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| Vol. 18, No. 39 | Aug. 26, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 39 | Aug. 26, 1999 |
In a small bit of cosmic irony, a man who has built his reputation for excellence on studying how plants absorb water will receive the University's prestigious Francis Alison Award at the end of a summer that will be remembered for its drought.
John S. Boyer, E.I. du Pont Professor of Marine Biochemistry/ Biophysics and director of the Marine Biology/Biochemistry Program in the College of Marine Studies, will receive the award at New Student Convocation scheduled for 11 a.m., Monday, Aug. 31, in the Bob Carpenter Sports/ Convocation Center.
The $6,000 honorarium and medal are awarded annually by the University, based on the recommendation of the Student and Faculty Honors Committee of the Faculty Senate, to a faculty member in recognition of scholarship, professional achievement and dedication.
Boyer, who works on the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, said he learned about the award in a letter from UD President David P. Roselle.
"It came as a complete surprise," the soft-spoken scientist said. "It's a very special compliment, especially since it is awarded by colleagues."
"Dr. Boyer is one of most distinguished and accomplished faculty in the College of Marine Studies. His research on water stress physiology in plants-in which he uses marine plants (algae) to help understand the biochemistry and biophysics of terrestrial plants-is internationally recognized. Of course, the vigor and vitality of his research carries over into both his classroom teaching and the mentoring of students. We are indeed fortunate to have Dr. Boyer on our faculty," Carolyn Thoroughgood, dean of the College of Marine Studies, said.
Fellow researcher Donald L. Sparks, chairperson of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and himself a recipient of the Alison Award, has worked closely with Boyer over the years, and he said he was "delighted" with the selection of Boyer for the award.
"He is a distinguished scholar and teacher. Prof. Boyer has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the effects of water on the physiology of land and marine plants," Sparks said.
In layperson's terms, Boyer said his research looks at how water affects growth, photosynthesis and reproduction in both marine and land plants.
"I got interested in this area as a young person growing up on a farm on the Delmarva Peninsula," he said.
His undergraduate degree is from Swarthmore College, where he became fascinated with biology and "all that was revealed by plant physiology.
"That and a course in genetics really opened my eyes. Eventually, I decided I'd like to take a year or two to learn more and went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where I really couldn't believe someone would pay me to go to school," he says.
At Wisconsin, where he earned his master's degree in 1961, he majored in plant physiology with a minor in soils. He went on to earn his doctorate in 1964 from the Department of Botany at Duke University, where he majored in plant physiology with a minor in biochemistry.
At the time he went to Duke, its marine laboratory was inactive so Boyer switched the focus of his research to land plants. From 1966 through 1984, Boyer held a variety of positions in the botany, agronomy and plant biology departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UD in 1987, he was a professor at Texas A&M University.
"The first part of my career was spent in agriculture," he explains, "but about the time this position opened up, it was obvious things would be a lot easier if I worked at a college of marine studies. It was big attraction, and UD has treated me extremely well."
His career highlights include discovering fresh methods of measuring the water status of plants-discovering how thirsty a plant is well before it's apparent to the eye, when it's often too late to be of any help to the plant.
"It's possible that a plant still looks normal but is being affected metabolically by lack of water. Farmers may think a crop is growing well when in fact it's not," Boyer explained.
Studies of photosynthesis led to the discovery that just as marine plants adjust to salinity, land plants adjust to drought conditions by accumulating products of photosynthesis. This lead to a breakthrough finding. When plant reproduction fails, it is often because with a lack of water, the parent plant becomes unable to supply photosynthetic nutrients to developing seeds.
Another study found a correlation between such conditions and the magnesium concentrations of plants-that lowering a plant's magnesium content appeared to make it moderately more drought resistant. This is an area Boyer said he hopes to explore further in the future.
He also is working with Bertrand Lemieux and James Hawk, both plant and soil sciences, on a $2 million NSF-funded project to see if a new breed of corn, containing more than 6 percent oil, might give the poultry industry a higher energy, more nutritious feed source. To do this, the team will work to decipher the genetic coding sequences responsible for corn's oil content, to pinpoint-and perhaps manipulate-the genetic messages tied to corn oil production.
Many of the plants Boyer studies are grown in his lab in high tech, environmentally controlled containers that resemble industrial refrigerators. The floor-to-ceiling compartments enable him to grow large sunflowers or ears of corn inside. Some of the plants are wired to computers that maintain a constant record of growth.
This summer, he says, much of his work was conducted indoors, which left it unaffected by the drought.
"It is the worst I have seen in recent years," he says of the summer weather. "This year, I would hate to be a farmer!"
A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Boyer has received numerous awards over the course of his career. He is a former president of the American Society of Plant Physiologists and received that group's Shull Award in 1977 for outstanding contributions to the field. He is a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, the Japan Crop Science Society, the Climate Laboratory of New Zealand and others.
He has published close to 150 articles and a book and holds one patent. He is a sought-after speaker at workshops and symposia and a member of numerous professional organizations.
He and his wife, Jean, have two grown daughters.
-Beth Thomas
