BOZEMAN – Montana State University scientist Blake Wiedenheft was recognized last month with a prestigious award from agricultural deans and directors around the Western U.S.
Wiedenheft received the Agricultural Research and Innovation Award from agInnovation West, an organization made up of the experiment station directors and agriculture deans at land-grant universities in the western half of the U.S., plus Hawaii and Alaska. It’s the regional branch of a national group dedicated to innovative research across the land-grant system on topics including food security, nutrition and health, environmental stewardship, and agricultural systems.
“This award recognizes scientists who strive in their research career to achieve benchmarks reflective of excellence,” said Bret Hess, executive director of agInnovation West, in a letter announcing Wiedenheft’s selection.
Wiedenheft, a professor in MSU’s Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, conducts research with CRISPR, a series of mechanisms and immune systems that bacteria use to defend themselves against viral infections. The work, supported in part by a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health that Wiedenheft received in 2020, has the potential for applications in a wide range of biotechnological and medical environments, from testing for viruses to exploring treatments of genetic diseases.
“It’s an honor to have our work recognized by the agriculture community, and it’s exciting to see how applications of genome engineering and RNA detection technologies are being applied in agriculture,” said Wiedenheft. “As a native Montanan and a faculty member in the College of Agriculture, I’m delighted that some of the work we’ve done is being integrated into agriculture and I welcome the opportunity for more collaborations. MSU and the College of Agriculture are perfectly positioned to take full advantage of these emerging technologies, and I hope that we can continue to contribute to innovations in agriculture.”
The award, which was announced June 25, comes with a $500 honorarium and a four-year membership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Regional agInnovation award recipients will be considered for the organization’s national awards in September.