UF/IFAS faculty members named to ‘40 under 40’ agriculture list

Alexa Lamm.  AG-AG ED AND COMMUNICATION Sam hutton

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two relatively new University of Florida faculty members have earned Vance Publishing’s second annual 40 Under 40 Award, which recognizes those making a significant contribution to America’s food system.

Alexa Lamm and Sam Hutton work for UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and graduated from UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Two other CALS graduates made the list: Ben Butler, who earned a bachelor’s in animal sciences in 2002 and Christy Bratcher, who earned a bachelor’s in 2002 and a master’s in 2004, both in animal sciences.

Lamm has worked as an assistant professor of agricultural education and communication since 2012 and was recently named associate director of the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education. Hutton is an assistant professor of horticultural sciences at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, where he started in 2010.

Lamm and the other honorees were chosen from nearly 200 nominees, said officials with Vance Communications, which publishes agricultural publications nationwide. A six-judge panel with distinguished agricultural careers chose the winners.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, global food production must double by 2050 to head off mass hunger. Vance Publishing is committed to raising awareness to the 2050 Challenge.

The honorees will be featured in nine November/December print publications that Vance publishes, and they’re already mentioned in an article at www.40under40ag.com.

“Being recognized alongside people who work in industry and legislators is very meaningful,” Lamm said.

Lamm earned a bachelor’s degree in equine sciences and a master’s in Extension education, both from Colorado State University. Then she worked as an Extension agent for eight years in Colorado before earning a doctorate from UF in agricultural education and communication in 2011.

She then worked as director of the National Public Policy Evaluation Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, now part of the UF/IFAS PIE Center. In October 2012, Lamm became an assistant professor.

“Dr. Lamm’s research on water issues, and how they are addressed from the human perspective, has revolutionized the science of public policy research within the agricultural industry,” said Jack Payne, senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources at UF, who nominated Lamm.

Hutton earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agronomy from Mississippi State University and the University of Minnesota, respectively, and a doctorate in horticultural sciences from UF. His research works to advance tomato resistance to bacterial spot and to develop machine-harvestable tomatoes.

Diana Horvath, chief operating officer of the nonprofit Two Blades Foundation, which supports research into crop disease resistance, nominated Hutton. Horvath has worked with Hutton for the past four years to develop a bacterial spot-resistant tomato.

She called Hutton “a rising young scientist, who focuses on combining fundamental crop-breeding approaches with genomic tools to conduct an applied commercially relevant breeding program.”

“I am amazed that there are some who believe my work will have such an impact toward feeding the world’s growing population,” Hutton said.

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Writer: Brad Buck, 352-294-3303, bradbuck@ufl.edu

Sources: Alexa Lamm, 352-392-6545, alamm@ufl.edu

Sam Hutton, 813-633-4137, sfhutton@ufl.edu

Jack Payne, 352-392-1971, jackpayne@ufl.edu

Cutline: Alexa Lamm, left, and Sam Hutton, two relatively new UF/IFAS faculty members, have earned Vance Publishing’s 40 Under 40 Award in Agriculture. The award recognizes people who contribute to agriculture and try to stem world hunger. A six-member panel of judges from the agriculture industry chooses the winners. Lamm is an assistant professor of agricultural education and communication, while Hutton works as an assistant professor of horticultural sciences.

 

 

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Posted: September 24, 2014


Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS
Tags: Alexa Lamm, CALS


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