Faculty Awards
The presentation was made during the NAPB annual meeting held June 2-5 in Tampa, FL. Roger has developed 25 soybean cultivars and has been a leader in developing organizations that will ensure the training of future generations of plant breeders. He is a nationally and internationally recognized soybean geneticist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia.
This annual award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to mankind through the development of new cultivars of crops and/or technology development that resulted in a measurable impact on crop production. The award also recognizes accomplishments in teaching and collaboration.
Dr. Roger Boerma, Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor of UGA and Executive Director of Georgia Seed Development Commission, was honored with the 2013 NAPB Plant Breeding Impact Award during their annual meeting in Tampa, FL.
Dr. Roger Boerma (pictured on right) receiving the 2013 NAPB Plant Breeding Impact Award from Dr. Allen Van Deynze.
Dr. Zenglu Li, a professor in soybean breeding, genetics and genomics at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), has been named to the Georgia Seed Development Professorship in Soybean Breeding and Genetics.
GSD is a nonprofit, self-supporting organization that provides economic support for the development of new varieties which provides business opportunities that help keep agriculture as Georgia’s number one industry. It was created in 1959 by the Georgia General Assembly to lead development of commercial plant materials in the state by promoting varieties developed and released by UGA researchers and was designated as a public, nonprofit corporation by the Georgia Legislature in 2008, allowing the organization to expand its scope.
The D.W. Brooks Awards are the highest honor bestowed to faculty by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Zenglu Li received the 2021 D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Research for his integrated classical and molecular breeding techniques and for developing innovative genetic and genomic solutions to biotic and abiotic limitations of soybean production.
Graduate Student and Staff Awards
2023
Nathaniel Burner won third place at the 2023 IPBGG Retreat in the Ph.D category. He presented a poster on “Developing and Deploying a UAS-based Pipeline for Determining Maturity of Soybeans”. Congratulations!!
Nathaniel Burner won second place in the 2023 PhD E. Broadus Browne Award. Congratulations!
2022
Sam McDonald was selected as a recipient of the 2022 Roger and Cindy Boerma Plant Breeding Excellence Scholarship. Congratulations!
Mark Miller was selected as a recipient of the 2022 Glenn and Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship. Congratulations!
Sam McDonald won third place in the Soy2022 Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Soybean poster competition, “Discovery and Allele Mining of Novel Resistance to Frogeye Leaf Spot in Soybean.”
Sam McDonald was selected as a 2022 Borlaug Scholar. Congratulations!
Nicole Bachleda won first place at the 2022 IPBGG Retreat in the Staff/Post-doc category. She presented her poster “Epistatic Interaction of Genetic Loci Rj5 and Rj6 Underlying Soybean Nodulation.” Congratulations!
Renan Souza is the recipient of the 2022 Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship Award!
Sam McDonald won second place in the graduate student poster competition at the 2022 Soybean Breeders Workshop, “Discovery and Allele Mining of Novel Resistance to Frogeye Leaf Spot in Soybean.”
Mark Miller won third place in the graduate student poster competition at the 2022 Soybean Breeders Workshop. He presented a poster entitled “Predicting Optimal Cross Combinations to Accelerate Genetic Gain of Soybean.”
2021
Ivy Tran and Alexandra Ostezan won second place in the 2021 Cobb Foundation Video Contest. Their video was titled “Nematode or Plant? A Nutrient Battle.” Congratulations!
Ethan Menke won first place in the graduate student poster competition at 2021 IPBGG Retreat. He presented a poster on “Genetic Resistance from PI 398469 to Southern Stem Canker”. Congratulations!
Nicole Bachleda won second place in the staff poster competition at 2021 IPBGG Retreat. She presented a poster on “A Genetic Locus Rj5 Controls Nodulation in Soybean”. Congratulations!
Ivy Tran won third place in the graduate student poster competition at 2021 IPBGG Retreat. She presented a poster on “Toward Identifying Novel Genes Underlying Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode ”. Congratulations!
Renan Souza was selected as a 2021 Norman Borlaug Scholar. Congratulations!
Sam McDonald won second place in the E. Broadus Browne Awards Ph.D. category for his work “Identifying Novel Genes and Fine Mapping Rcs3 for Resistance to Frogeye Leaf Spot in Soybean.” Congratulations!
Brianna Johnson was recognized as one of the top 75 student employees on-campus at UGA for 2021. Congratulations!
Alexandra Ostezan, Ph.D. candidate, was selected as a 2021 Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science recipient by the Crop Science Society of America. Congratulations!
Ivy Tran won first place in the graduate student poster competition at 2021 Soybean Breeders Workshop. She presented a poster on “Toward Identifying Novel Genes Underlying Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode ”. Congratulations!
Alexandra Ostezan won second place in the graduate student poster competition at 2021 Soybean Breeders Workshop. She presented a poster on “An Intelligent and High-throughput Imaging System for Soybean Cyst Nematode Phenotyping Assays”. Congratulations!
Mark Miller won fourth place in the graduate student poster competition at 2021 Soybean Breeders Workshop. He presented a poster on “Optimal Cross Prediction to Improve Genetic Gain for Seed Yield in Soybean”. Congratulations!
Renan Souza won second place in the graduate student 2021 NAPB PBCC video competition. He presented a video on “Chicken sandwiches, barbecue and a strong body! How genetic diversity and plant breeding can satisfy your needs”. Congratulations!
2020
Renan Souza won second place in the graduate student poster competition at 2020 PBGG Virtual Poster Competition. He presented a poster on “Identification and introgression of an allele from Danbaegkong for increased seed protein in soybean”. Congratulations!
Sam McDonald won people’s choice in the graduate student poster competition at 2020 PBGG Virtual Poster Competition. He presented a poster on “Dissecting the genetics of frogeye leaf spot in soybean using a genome-wide scan of diverse accessions and a biparental population”. Congratulations!
Sam McDonald won first place in the graduate student poster competition at 2020 Soybean Breeders Workshop in St. Louis, MO. He presented a poster on “Dissecting the genetics of soybean resistance to frogeye leaf spot using a genome-wide scan of diverse accessions and a biparental population”. Congratulations!
Renan Souza won third place in the graduate student poster competition at 2020 Soybean Breeders Workshop in St. Louis, MO. He presented a poster on “Identification and introgression of an allele from Danbaegkong for increased seed protein in soybean”. Congratulations!
2019
Ethan Menke was selected as the recipient of the 2019 Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship at the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Sam McDonald won second place in the graduate student poster competition at 2019 National Association of Plant Breeders in Callaway Gardens, GA. He presented a poster on “Dissecting the genomic regions conferring resistance to frogeye leaf spot of soybean using a genome-wide association analysis”. Congratulations!
Ivy Tran won second place in the graduate student poster competition at 2019 Soybean Breeders Workshop in St. Louis, MO. She presented a poster on “Deciphering Composition of Root Microbiome of Soybean Genotypes for Soybean Cyst Nematode Resistance”. Congratulations!
2018
Elizabeth Prenger was selected as an NAPB Borlaug Scholar and won second place in the graduate student poster competition with “Identification and characterization of fast-neutron induced mutations underlying altered seed composition phenotypes for improvement of soybean seed composition” at the 2018 National Association of Plant Breeders annual meeting in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Congratulations!
Elizabeth Prenger won second place in the MS poster competition with “Identification and characterization of fast-neutron induced mutations underlying altered seed composition phenotypes for improvement of soybean seed composition” at the 2018 Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics spring retreat. Congratulations!
Elizabeth Prenger won first place in the graduate student poster competition at 2018 Soybean Breeders Workshop in St. Louis, MO. She presented a poster on “Identification and characterization of fast-neutron induced mutations underlying altered seed composition phenotypes for soybean seed improvement”. Congratulations!
2017
Clint Steketee, Ph.D. candidate, was selected as a 2017 Crop Science Graduate Student Award recipient by the Crop Science Society of America and the Agronomic Science Foundation. Congratulations!
Ivy Tran won first place in the MS poster competition with “Genome-Wide Association Analysis Reveals a Novel QTL Controlling Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode in Soybean” at the 2017 Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics spring retreat. Congratulations!
Miles Ingwers won first place in the Postdoc/Staff poster competition with “Carbon isotope composition and foliar nitrogen content are correlated to growth and moisture stress in soybean” at the 2017 Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics spring retreat. Congratulations!
Ricky Zoller and Tatyana Nienow won second place in the Postdoc/Staff poster competition with “Marker-assisted selection workflow and strategy to accelerate development of high-oleic and low-linolenic acid soybean varieties” at the 2017 Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics spring retreat. Congratulations!
Kyle Yeargin and Heather Kelley were recognized as two of the top 100 student employees at UGA during the Student Employee of the Year Awards Luncheon. Congratulations!
2016
Clinton Steketee was selected as a recipient of 2016 National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders Graduate Student Award. Congratulations!
Ivy Tran won the first place in MS category at the 5th Annual Plant and Soil Symposium, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Clinton Steketee was selected as the recipient of the 2016 Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship at the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Clinton Steketee won Texas A&M University Plant Breeding Symposium Travel Scholarship Award. Congratulations!
Silas Childs won second place in the poster competition for “Discovery of Rpp7, a novel soybean rust resistance gene in soybean accession PI 605823″ at the 2016 National Soybean Breeders Workshop, St. Louis, MO. Congratulations!
Elizabeth Prenger was selected to receive a 2016 Graduate School Research Assistantship (GSRA) at the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
2015
Ben Stewart-Brown was selected as the recipient of the 2015 Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship Award at the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Nicole Bachleda won first place in the poster competition with “Identifying FATB1a gene deletion that causes low palmitic acid in soybean to develop a diagnostic marker for selection” at the 2015 national Soybean Breeders Workshop, St. Louis, MO. Congratulations!
Zachary R. King won third place in the poster competition with “Fine mapping Rpp6, a valuable soybean rust resistance gene for the southeastern USA” at the 2015 national Soybean Breeders Workshop, St. Louis, MO. Congratulations!
Zachary R. King won first place in the 2015 prestigious E. Broadus Browne Awards in Ph.D. category. College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Nicole Bachleda won first place in the 2015 prestigious E. Broadus Browne Awards in M.S. category. College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the University of Georgia. Congratulations!
Clinton Steketee was selected as one of the Grant A. Harris Fellowship recipients and he will receive $5,000 in equipment from Decagon for his research project. Congratulations!
Clinton Steketee was selected as the recipient of the 2015 Georgia Seed Association/Southern Seed Association Scholarship Award. Congratulations!
Ben Stewart-Brown was selected as a recipient of 2015 National Council of Commercial Plant Breeder Graduate Student Award. Congratulations!
2014
Ben Stewart-Brown, won the 2nd place for the poster competition of PhD category at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics 2014 Retreat. Congratulations!
Justin N. Vaughn, Postdoctoral Research Scientist won the 1st place for the poster competition of Postdoc category at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics 2014 Retreat. Congratulations!
Clinton James Steketee, Ph.D. student at Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics of the University of Georgia was a recipient of 2014 United Soybean Board Fellowship award. Congratulations!
Zachary R. King, won the 1st place for the PhD category at the 2014 Interdisciplinary Graduate Plant and Soil Symposium for his presentation “Fine Mapping Rpp6, A Valuable Soybean Rust Resistance Gene for the Southeastern USA”. Congratulations!
Zachary R. King, won the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeder’s Graduate Student Award at the American Seed Trade Association meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Congratulations!
2013
Ben Stewart-Brown, Ph.D. student at Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics won the 1st place for the PhD category at the 2013 Interdisciplinary Graduate Plant and Soil Symposium for his presentation “Advanced DNA Marker Technology Enhances Yield QTL Discovery in Soybean”. Congratulations!
Gina Bishop, was awarded for her 25 years of loyal and dedicated service at the 2013 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences holiday luncheon. Congratulations!
2012
Zachary R. King, Ph.D. candidate at Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics of the University of Georgia won the 2012 United Soybean Board Fellowship award. Congratulations!
Donna Harris, Ph.D. candidate at Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics of the University of Georgia was a recipient of the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders (NCCPB) Graduate Student Award in 2012. Congratulations!