(12/14/23) BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU AgCenter and LSU College of Agriculture announced the winners of their annual faculty and staff awards during a joint ceremony with the Southern University Ag Center and Southern University College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences Dec. 13 at the LSU Union Theatre.

The winner of this year’s Extension Excellence Award was Karen Martin, the 4-H coordinator for the Northwest Region. For nearly four decades, Martin’s passion for youth development has been evident, reaching more than 32,000 youth through 4-H programming in the region.

Taking home the Floyd S. Edmiston Award was Carl Motsenbocker, a professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. Motsenbocker won the award for invaluable contributions in the areas of sustainable agriculture, local food systems and farmer training.

Fangneng Huang received the Doyle Chambers Research Award. Huang is an entomologist whose research on insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in maize and cotton crops seeks to solve a problem with huge economic and environmental consequences for farmers throughout the world.

The winner of the G&H Seed Research Award was Jong Ham. Ham is a plant pathologist who has built his research program to seamlessly integrate gains in scientific knowledge, graduate student training and the practical application of research outcomes to develop innovative methods of agricultural production.

Ten scientists who have done tireless work investigating die-off of Roseau cane in the Gulf of Mexico and an invasive scale insect as a contributing factor were named recipients of the Kenneth W. Tipton Team Research Award. They are entomologists Rodrigo Diaz and Blake Wilson; plant pathologists Rodrigo Valverde and Jonathan Richards; ecologists Andy Nyman, Jim Cronin, Yadong Qi and Tracy Quirk; systematic mycologist Vinson Doyle; and geographer Xuelian Meng.

Rodney Johnson, a 4-H area livestock agent in Rapides Parish, received the Rosalie Bivin 4-H Youth Development Award.

Xavier Bell, assistant agent for 4-H youth development, received the Inclusive Excellence Award.

Donna Landry, a nutrition educator in Tangipahoa Parish, was the recipient of the Ganelle Bullock Outstanding Service Award.

Crystal Besse, director of the Louisiana Farm to School Program, was named the winner of the Outstanding Service Award for Associates.

Ashley M. Long, an assistant professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, received the Sedberry Award for Outstanding Graduate Teacher. The Sedberry Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher went to Maria Bampasidou, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.

Trina Biswas received the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Teaching Award. Biswas is a senior instructor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.

Michael Deliberto, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, received the award for Louisiana Agriculture magazine Article of the Year. The article was titled “Risky Business: Industrial Hemp Production.”

Bampasidou and Lawrence Datnoff received awards for their service on the editorial board of the Louisiana Agriculture magazine.

More than 20 dedicated communicators and scientists, led by social media strategist Anna Ribbeck, were the recipients of the Denver T. and Ferne Loupe Extension Team Award for their work producing Tip Tuesday, a weekly online video series that focuses on sharing agricultural information with the general public. They are Will Afton, Tobie Blanchard, Thu Bui, Andre Brock, Edward Bush, Bret Collier, Sam DesBordes, Rodrigo Diaz, Chris Dunaway, Jeb Fields, Kathryn Fontenot, Heather Kirk-Ballard, Randy LaBauve, Julie Lively, Christopher Mudge, Michael Polozola, Cheston Schayot, Mark Shirley, Raghuwinder Singh, Jason Stagg and Ronald Strahan.

The Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Science also presented awards during the ceremony.

Numerous LSU AgCenter and LSU College of Agriculture award winners were honored during a joint ceremony with the Southern University Ag Center and Southern University College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences on Dec. 13 at the LSU Union Theatre. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter