GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers were honored on May 19 for outstanding work in agricultural sciences, including creating new patents, new plants and fruits, and finding ways to combat diseases. The ceremony for the UF/IFAS Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Research Awards was held in the Harn Museum.

“The science and new knowledge generated by UF/IFAS researchers is changing the world,” said Jackie Burns, UF/IFAS dean for research. “Through the hard work, creativity, and diligence of UF/IFAS scientists, we are expanding the frontiers of understanding, creating new knowledge in applied and basic science, and paving the path toward a future with improved human health, a prosperous agricultural industry, and sustainable and healthy natural ecosystems.”

Awards were given for thesis and dissertation from master’s and Ph.D. students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Honors were also bestowed to early career scientists, researchers who produced outstanding publications and those who produced patents. The patents include new varieties of peanuts, a Ruellia cultivar that boasts leaves in a stunning shade of purple and an invention to improve the heat stress tolerance of plants.

Special recognition went to the university’s two newest fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Also, the Professor Emeritus Award was given to Barry Brecke, who spent 30 years with UF/IFAS.

“We salute and celebrate these successes. But perhaps more fundamentally tonight we celebrate the pursuit of scientific understanding, and our collective vision that through research we can create the foundation that will guide us to the future,” Burns said.

Below is the list of award winners in each category:

Graduate Research Awards

THESIS

1. Nathan Holt w/advisor Sanjay Shukla
2. DISERTATION
3. Cintia Ribeiro w/advisor Matias Kirst

2015 Early Career Scientists Recognition

1. Damian Adams
2. Soohyoun Ahn
3. Nikolay Bliznyuk
4. Nathan Boyd
5. John Bromfield
6. Samantha Brooks
7. Zhengfei Guan
8. Jaclyn Kropp
9. Phillip Lancaster
10. Guodong Liu
11. Paul Monaghan
12. Patricio Munoz
13. Gulcan Onel
14. Joshua Patterson
15. Elizabeth Pienaar
16. Paul Sarnoski
17. Huiping Yang

Richard L. Jones Award

• Jianping Wang

• S. Luke Flory

1. UFRF Professors

• Michelle Danyluk

• Robert Fletcher

• Bin Gao

• Zhenli He

• Jose Eduardo Santos

• Gary Peter High Impact Research Award Authors: S. L. Flory and J. T. BauerPest Control Authors: Barbara DeRatt, Maria Ralat, Omer Kabil, Yueh-Yun Chi, Jesse GregoryAir Quality Authors: Denis Valle, Benjamin Baiser, Christopher Woodall, Robin Chazdon Authors: Dongyoung Shin, Ayse Civana, Carolina Acevedo, Chelsea SmarttCrop Management Authors: Muthusami Kumaran, Kate Fogarty, Amanda Terminello, Whitney FungCoral Reef Health Authors: Subhas Hajeri, Nabil Killiny, Choaa El-Mohtar, William Dawson, Siddarame Plant Patents

3. Gowda
4. Citrus Greening
5. Authors: Cory Krediet, Kim Ritchie, Ali Alagely, Max Teplitski
7. Youth Drug Use
8. Authors: Gregory Hendricks, Sanjay Shukla, Thomas Obreza, Willie Harris
10. Virus Transmission
11. Quantifying Biodiversity
12. Authors: Timm Kroeger, Francisco Escobedo, Jose Hernandez, Sebastian Varela, Sonia Delphin, Jonathan Fisher, Janice Waldron
14. Human Health
15. Authors: Lindsy Iglesias, Teresia Nyoike, Oscar Liburd
17. Invasive Plants

1. Zhanao Deng
2. Rosanna Freyre
3. Daniel Gorbet
4. Brent Harbaugh
5. Kenneth Quesenberry
6. Donald Rockwood
7. Dorothy Sistrunk
8. Barry Tillman

Utility Patents

Group 1: Balasubramanian Rathinasaabapathi and Walid Fouad

Group 2: Balasubramanian Rathinasaabapathi and Sabarinath Sundaram

Group 3: William Dawson (Not Present), Svetlana Folimonova, Alexey Folimonov

Group 4: Bruce Welt and Ayman Abdellatief

Group 5: Harry Klee, Denise Tieman

Group 6: Dennis Gray, Zhijan Li

Group 7: Lonnie Ingram, Brent Wood, Lorraine Yomano, Sean York

Group 8: Lonnie Ingram), Keelnatham Shanmugam, Shengde Zhou, Lorraine Yomano, Sean York

Group 9: Lonnie Ingram, Jonathan Moore, Keelnatham Shanmugam, Kaemwich Jantama, Mark John Haupt, Xueli Zhang

Group 10: Nan-Yao Su

Group 11: Marty Marshall, Kurt Schulbach

Group 12: Arnold Schumann

Group 13: Nikolas Georgelis, Curt Hannah

Group 14: Curt Hannah and Carla Lyerly Linebarger

Special Honors

National Academy of Sciences Recognition

• Linda Bartoshuk
• Robert Cousins
• James Jones
• Harry Klee
• Lonnie Ingram

AAAS Awardee –

• Robert Cousins
• Andrew Hanson Research Professor Emeritus –
• Barry Brecke

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