
P. Rooney, ARS
Microbial
Genomics and Bioprocessing Research Unit, Peoria, Ill., for excellence in
research on the genetics of agriculturally important organisms and the
application of genetic theory to enhance U.S. agriculture and biosecurity.
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Doreen
Ware, ARS
Robert
W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Ithaca, N.Y., for providing a
leadership role in computational approaches and leveraging emerging sequence
technology to link candidate genes and their function with agricultural traits
and germplasm improvement.
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Other 2008 ARS award winners include the following:
Kerry
Pedley, ARS
Foreign
Disease-Weed Science Research Unit, Fort Detrick, Md., received the ARS
T.W. Edminster Award for his proposal to use gene silencing for discovering
plant genes that play a role in orchestrating defense responses to
Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the organism that causes soybean rust, in
resistant soybeans. The T.W. Edminster Award is given annually to the
researcher who submits the highest-rated research proposal in the ARS
Postdoctoral Research Associate Program.
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Melissa
Alegria, ARS
Southern
Regional Research Center (SRRC), New Orleans, La., was presented with the
2008 ARS Office Professional of the Year award for superior service,
achievements and contributions that improved the SRRC Property and Acquisition
Offices efficiency and effectiveness.
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Jason
Wong, ARS
Southwest
Watershed Research Unit, Tucson, Ariz., received the 2008 ARS Excellence in
Information Award for providing quality on-line access to data and research
results that improved customer service through enhanced information delivery.
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Two groups were the winners of the 2008 Administrators
Outreach, Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) Awards. The winners are:
- The management unit of the ARS
Kika
de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, Weslaco, Tex., for
effectively utilizing and managing the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP)
as a tool for succession planning while demonstrating commitment to a diverse,
qualified workforce. This management unit includes Center Director Paul
Sebesta; Administrative Officer Mari Gomez; and scientists Gene Lester, Allan
Showler, Shoil Greenberg and Frank Eischen.
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Winners of the agency's 2008 Administrative and Financial
Management Support Awards for Excellence also were announced. This years
winners are:
- Janet L. Jones, ARS Northern Plains Area, who received the Silver Award for
Excellence for her exceptional support and guidance to the Northern Plains Area
in negotiating a complex series of policies and procedures that yielded
substantial savings of time and energy and streamlined operations.
- Kathleen
Dunaway of Burns, Ore., received a Bronze Award for Excellence for her
commitment to delivering efficient administrative services to the Burns
location and enthusiastic assistance and support at locations throughout the
agency's Pacific West Area.
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