Patrick Brown receives prestigious Dennis R. Hoagland and Leo M. Walsh Soil Fertility Distinguished Lectureship awards
Patrick Brown, distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, has received the American Society of Plant Biologists’ Dennis R. Hoagland Award and the Leo M. Walsh Soil Fertility Distinguished Lectureship from the Soil Science Society of America, or SSSA.
The Dennis R. Hoagland Award is awarded once every three years to an individual making outstanding contributions to agriculture through plant research, with funds provided by the Monsanto Agricultural Products Company.
The award recognizes Brown’s decades-long contributions to understanding plant nutrient uptake and nutrient efficiency, particularly in how plant nutrition relates to sustainable agriculture and global health. Through his work, Brown has also pioneered uses of remote sensing technologies, precision farming and decision support systems, and more recently, research into the factors that determine grower adoption of novel technologies.
The Leo M. Walsh Soil Fertility Distinguished Lectureship was established to enable a soil fertility lecture at the annual meetings held by the SSSA and its partnering associations, the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America, in Salt Lake City, Utah every November.
At the convention, Patrick Brown will present a lecture entitled “From Physiological Principles to Fertilizer Management and the Determinants of Grower Practice Adoption: “A Perspective on the Steps Needed to Achieve Sustainable Fertility Management in California.”
The lecture will touch on how intense nitrogen use by California growers in irrigated high-value crops has resulted in the imposition of the nation’s toughest nitrogen use regulations. Brown will also expound upon the challenge of maintaining productivity and profitability in these crop systems while also protecting the environment.
“I am truly honored to have received these two prestigious career awards,” Brown said. “It is particularly gratifying that two leading international scientific societies have chosen to recognize research and outreach at the interface of basic science and applied practice that addresses the critical challenges facing agriculture.”
Brown was also quick to recognize that he hasn’t been alone in his accomplishments: “These awards are the result of collaborations with the many students and scientists with whom I have had the privilege of working with.”
Brown received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences and biochemistry from the University of Adelaide, Australia. He earned a doctorate in agronomy and international agricultural development from Cornell University in 1988.
Brown is very active in undergraduate teaching and has published over 200 journal articles, books and chapters; additionally, he has worked on more than 400 extension and grower focused publications. He is also an associate editor for numerous leading journals and has been active in the major commodity boards for Californian tree crops and served on numerous governmental advisory panels.
Congratulations to Patrick Brown for receiving the Dennis R. Hoagland Award and the Leo M. Walsh Distinguished Lectureship.
(Article by Matt Marcure, Communications, Department of Plant Sciences, with some edited content from Tri Society’s announcement)