Burlington Standard

The University of Vermont issued the following announcement.

VM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) has awarded its annual college-wide academic awards to four students who have demonstrated excellence through scholarship, research and service. The awards recognize one undergraduate junior, one senior and two graduate students who have distinguished themselves through their achievements and character.

 

Undergraduate Student Awards

Remi Savard ’23 – Alexander Kende Academic Merit Award

Microbiology major Remi Savard has been named the 2022 recipient of the Alexander Kende Academic Merit Award. Given in honor of former student Alexander Kende, the award provides a scholarship to a CALS junior with an interest in medicine or biomedical research and has demonstrated exemplary character traits, leadership and service to UVM and the local community.

Savard aspires to a career in research. For the past year, he’s been conducting research in the lab of Professor Jonathan Boyson helping to understand the biology of how the body’s immune system fights off a flu infection. It’s work that he’ll continue this summer with support from the Nicole J. Ferland summer research award, while also applying to doctorate programs in Immunology. When not in the lab, Savard is active on campus as a Teaching Assistant and tutor and performs regularly as a jazz pianist around the state. Savard is also the recipient of a national Goldwater scholarship, considered the most prestigious scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering in the U.S.

“On paper and in real life, Remi exemplifies both the richness and the promise of a UVM CALS student,” said nominator Karin Hodge, instructor in the UVM Dept. of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. “He is motivated, generous, intelligent and compassionate.”

Read more about his research.

 

Alaura Rich ’22 – Lawrence K. Forcier Outstanding Senior Award

Community and international development major Alaura Rich has been recognized as the 2022 Lawrence K. Forcier Outstanding Senior. The award is given annually to one student in the CALS graduating class for their academic excellence, character and leadership abilities.

Arriving at UVM as a first-generation student from St. Johnsbury, VT, Rich has excelled academically and established a strong presence both on campus and around the state. Over the past year, she held internships in the office of Vermont Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray, the Vermont Commission on Women and Planned Parenthood of New England, and currently serves as a campaign volunteer for Kitty Toll who will be on the ballot for Vermont Lieutenant Governor in November 2022.

Among her many on campus endeavors, Rich co-founded UVM’s chapter of Leading Women of Tomorrow, a national, nonpartisan organization that inspires and encourages more women to pursue careers in public service. During her senior year, she has also begun taking graduate level classes through UVM’s Accelerated Master of Public Administration Program, which she will complete next year.

“Throughout her tenure as a Catamount, Alaura has displayed grit, intelligence and heart. It has been thrilling to watch her gain confidence in her intelligence, and be recognized for it,” said Wendy Koenig, director of government relations at UVM. “I will look forward to watching her star rise in the future. Students like Alaura should make UVM very proud.”

 

Graduate Research Excellence Awards

The CALS Graduate Research Excellence Award recognizes graduate students – one master’s degree candidate and one doctoral candidate – who have excelled in their research and scholarly accomplishments.

Carina Isbell – Master’s Student Research Award

After receiving her B.S. in Community and International Development from UVM in 2020, Carina Isbell continued her research and education as a master’s degree candidate in Community Development and Applied Economics. As an undergraduate, she conducted research on crop diversity in Vermont and the motivations underlying conservation – work that she has continued through her graduate studies.

For her graduate thesis, Isbell explored the social and institutional dynamics of seed systems that farmers in Vermont establish and maintain and is the co-author of a recent report exploring the resilience of seed systems during the Covid-19 pandemic. Isbell is passionate about improving climate change resilience through agriculture and working towards a more just and sustainable food system.

“Based on several years of working with Carina and witnessing first-hand her deep commitment to extremely high-quality research, student training, community engagement and public outreach, it is clear to me that she has far exceeded expectations as a graduate researcher,” said nominator Travis Reynolds, associate professor in the Dept. of Community Development and Applied Economics.

Following her graduation, Isbell will travel to Uruguay as a Fulbright Scholar to research the local agroecology movement in Uruguay, along with an exploration of the opportunities and barriers related to policy initiatives that are informed by agroecology.

Read more about her Fulbright award.

 

Matt Grasso – Doctoral Student Research Award

As a doctoral student at UVM, Matthew Grasso has made a breakthrough discovery in the world of plant development. His research, which began while pursuing a master’s degree in the Department of Plant Biology, led to discovering a more efficient way to handle single plant cell protoplasts (plant cells with the cell walls removed), a significant achievement for the plant biology and plant biometrics fields.

Grasso was determined to develop a method that encapsulates individual, living plant cells in microscopic polymer beads, which had never been attempted before. After a series of trials that showed some progress and some failures, Grasso was able to develop a workable methodology by using "off-the-shelf" technology originally intended for medical and engineering purposes. Using this methodology, he was able to perform the first successful instance of microbead encapsulation of living plant cells in agarose (a natural polymer derived from sea kelp) droplets.

"Not many graduate students can claim to have contributed an entirely new concept and method to their chosen discipline," said nominator Phil Lintilhac, research associate professor in the Department of Plant Biology.

Read more about his research.

Recipients of these four awards are determined by the CALS Academic Awards Committee, comprised of faculty throughout the College. Nominations for the 2022 award cycle will open in December 2022.

Original source can be found here.