-Magdalen Lindeberg
Several awards are given out within the School of Integrative Plant Science at the end of each fall semester. Among these are the MacDonald and Musgrave Awards, representing the desire of two crop science faculty members, Dr. Robert Musgrave and Dr. Harry MacDonald, to recognize outstanding accomplishments with the Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, at the time known as the Department of Agronomy. The awards were presented by SCS Chair, Toni DiTommaso on December 9.
Zafer Bestas and Uriel Menalled are 2022 co-recipients of the MacDonald-Musgrave Student Award. Zafer is a graduate student in the program of Harold van Es. His contributions to the field of agronomy include building a robot to enable high resolution imaging of the lower canopy to detect spatial variation in nitrogen deficiency and his mastery of coding languages and design software has enabled him to develop an image thresholding and analysis software for simultaneous processing of 1000s of images. Zafer has also engaged with farmers and agriculture professionals to familiarize them with this new technology.
Uriel Menalled is a graduate student with Matt Ryan. Uri was cited for his design of a project on plant-soil feedback and management of two large multi-site field experiments for which he coordinated research activities with different team members. He has acquired funding from the Atkinson Center, has multiple publications, and has received numerous awards for his research, in addition to serving in many leadership and service positions.
Sandra Wayman is the 2022 recipient of the MacDonald-Musgrave Staff Award. Sandra is a Research Support Specialist in Matt Ryan’s lab where she plays a critical role in student and staff recruitment and training, managing research projects, project reporting, website management, and a wide range of research activities. She regularly presents at field days and organized the 2017 Northeast Cover Crops Council.
Cindy Twardokus is the 2022 recipient of the MacDonald-Musgrave Faculty/Staff Award. In her position as Assistant to the SIPS Director, Cindy provides critically important support for faculty and staff in Soil & Crop Sciences and throughout SIPS. Cindy is knowledgeable in the many complex processes involved in HR appointments, has devoted significant time and energy to streamlining HR appointment workflows, and is an invaluable resource for training other SIPS administrative staff in these processes.