Former CIMMYT maize program director Delbert Hess has received the Genetics and Plant Breeding Award for Industry from the Crop Science Society of America and the US National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders. The award is presented to a crop scientist who has made significant contributions to genetics and plant breeding as part of work in the private sector. Congratulations, Delbert!
A scientific paper which includes among its authors CIMMYT scientists Jose Crossa, Suketoshi Taba and Uruguayan researcher and CIMMYT partner Jorge Franco has been given an award by the prestigious journal, Crop Science as one of the three outstanding papers of 2005 in plant genetic resources.
The paper is titled “A Sampling Strategy for Conserving Genetic Diversity when Forming Core Subsets” and furthers the science of genetic resource conservation statistics, a science in which this team is a world leader.
In 2005, 31 papers were eligible. An awards committee selected the three outstanding plant genetic resources papers by secret ballot. Reviewers identified outstanding papers based on scientific merit and innovation in discovery of novel agronomic genes from exotic germplasm by classical or molecular methods, statistical or molecular methods for quantifying genetic diversity, methods to improve germplasm regeneration and maintenance, and new approaches in the study of genetic diversity.
This is the second year in a row a paper from CIMMYT has won this award. Congratulations!
Zhonghu He, CIMMYT Principal Scientist and Country Representative in China received the Taishan Scholars Award, the highest honor for individual scientists from the Shandong Provincial Government. The ceremony was held on July 6, 2006, in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province.
Taishan is a famous Mountain and it is considered a symbol of Shandong. This award is based on our work in Shandong and Dr. He was nominated by the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science (Shandong AAS).
Dr. He has provided strong scientific leadership in Chinese wheat improvement, particularly in the establishment of a standardized quality testing system and the development of a regional quality program. The CAAS-CIMMYT wheat quality lab has become internationally recognized for its active and productive activities in promoting Chinese wheat quality, and shares around 70% of wheat quality activities in China. Dr. He, together with the wheat team in Shandong AAS, developed and promoted noodle quality wheat cultivar Jinan 19, which contributed more than 4 million ha in Shandong province for the last five years. It won the second prize from Chinese government in 2005.
In total, 70 people received awards, and the areas include literature, education, math and physics, engineering, medicine, biology, and agriculture In agriculture, four scientists were selected. As part of the award, the provincial government will grant 60,000 US $ per year for five years to Dr. He for providing leadership to the wheat program at Shandong AAS.