Quarterly CFANS awards roundup | Q1 2025

April 24, 2025
Student Life
Campus Affairs

In our quarterly celebration of award recipients across CFANS, we recognize students, faculty, and staff who've received significant accolades. Congratulations to all recipients — we're #CFANSProud of you! The list below highlights awards received and/or announced in January through March 2025. 

College Awards

University Awards

  • 2025 Donald R. Zander Alumni Award for Outstanding Student Leadership: Benjamin Styer
  • 2025 President's Student Leadership and Service Award:
    • Reagan Slinde
    • Alison Murrell
    • Benjamin Styer
    • Sarah Hagenow
    • Courtney Archer
    • Renzo Negrini
  • Award for Excellence in Academic Unit Service:
    • Roger Ruan (Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering)
    • Rex Bernardo (Agronomy and Plant Genetics)
    • Ruth Dill-Macky (Plant Pathology)
    • Adrian Hegeman (Horticultural Science)
  • Distinguished Service Award for Contributions to Minnesota’s Pork Industry: Lee Johnston (West Central Research and Outreach Center, Animal Science)
  • USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship: Josh Havill (Agronomy and Plant Genetics)
  • Research Travel Grant, U of M Graduate School: Navjot Singh (Graduate student, Agronomy and Plant Genetics)

Beyond the University

  • 2025 Outstanding Dietetics Educator Award for DI Programs in the West Central District: Therese Liffrig (Food Science and Nutrition | UMN Dietetic Internship Program)
  • Minnesota FFA Hall of Fame: Amy Smith (AECM)
  • 2025 Impact Goals Award: Bell Museum’s Solution Studio
  • 2025 Student Conservationist - Undergraduate: Henry Parks (Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology)
  • Tree Campus Higher Education Grant ($1,000,000): Co-PI's Danielle Ignace, Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Climate-Safe and Salmon-Safe: Natural Climate Solutions in the Inland Northwest, Collaborators: Coeur d'Alene Tribe, University of Idaho, Salmon-Safe.
  • Crop Science Society of America poster competition, 1st place, 2025 Plant and Animal Genome Conference: Maybell Banting  (Graduate student, Agronomy and Plant Genetics)
  • All-American Honoree, four contest victories, and success at Majors: Livestock Judging Team
  • Ph.D. Student Paper Competition, 2nd place, American Society of Animal Science: Courtney Archer, Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science

To submit awards for inclusion in the next roundup, please complete this form and be sure to select the "Share an award recipient and corresponding award information" drop-down option. The next roundup will be published on our website in early January and will include awards received and/or announced in April through June 2025.