For Laura Tibbs Cortes, it started with the barn cats.
Growing up on a corn and soybean farm north of Ames, it was the barn cats that first sparked her interest in genetics.
“I had always liked watching the cats and keeping records on them, but in middle school, I found a textbook about cats in my local library with a chapter on feline genetics,” Tibbs Cortes said. “Now, with the help of that textbook and the records I had made, I could start trying to figure out the genetics of the kittens born on the farm each year, and I just found it so incredibly fascinating.”
Congratulations to our Ram Yadav, winner of the North Central Weed Science Society Outstanding Graduate Student Award. The award recognizes one outstanding graduate student who is a NCWSS student member actively involved in the Society, as well as contributor to the field of weed science through extension, research, and teaching.
Daniel Kohlhase is the recipient of the C. R. Weber Award for Excellence in Plant Breeding. Daniel grew up in Bloomington, IL. He discovered his passion for agriculture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, earning a BSc in Crop Science. After internships in plant breeding and seed production, Daniel decided to attend graduate school at Iowa State University in 2013. He earned a MSc in Crop Production & Physiology working with Dr. Mike Owen in 2016.
PhD candidate Qi Mu has recieved the Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science. The award recognizes top-notch graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in crop science disciplines. Departments select students based on academic achievements, research and teaching contributions, leadership accomplishments, service activities and personal qualifications. The award honors the first CSSA President, Gerald O. Mott, who trained 75 graduate students during his 45 year career at Purdue University and the University of Florida. Many of his students have become eminent forage scientists.