University of Arkansas Scientist Receives 2001 Cotton Physiology Award

ANAHEIM -- Dr. Derrick M. Oosterhuis, a Distinguished Professor in the University of Arkansas' Crop Soil and Environmental Science Department, is the recipient of the 2001 Outstanding Research Award in Cotton Physiology.

He received $5,000 at the 2001 Beltwide Cotton Physiology Conference here today. The Micro Flo Company, Memphis, TN, sponsors the award, which is presented by the Physiology Conference to an individual or team who has significantly improved the knowledge of the physiology of cotton growth and development.

Oosterhuis' research program is exceptionally productive with impressive lists of accomplishments and more than 650 publications, including two books, 19 chapters and 101 refereed publications. He has 30 years of professional experience as a research agronomist-physiologist and has taught eight different courses. His students have received 61 awards under his guidance.

He has worked as a research leader, senior plant physiologist and as an assistant professor in the Soil and Irrigation Research Institute in Pretoria, South Africa. He also has served as a researcher at the Cotton Research Institute in Rhodesia and at the Swiss Federal Research Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.

Oosterhuis has served as chair of the Beltwide Cotton Physiology Group and on numerous professional research groups. He has received numerous awards including the Arkansas Cotton Achievement Award in 1999. He was made a fellow in the Crop Science Society of America in that year, too.

Previous cotton physiology award recipients include: Dr. Tom Cothren and Dr. Chan Benedict, Texas A&M University researchers; Dr. Dan Krieg, Texas Tech University; Dr. Gene Guinn, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Phoenix, AZ; and Dr. John Radin, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD.

The Cotton Physiology Conference convenes annually at the National Cotton Council-coordinated Beltwide Cotton Conferences.