Innovation Awards 2020 - Plant Nutrition Jury members

We are pleased to present you our three jury members for the Plant Nutrition:

• Professor Sharon R. Long
• Doctor Günter Brader
• Professor Johannes Lehmann

Professor Sharon R. Long

Sharon R. Long is Professor in Biological Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Biochemistry in the Department of Biology at Stanford University

Pr. Long works at the intersection of genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to study the symbiosis of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes. Pr. Long went on to study biochemistry and genetics at Yale, receiving her Ph.D. in 1979. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard University . Her work aims to improve the use of plants and bacteria in energy conservation and sustainable agriculture. She served as Dean of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford from 2001 until 2007. In September 2008, she was identified as one of 5 science advisors for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. In 2011, she was appointed to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science by President Obama. She currently holds the Steere-Pfizer chair in Biological Sciences at Stanford . Her current research uses molecular, genetic, and biochemical techniques to study the early stages of symbiosis between Sinorhizobium meliloti and its host plants in the genus Medicago. Rhizobium cells recognize and form nodules on their plant hosts. Her group discovered that a flavone (luteolin) derived from alfalfa seed extracts is necessary for activation of nodulation genes (nod ABC) in Sinorhizobium meliloti. They discovered that plant root hair cells show rapid ionic changes including calcium spiking in response to specific Nod Factors.

To date, Pr. Long has written or co-written more than 200 publications. Her research has been recognized by election to the National Academy of Sciences and other honors. 

Honors & Awards

• 2019, Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology
• 2007, fellow, American Society of Plant Biologists
• 2002, Wilbur Cross Medal in Biology, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (highest alumni honor)
• 2000, fellow, American Philosophical Society
• 1994, fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 1993, member, National Academy of Sciences
• 1992-1997, MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
• 1989, Charles Albert Shull Award, American Society of Plant Physiology
• 1985, Shell Research Foundation Award
• 1984-1989, Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Member, President's Committee for the National Medal of Science (2011 - 2016)
• Director, Annual Reviews, Incorporated (1994 - Present)

Doctor Günter Brader

Günter Brader is Senior scientist and leads the Austrian Institute of Technology, Bioresources unit, Health & Environment Department at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna .

Dr. Brader works in understanding and exploiting bacterial mechanisms and signaling and in the exploitation of bacterial resources & biomining.  He finished his studies in biology at the University of Vienna in 1992 and received his PhD at the Institute of Botany of the University of Vienna . He has worked on the analysis, isolation and characterization of plant metabolites (glucosinolates, phytoalexins) focused on antifungal and antibacterial natural compounds in 1997. After gaining post doc experience in the field of molecular biology and plant-microbe interactions, he was appointed to be "Docent in Plant Molecular Biology" by the Helsinki University in 2004.
From 2002 to 2009, he was group leader at the Division of Genetics, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki, studying the signal transduction pathways and the interactions between plants and pathogens. He has established the bacteria and plant metabolite profiling core facilities at the Viikki Biocenter allowing hormones, polar small metabolites, peptides and secondary plant metabolites profiling. Since 2008, at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) , he was working on the use and development of genomic and transcriptomic technologies for the development of selection markers for potato breeding and, generally on plant-microbe interactions and in the exploitation of bacterial resources. He has written or co-written more than 80 publications. 

Activities in the Academic Community and Society:

• Referee for Biology and Fertility of Soils, Annals of Applied Biology, CLEAN – Soil, Air, water, Annals of Microbiology, International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment FEMS Microbiology Ecology, ISME Journal, Journal of Plant Research, Sensors, Plant and Soil, Plant Science, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Molecular Genetic and Genomics, BMC Genomics and evaluation of international research proposals and promotions, and evaluation of research proposals.

• Referee for Development and maintenance of hormone and metabolic profiling facilities in the Viikki Campus of Helsinki University , which 2008 became part of the Biocentrum Helsinki Core Facilities

Professor Johannes Lehmann

Johannes Lehmann is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of soil biogeochemistry and soil fertility management at Cornell University.

Dr. Lehmann works at the intersection of soil biogeochemistry and soil fertility management. He is interested to advance general understanding of biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrient elements in soil, providing important insight into regional and global element cycles such as the carbon or sulfur cycle. This field of research has global and local relevance with important implications for climate change and environmental pollution. He is focused on soil degradation and sustainable agriculture in the tropics (South America, Africa), bio-energy, greenhouse gas emissions from soil and headwaters, and synchrotron-based methods for soil research. The most exciting examples include the discovery of stabilization mechanisms of organic matter in soil structures to improve soil fertility, to sequester carbon and to reduce off-site pollution. He is teaching courses on Nutrient Management in Agroecosystems and Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in Natural and Managed Ecosystems, the Environmental Science Colloquium and support of introductory courses in Environmental Sciences, Traditional Agriculture in Developing Countries and Tropical Cropping Systems. Dr. Lehmann has authored more than 300 journal publications, was named Highly-Cited Researcher by Thomson Reuter in 2014-2019, is member of the German National Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, was named Hans-Fischer Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Technical University of Munich, and serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. His research has been recognized by different honors. 

Honors & Awards

• 2019, Hans Fischer Senior Award, Institute for Advanced Studies
• 2018, Highly Cited Researcher, Thomson Reuter/Clarivate
• 2017, Highly Cited Researcher, Thomson Reuter/Clarivate
• 2016, Highly Cited Researcher, Thomson Reuter
• 2016, Hans-Fischer-Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies at TU Munich
• 2016, Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America
• 2014, International Research Award, Soil Science Society of America
• 2013, People, Prosperity and the Planet Award, US-EPA
• 2012, Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award, Soil Science Society of America
• 2010, Harry A. Musgrave Award for Excellence, Crop and Soil Science Department
• 2007, Sir Frederick McMaster Award, CSIRO

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Member of the German National Academy of Sciences