
ARS
Scientists Win Top Honors Today in Annual USDA CeremonyBy Marcia Wood June 4, 2001Agricultural Research Service scientists
who are developing better ways to manage ecosystems of the American Southwest,
providing new techniques to detect and measure the amounts of healthful
ingredients--called phytonutrients--in familiar foods, or are safening the
nation's supply of meats and poultry will be among those feted today at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's 55th annual
Honor Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will present the awards at 12:30 p.m. in
the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. The
ARS honorees, and the categories in which they won their awards, are: Read: more
about the SALSA team.
Read:
more about Andrew Sharpley's research. For
"Maintaining and Enhancing the Nation's Natural Resources and
Environment:" - Hydrologic engineer David C. Goodrich and 20 other ARS members of the
Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere (SALSA)
Team, Southwest Watershed Research
Center, Tucson, Ariz. Goodrich, his ARS colleagues and some 45 employees
from collaborating agencies are providing land managers and others with new,
objective information about the hydrology of the prized San Pedro River
ecosystem of Arizona and Mexico, where suburbanites, farmers, ranchers and
wildlife must share increasingly scarce water.
- Soil scientist Michael D. Jawson, National Program Staff, Beltsville, Md.,
and former ARS research associate Marlen D. Eve, now at
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins,
Colo. This award for members of a Climate Change Negotiations Analytic Support
Team acknowledges Eve and Jawson's role in gauging the contribution that farm
and rangeland soils make in storing carbon and thus reducing emission--into the
atmosphere--of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas thought to contribute to global
warming.
- Soil scientist Andrew N. Sharpley,
Pasture Systems and
Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, Pa. Sharpley's
pioneering investigations of phosphorus and nitrogen in runoff water from farms
and feedlots provide growers, educators and regulatory agencies in the United
States and abroad with practical, economical and environmentally sound ways to
keep water clean and farmlands productive.
For "Operating an Efficient, Effective and
Discrimination-Free Organization: " - Botanist Elizabeth L. Ley and colleagues on the Big Bugs Exhibit Committee,
U.S. National
Arboretum, Washington, D.C. The festive, informative exhibit of 14 oversize
bug sculptures leased for display on the grounds of the Arboretum, along with
attractive brochures, signs and other educational materials that Ms. Ley's
staff developed for the show's 5-month run, gave more than a quarter-million
visitors of all ages a fun, easy way to learn about the vital role that insects
play in the production of flower, fiber and food crops.
Read: more about
Gary R. Beecher's research.
Read:
more about Mohammad Koohmaraie's research.
For
"Promoting Health by Providing Access to Safe, Affordable and Nutritious
Food: " - Chemist Gary R. Beecher,
Food Composition
Laboratory, Beltsville, Md. Methods that Beecher and colleagues developed
for determining amounts of phytonutrients such as carotenoids, isoflavones and
polyphenols in fruits and vegetables--and their unique, user-friendly databases
documenting these levels in various foods--have helped medical researchers and
others evaluate the role of these compounds in preventing cancer, osteoporosis
and other major diseases.
- Animal physiologist Mohammad Koohmaraie,
U.S. Roman L. Hruska Meat Animal Research
Center, Clay Center, Neb. Koohmaraie's team not only developed the first
rapid tests for detecting pathogens on beef, pork and poultry carcasses, but
also provided techniques to greatly reduce or eliminate E. coli O157:H7
in red meat.
For "Heroism
and Emergency Response: " - Area Director S. Karl Narang, South Atlantic Area, Athens, Ga., and
veterinarian David E. Swayne, Southeast
Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, Ga. Narang, Swayne, and other members
of a West Nile Virus team are being honored for developing a strategy for
surveillance, diagnosis, and prevention of this avian disease, which can be
transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.
For "Expanding Economic and Trade Opportunities for United States
Agricultural Producers: " - Research horticulturist Stephen S. Miller,
Appalachian Fruit Research Station,
Kearneysville, W.V. This award honors Miller and others who provide timely,
accurate information to apple growers throughout the U.S. about the likely
success of establishing new apple cultivars, in their region, to meet consumer
demand for a greater variety of tasty apples.
ARS is the USDA's chief scientific research agency. Contact: Marcia Wood,
ARS Information Staff, 800
Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710; telephone (510) 559-6070, fax (510) 559-5882,
[email protected]. Story contacts Food Composition Laboratory Southwest Watershed Research Poultry Research Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory Mohammad Koohmaraie Marcia A Wood U.S. Department of Agriculture | |