Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, has named five academics from the College of Agriculture as University Faculty Scholars. The distinction recognizes faculty members who are on an accelerated path for academic distinction through their research, entrepreneurship, and the dissemination of that knowledge. Three of the appointments went to women.
Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi is an associate professor of botany and plant pathology. Her research investigates the mechanisms that plant roots use to perceive and respond to the environment. Dr. Iyer-Pascuzzi joined the faculty at Purdue in 2013 after conducting postdoctoral research at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the Univerity of California, Berkeley, where she majored in molecular and environmental biology. She holds a master’s degree in plant pathology and a Ph.D. in plant breeding and genetics from Cornell University in Ithaca. New York.
Zhao Ma is a professor of forestry and natural resources. Her research focuses on how individuals and institutions make decisions regarding conservation and resource management. Her current projects include a study of smallholder farmer perception of and adaptation to climate change in semi-arid and arid regions of China and an assessment of forest resilience and climate change adaptation among forest agencies in the Intermountain West. Dr. Ma is a graduate of the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, China, where she majored in material physics. She holds a master’s degree in sustainable international development from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in natural resources science and management from the University of Minnesota.
Katy Martin Rainey is an associate professor of agronomy. Her research focuses on how to improve crop yields of soybeans. Specifically, her work employs research from genetics, agronomy, economics, and engineering to genetically improve soybean crops. Dr. Rainey joined the faculty at Purdue University in 2012 after teaching at Virginia Tech. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she majored in botany. Dr. Rainey earned a Ph.D. in plant breeding from Cornell Univerity in Ithaca, New York.