Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences presented awards to faculty and staff March 9. The award winners included:
The Team Award went to the Bioplastics for the Green Industry Team. This interdisciplinary team has made significant contributions through research, extension and graduate education to improve the sustainability of specialty crop production. Producers in the United States use more than 4 billion single-use petroleum-based horticultural plant containers each year. The team developed a sustainable technology that replaces petroleum-based plastics with ones made from biorenewable materials. Their work will help sustain high-value specialty crop producers, reduce environmental impacts and create entrepreneurial opportunities. The team members include: William Graves, associate dean of the graduate college; Chris Currey, an assistant professor of horticulture; David Grewell, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; Darren Jarboe, program manager with the Center for Crops Utilization Research; Kurt Rosentrater, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; and James Schrader, associate scientist in horticulture.