Presidential Rank Award Winners
2023 Meritorious Executive
Dr. Laurence D. Chandler
Laurence D. Chandler, area director for ARS’s Plains Area, was recognized as a 2023 Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive winner. This award recognizes a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service for exceptional performance over an extended period of time.
2023 Meritorious Executive
Dr. Jeffrey Silverstein
Jeffrey Silverstein, Deputy Administrator for ARS’s Animal Production and Protection National Program Area, was recognized as a 2023 Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Winner. This award recognizes a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service for exceptional performance over an extended period of time.
2023 Meritorious Executive
Dr. Pamela Starke-Reed
Pamela Starke-Reed, Deputy Administrator for ARS’s Nutrition, Food Safety/Quality National Program Area, was recognized as a 2023 Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Winner. This award recognizes a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service for exceptional performance over an extended period of time.
2023 Meritorious Senior Professional
Dr. William P. Kustas
William P. Kustas, Distinguished Senior Research Scientist with ARS’s Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, was recognized as a 2023 Presidential Rank Award Winner. This award recognizes senior career employees with a sustained record of exceptional professional, technical, and/or scientific achievement recognized on a national or international level.
2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal
Dr. Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris
Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris, a research entomologist at ARS’s Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research Laboratory in Wapato, WA, was a finalist for a 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal. Schmidt-Jeffris was honored as an Emerging Leader for her pioneering work designing ways to use insects as biological controls for other bugs that damage crops, especially apples and pears, which limits the need for some pesticides, cutting costs for farmers and protecting the environment. Learn more.
Dr. J. Vincent Edwards
Vincent Edwards, a research chemist with ARS’s Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research Unit in New Orleans, LA, was a finalist in the Science, Technology and Environment category for the 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal. Edwards was honored for his innovative work in developing effective new cotton-based medical gauze and dressings for trauma and chronic wound patients that are now in use by hospitals and first responders. Learn more.
Arthur S. Flemming Award
Dr. Joseph Capobianco
Joseph Capobianco, a research engineer at ARS’s Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, PA, received a 2022 Arthur S. Flemming Award for his innovative research. Capobianco’s research enhances the ability of lab diagnostics to detect foodborne pathogens and streamline the processes that protect the safety of domestic, imported, and exported foods. Learn more.
FFAR New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award
Dr. Sheri Spiegal
Sheri Spiegal, rangeland management specialist with ARS’s Range Management Research Unit in Las Cruces, NM, received the 2023 FFAR New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award. Spiegal was honored for her research developing a Manureshed Action Research Cycle to build regional and supply-chain resilience through systematic recycling of manure nutrients onto beef, dairy, poultry, and swine feed crops. This research integrates social and biophysical science with stakeholder engagement to give animal producers, farmers, and ranchers better capacity to connect with each other to redistribute manure nutrients from farms with manure surplus to fields and pastures that can use it sustainably. Learn more.