Celebrating Excellence
Celebrating Excellence
2024 Excellence Award Winners
Sue Barton, Ph.D.
Excellence in Extension Award
Susan Barton, PhD is an extension specialist and professor in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at the University of Delaware. She has worked with DelDOT for the past 20+ years to research and implement new roadside vegetation management strategies. She has also worked with partners to develop the Plants for a Livable Delaware Program, designed to provide alternatives to known invasive plant species and to promote sustainable landscaping. She teaches Plants and Human Culture, Landscape Drawing, Landscape Architecture Symposium, and Landscape Management, and she coordinates the Landscape Architecture/Plant Science Internship. She works closely with the nursery and landscape industry, writing newsletters, organizing short courses, and conducting horticulture industry expos with the Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association.
Susan received the Nursery Extension Award from the American Nursery and Landscape Association in 1995 and the Ratledge Award for service from the University of Delaware in 2007. She received her SITES AP certification in the summer of 2017. In 2021, Susan received the George M. Worrilow Award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, given to a college alumni with exemplary service to agriculture in the state.
Larry Armstrong
Excellence in Service Award (Staff)
Larry was hired in 1997 as Farm Assistant for the UD Webb Farm. Having grown up on the family farm near Smyrna, DE he developed a love for nature and being outdoors at a very young age. The family farm was his playground and also his first classroom. Life lessons learned there inspire him today.
Larry’s passion to best care for the land was most strongly exemplified by his Grandparents, John and Helen McQuail. With the support of a group of local farmers, they took Royal Dutch Shell Oil Co. to the U.S. Supreme Court, helping to create what is now the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Act protects critical estuarine habitat along Delaware’s coast from industrial development.
A lifelong student of the natural sciences, Larry best enjoys nurturing life and helping living things to grow and thrive. This includes people, animals, plants, and even soil microbes!
Promoted to Farm Manager in 2014, Larry continues the good work of his predecessor and manages the land for the maximum benefit of all species, domestic and wild. This is challenging yet rewarding work. His favorite saying is: “Farming is a race between weather events.”
Reluctant to be in the spotlight, Larry prefers his work to speak for itself. He is honored when told that he is a good teacher because this is a profession he holds in the highest regard. He has the privilege to work with the best students, staff, and professors in the world.
His past awards include the Governor’s Award for Conservation, New Castle County Conservation District’s Award for Conservation, Delaware Ornithological Society’s Conservation Award, and UD’s Green Hen Award for sustainability. After two previous nominations, he realizes the Excellence in Service Award does not come easy, and he is very proud to have his life’s work recognized by receiving this accolade.
Kent Messer, Ph.D.
Excellence in Research Award (Faculty)
Kent Messer is the S. Hallock du Pont Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Delaware. He serves as the Director of the Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research (CBEAR), a USDA Center of Excellence. Messer’s research interests are in the nexus of agriculture and the environment.
Messer received a BA from Grinnell College, an MS from the University of Michigan, and a PhD from Cornell University. He has published more than 120 publications and two textbooks. He has been an investigator on interdisciplinary proposals worth more than $75 million. Messer has served as editor of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review and is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. In 2023, he led a commission report to the US National Academy of Sciences entitled “Applications of Behavioral Economics to Climate Change.”
CANR Inclusive Excellence Award (Faculty and Staff)
The award recognizes individuals whose work embodies UD’s Inclusive Excellence initiative to advance inclusive excellence within the institution or community.
Inclusive Excellence Award Winners
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2023 |
Jennifer Seabrook-Scott |
Extension Agent |
2021 |
Christy Mannering |
Communications |
2019 |
Dr. Tanya Gressley |
Animal and Food Sciences |
CANR Excellence in Research Award
(Faculty)
The award recognizes individuals that are involved in research that involves the mentoring of graduate students, post-docs, undergraduates, and/or junior faculty
Excellence in research award winners
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2022 |
Dr. Pamela Green |
Plant and Soil Sciences |
2020 |
Dr. Kali Kniel |
Animal and Food Sciences |
2018 |
Dr. Yan Jin |
Plant and Soil Sciences |
CANR Teaching & Advising Award
(Faculty)
The award recognizes CANR faculty involved in teaching, mentoring and advising students.
Teaching and advising award winners
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2023 |
Dr. Debbie Delaney |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology |
2021 |
Dr. Thomas Ilvento |
Applied Economics and Statistics |
2019 |
Dr. Thomas Evans |
Plant and Soil Sciences |
2017 |
Dr. Joshua Duke |
Applied Economics and Statistics |
2015 |
Dr. Kali Kniel |
Animal and Food Sciences |
Excellence in Service
(Administrative Staff)
Recognizes superior work ethic, noteworthy performance, outstanding and meritorious service, and positive impact on the goals of the department and CANR. Administrative staff includes administrative staff, business administrators, communications, etc.
Excellence in Service award winners (Administrative Staff)
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2023 |
Susan Davis |
CANR Dean's Suite |
2021 |
Tammy Schirmer |
Carvel Center |
2019 |
Susan Biddle |
Plant and Soil Sciences |
2017 |
Michele Walfred |
Carvel Center |
2015 |
Sharon Webb |
Carvel Center |
CANR Excellence in Service
(Research Staff)
Recognizes superior work ethic, noteworthy performance, outstanding and meritorious service, and positive impact on the goals of the department and CANR. Research staff includes titles like Associate Scientist, Research Associate, Scientist, etc.
Excellence in Service award winners (Research Staff)
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2022 |
Adrienne Shearer |
Animal and Food Sciences |
2020 |
Tecle Weldekidan |
Plant and Soil Sciences |
2018 |
Maddi Valinski |
Applied Economics and Statistics |
2016 |
Richard Morris |
Animal and Food Sciences Newark Farm |
CANR Excellence in Extension
The CANR Excellence in Extension Award is based on the ECOP National Excellence in Extension Award. The CANR Excellence in Extension Award is presented in even years to an individual who has strived throughout his or her career to achieve the benchmarks reflective of excellence in Extension educational programming.
Recipient | Year |
---|---|
Kathleen Splane |
2022 |
Maria Pippidis |
2020 |
Gordon Johnson |
2018 |
Richard Taylor |
2016 |
William J. Benton Graduate Student Awards
The award is presented annually to two graduate students (one Ph.D. and one M.S.) who have excelled in research and have an outstanding record of academic accomplishments and service to their profession are eligible for nomination.
2024 Recipients
Anna Wockenfuss
Anna will graduate in 2024 with a master's degree from UD's Microbiology Graduate Program. Dr. Nicole Donofrio in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences advised her.
Anna's research investigates bacterial biological control agents to control fungal pathogens that infect economically important crops. She presented her research at the CANR symposium and the American Phytopathological Society (APS) Potomac Division meeting. In 2024, her lab published an original research article in Frontiers of Fungal Biology, where Anna had first authorship. Upon graduation, she hopes to pursue a research career.
Franklin Linam
Franklin performed his Ph.D. research in the Plant and Soil Science department under Dr. Angelia Seyfferth, focusing on nutrient and contaminant cycling and plant uptake by rice in diverse paddy soils. Highlights of Franklin's time at UD included receiving a predoctoral fellowship from the USDA, publishing four first-author papers, attending eight conferences (including one in Scotland and one in China), and working extensively at synchrotron facilities.
He plans to continue researching plant nutrient and contaminant uptake in academia or at a federal agency.
Previous Benton Award Winners
Nominate a student for the Benton Graduate Student Award!
The award is presented annually to two graduate students (one Ph.D. and one M.S.) who have excelled in research and have an outstanding record of academic accomplishments and service to their profession are eligible for nomination.
Benton Graduate Student Award Winners
Recipient | Award | Department |
---|---|---|
2023 |
Spencer Moller Amanda Crandall |
Plant & Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) Entomology & Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) |
2022 |
Polina Dineva Imogene Cancellare |
Applied Economics and Statistics (M.S.) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (Ph.D.) |
2021 |
Emma Ruggiero Ryan Moore |
Plant and Soil Sciences (M.S.) Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) |
2020 |
Sergio Cabrera-Cruz Shani Craighead |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (Ph.D.) Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D) |
2019 |
Alyssa Lutgen Tyler D. Sowers |
Water Science and Policy (M.S.) Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) |
2018 |
Hannah L. Clipp Desiree L. Narango |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (Ph.D.) |
2017 |
Adrienne Shearer Grace Savoy-Burke |
Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) |
2016 |
Amanda Roberson Solny Adalsteinsson |
Plant and Soil Sciences (M.S.) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (Ph.D.) |
2015 |
Sarah Markland Melissa Savin |
Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D.) Agriculture & Natural Resources (M.S.) |
2014 |
Rebecca Kern Allison Rogers |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (Ph.D.) Animal and Food Sciences (M.S.) |
2013 |
Jacquelyn Marchese Michelle Windle |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D.) |
2012 |
Rachael Vaicunas Kirsten Hirneisen Jixian Zhai |
Bioresources Engineering (M.S.) Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D.) Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) |
2011 |
Sudarshan Dutta Jacob Fooks |
Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) Food and Resource Economics (M.S.) |
2010 |
Zachary Ladin Laura Nemec Meredith Biedrzycki |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) Animal and Food Sciences (M.S.) Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) |
2009 |
Ellen Lake |
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) |
2008 |
Hudaa Neetoo Bridget Collins |
Animal and Food Sciences (Ph.D.) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) |
2007 |
Kristian Paul Anthony Gonzon |
Plant and Soil Sciences (Ph.D.) Entomology and Wildlife Ecology (M.S.) |