Dean Maria Gallo named one of 11 national crop science fellows

CTAHR Dean Maria Gallo

Maria Gallo, dean of the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and director of research and cooperative extension, has been named a Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) Fellow for 2013.

The international science organization will present its highest honor to Gallo and 10 others from across North America on November 6, 2013, during its annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. Fellows are elected by select CSSA members based on professional achievements and meritorious service; they comprise just .3 percent of the society membership.

CTAHR dean and director since July 2012, Gallo has made her mark on both academic and research fronts. She is a plant geneticist who uses molecular biology and biotechnology techniques to improve the performance and quality of tropical energy and agronomic crops. She has led federally funded multidisciplinary initiatives to improve undergraduate teaching and graduate education.

An American Society of Agronomy Fellow and 2004 Fulbright Scholar, Gallo served as Crop Science Society of America president in 2011. She has also been chair of the Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies and president of the American Peanut Research and Education Society.

Gallo received a B.S. in agronomy from Cornell University and her M.S. in crop science and Ph.D. in genetics from North Carolina State University. Before joining the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, she was a professor and chair of the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where her pioneering multidisciplinary research team worked to enhance sugarcane as a bioenergy crop. She was also co-founder and co-director of the Scientific Thinking and Educational Partnership Program, which provides logistical support for development of the education and outreach components of grant proposals to enhance faculty competitiveness in obtaining extramural funding.

Gallo joins CTAHR Horticulturist James Brewbaker as a Crop Science Society of America Fellow. The college’s former Dean William Furtick and the late soil scientist Goro Uehara also received the honor. CTAHR alumni who number among the CSSA Fellows include:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Heuermann Professor of Agronomy Kenneth G. Cassman
• Santa Rosa Junior College Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Ganesan Srinivasan
• Kyungpook National University International Agricultural Institute Director and corn expert Soon-Kwon Kim
• Former World Bank science advisor Donald Plunkett
• Retired Virginia Tech international affairs administrator Surajit K. DeDatta

Photos of Fellows receiving their awards will be posted at acsmeetings.org/newsroom/award-news-releases following the meeting. The CSSA news release is available at www.crops.org/news-media/releases/2013/1001/600

About CSSA: The Crop Science Society of America is a 6,000+ member international scientific society founded in 1955 and headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Members advance the discipline by acquiring and disseminating information about crop breeding and genetics; crop physiology; crop ecology, management, and quality; seed physiology, production, and technology; turfgrass science; forage and grazing lands; genomics, molecular genetics, and biotechnology; and biomedical and enhanced plants. More information at www.crops.org

About CTAHR: The founding college of the University of Hawai'i‘i, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources is integral to UH Mānoa’s Carnegie designation as a very-high activity Research University and works extensively with the citizens of Hawai'i‘i in fulfilling the university’s federally mandated Land Grant mission of instruction, scientific research and outreach to address state needs. More at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu.