College of Agriculture adds 9 to ranks of Distinguished Ag Alumni

By definition, collaboration requires teamwork — and at least one person determined to make the process succeed. Someone who sees the big picture. Someone like Kristin Floress, who works at the Northern Research Station for the U.S. Forest Service in Island Lake, Illinois, near Chicago. Colleagues praise her listening skills, ability to ask the right questions and then to create effective, useful frameworks. “Her applied work that spans watersheds, forests and complex cross-boundary landscapes has directly shaped how natural resource practitioners plan, monitor and make decisions,” a longtime friend says. Floress is also an adjunct associate professor in Northwestern University’s Program in Environmental Policy & Culture. 

A global leader in ecological and conservation research, Jacob Goheen has long maintained a dual focus on North American and African ecology, conservation and mammals. He partners with the National Museums of Kenya to provide internship opportunities and helped the American Society of Mammalogists establish the African Research Fellowship. Half of his current and former research group members hail from Africa. He’s on the International Federation of Mammologists board of directors and in 2024 received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. He’s made academic stops at the universities of New Mexico, Florida, British Columbia and Wyoming.

Long apprenticeships are common in his line of work, but just four years after graduating from Purdue, John Haven had his third job in Greater Boston, at LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects, where he’s now a principal. His work drew the attention of New England Home magazine, which gave him “5 Under 40” recognition in 2016. His Pamet Bend project earned awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. 

The latter jury noted that the project captured and enhanced the natural character of the landscape through exceptional selection of materials and plant palettes.  

The advanced degrees in agricultural economics that Jason Henderson earned at Purdue put him on a professional track that has bridged the worlds of academic research, federal economic policy and large-scale university administration. After rising through the ranks at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, he spent a decade heading Purdue Extension and was a senior associate dean and assistant vice provost. Now the Iowa native leads Extension and Outreach at Iowa State University, overseeing about 900 faculty and staff and a $65 million budget.

When he’s not trying to understand how insect pests adapt to rapidly changing selection pressures in agroecosystems, Andy Michel, a full professor of entomology, directs Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Wooster campus. He joined Ohio State in 2007, transitioning to applied research and Extension. In 2016, he received the Entomological Society of America’s Early Career Innovation Award, and in 2025 he received the Purdue Department of Entomology’s John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award. He was recently reappointed to oversee the Wooster campus, which is also home to Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute.

Former high school teacher Dianne Ripberger began her PepsiCo career as a senior principal scientist in 2001. After nine years, advancements — six director-level jobs — came steadily. Since 2023 she’s led the company’s external innovation strategy across the food and beverage portfolios. She works with startups, universities and multinational companies to draw together the ecosystem of partnerships needed to secure innovation programming. A longtime coworker praises her ability to remain calm, thoughtful and solution-oriented in challenging situations. She regularly interacts with the Department of Food Science, participating in Industrial Associates meetings and offering guidance on undergraduate curriculum quality, workforce readiness, and industry expectations.

Matthew Ruark spreads his soil science expertise in projects across Wisconsin. He directs the flagship university’s Nutrient Cycling and Agroecosystems Laboratory, is the faculty director of the Dairy Innovation Hub — managing the state’s nearly $8 million investment — and is an advisor to the Wisconsin Agribusiness Association. The 2019 Wisconsin Potato Researcher of the Year is halfway through a five-year appointment as an endowed professorship sponsored by the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association. He has led several multi-institutional USDA-coordinated agricultural projects, and his widely cited work is seen as shaping the direction of soil and nutrient management research in the Corn Belt and globally.

Fourteen years ago, Kyle Shipman was a veterinary intern with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health. Since 2025, he’s held the top position at the agency. His leadership during foreign animal disease outbreaks — such as highly pathogenic avian influenza — has earned praise. So has his post-graduation engagement with Purdue. Students in the Department of Animal Sciences have benefited from his mentoring efforts, which have provided frequent and invaluable exposure to regulatory medicine, animal health policy, disease response and public service careers.

At the University of Kentucky’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Lisa Jayne Vaillancourt directs an internationally recognized research program on molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity and virulence of fungal pathogens that affect major grain crops, particularly maize and wheat, and fruits. Her doctoral work on Colletotrichum graminicola fueled a lifelong research focus on the molecular biology of fungal stalk- and ear-rot diseases of corn, molecular genetics of plant-fungal interactions, and development and adaptation in fungi.

She was a leader in the first genome sequencing efforts for Colletotrichum. Her mentoring efforts include founding a collegewide program that engages high school students in plant science research.