-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, Professor Antonio DiTommaso on December 14.

Kavya Krishnan is this year’s recipient of the MacDonald Musgrave Graduate Student Award. A student in the program of Harold van Es, Krishnan was recognized for her commitment and dedication to excellence in the field of agronomy and soil science. She has received multiple awards for her academic excellence and service and she is passionate about teaching as exemplified by her continued leadership of Dr. Ying Sun’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) laboratory section for multiple semesters. She has also trained many of the local students and technicians on soil health analysis methodologies.

Scott Morris, technician with Toni DiTommaso, is this year’s recipient of the MacDonald Award. Morris was recognized for his tireless support for the DiTommaso and Ryan research programs and and to the agricultural and conservation communities of New York. Both of his nomination letters highlighted his phenomenal plant identification skills and the critical role he provides as the “go-to weed guru” – sampling crops and weeds, providing rapid identification, and assisting new graduate students in their research projects.

Congratulations to both awardees!