For immediate release
University of Minnesota names Emerging Leaders in Plant Science award winner
St. Paul, Minn., (10/12/2015) – Julie Grossman, an assistant professor in biological
and sustainable horticulture, is this year’s winner of the University of Minnesota
Award for Emerging Leaders in Applied Plant Sciences. This award recognizes a
leader in the plant sciences with characteristics and values that reflect the legacy of
Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who is credited with saving a billion
people from starvation through plant science.
Grossman joined the faculty in the U’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural
Resources Sciences last year. She holds an M.S. in Soil Science and Ph.D. in
Agronomy and Plant Genetics from the University of Minnesota, and was a National
Science Foundation post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University.
Her research broadly explores ways to better manage plant-soil-microbe
relationships in order to enhance soil fertility through microbial processes, with the
ultimate goal of developing sustainable food production systems. A central thread
through her work is the examination of winter annual legume cover crops to help
maintain landscape diversity and tighten nutrient cycling in agroecosystems.
The award will be presented at the 9th annual Borlaug Memorial Lecture at 3 p.m. on
Monday, Oct. 12, in the St. Paul Student Center. The event will include a lecture by
2013 World Food Prize Laureate Robb Fraley, and is held in conjunction with the
World Food Prize "Borlaug Dialogue" international symposium taking place in Des
Moines, Iowa, on October 14-16.
At 10:30 that day, Grossman will give a talk about her research titled “A view from
below: Harnessing Soil Science for Securing Food in a Time of Uncertainty,” in room
306 Borlaug Hall.
In addition to her research and teaching work, she has chaired the Sustainable
Agriculture Education Association Steering Council, a national organization
supporting the development, application, research, and exchange of best teaching
and learning practices in sustainable agriculture. At the U, she teaches the capstone
course for the undergraduate Food Systems major, as well as a course focusing on
farm and soil management that uses Cornercopia, the student organic farm on
campus, as a living laboratory. She has been a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico, as well as
a fellow in the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program on Global Change,
Sustainability and Justice at the University of Minnesota.