Frank Drummond receives the 2017 NSFA Agriculture Award

Dr. Francis Drummond is this year’s recipient of the College of Natural Sciences, Food, and Agriculture – Agriculture Award. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Dr. Drummond worked with the two most important industries in the state: potatoes and blueberries. He has developed an extensive and very diverse research program that uses a variety of techniques and approaches ranging from molecular genetics to field trials and from mathematical modeling to behavioral observations. Areas of Dr. Drummond’s interest included, among other things, investigating role of native insects in weed seed predation, studying potato plant response to insect defoliation as mediated by soil fertility, optimizing pollination of lowbush blueberry, and managing insect pests in lowbush blueberry. The applied component of his program specifically addressed the needs and concerns of commercial growers, and worked tirelessly to make the latest scientific findings available to a wide variety of stakeholders. Because of his efforts, farmers now have a variety of previously unavailable pest control techniques in their disposal, and can make informed decisions on their use.

Congratulations!