FNR Personnel Earn National Awards, Recognition

Several FNR affiliated individuals received awards or recognition over the summer or early fall.

Dr. Rado Gazo, professor of wood processing and industrial engineering who has been a part of the Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources faculty since 1997, was named as the 2025 recipient of the Wood Engineering Achievement Award - Lifetime Achievement by the Forest Products Society. For more on Gazo’s career and the award, “Rado Gazo Receives Lifetime Achievement Award From Forest Products Society.”

Max Moran, a master’s degree student in the labs of Drs. Tomas Höök and Peter Euclide, received the Norman S. Baldwin Fishery Science Scholarship at the International Association for Great Lakes Research conference in early June. For more on Moran’s scholarship and research, “Max Moran Receives Norman S. Baldwin Fishery Scholarship for Research in Great Lakes.”

Dr. Kara Salazar, assistant program leader for community development and sustainable communities extension specialist, was part of the Purdue Extension team which was recognized by the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals with the 2025 National Runner-up Innovation and Creativity: Team Award for its work on Wind Energy End-of-Service Listening Sessions. The team, which also included Tamara Ogle, Jon Charlesworth and Marty Huseman, partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to host community listening sessions in Indiana focused on wind turbine decommissioning. These sessions provided education, gathered local perspectives and captured community and landowner insights on end-of-service activities, roles and responsibilities. The feedback collected will help guide NREL’s future research and development of resources to support communities as they navigate wind energy transitions.

Salazar, who completed her PhD from Purdue FNR in 2023, was named NACDEP president in the summer of 2025. Salazar will serve a three-year term, moving from president-elect to president to past president. In each role, she will lead and support the work of colleagues from across the country. 

PhD student Ankita Mitra has been selected as a recipient of the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars (OGSPS).

According to the department of Agricultural Research and Graduate Education website, the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, which is awarded by the Dean of the Graduate School, provides support to outstanding Ph.D. candidates in their final year of doctoral degree completion. This fellowship is awarded each year to students already in the graduate programs at Purdue. Nominations are initiated by graduate faculty and the top nominees for each program brought forward to Ag Research & Graduate Education (ARGE) by their respective graduate program chair.

In May, Mitra was recognized with the graduate student Excellence in Teaching Award from Purdue Agriculture at the Excellence in Research reception. Ankita is a PhD student in FNR under Dr. Jingjing Liang. Previously she completed a bachelor’s degree in environmental science at the University of Calcutta (2014, Silver Medalist), a master’s in ecology and environmental science at Pondicherry Central University (2016, Gold Medalist) and a master’s in biological oceanography from the Center for Oceans, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (2017). Prior to coming to Purdue, Mitra was a project assistant with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute in India, and a research fellow with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

In spring 2025, she acted as the course instructor for the Quantitative Method for Resource Managers course for both undergraduate and graduate students. Previously she had served as a graduate teaching assistant for the course.

Jean Fritz Saint Preux, a 2025 master’s alumnus and current PhD candidate, was selected as a recipient of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) Future Forest Scholars program.

According to the SAF website, scholars must be activity enrolled in a forestry or related natural resource program at an institution in the United States and must be interested in encouraging and promoting a culture of inclusion in the profession.

"The SAF Future Forest Scholars Program aims to empower students who are part of underrepresented groups in forestry and natural resources to help them navigate, grow, and thrive in the profession. Through virtual and in-person engagement opportunities throughout the year, each cohort of scholars will develop leadership and networking skills and create community among each other and the broader SAF network. In addition, 2025 scholars receive a full year of SAF membership and a scholarship to attend the SAF National Convention, October 22-25, in Hartford, Connecticut.

“To offer further support and guidance, each student will be paired with a mentor based on their career interests and goals. Scholars and mentors will work together throughout the year, but the hope is for these connections to extend beyond the year to help scholars continue to grow and learn. Past scholars have discovered employment opportunities and funding for graduate education through their mentors and their contacts. Mentors aid the success and experience of students while offering professional advancement and skills for the mentors themselves.”

Saint Preux completed his second master’s degree this summer, presenting his thesis on “Economic Studies of Maple Syrup Consumers and Producers in Indiana.” His work under Dr. Mo Zhou follows a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences and minor in agricultural economics at the State University of Haiti (2019) and his first master’s degree in rural sociology at Auburn University (2022).

“As a recipient of the Society of American Foresters’ Future Forest Scholarship, I had the privilege of attending the SAF Convention,” Saint Preux said. “This incredible event was filled with opportunities for learning, networking, and professional growth. This scholarship from the Society of American Foresters represents an investment in the advancement of forestry education and the development of future leaders in the field. I especially thank my advisor Dr. Mo Zhou for her continued support and my mentor Dr. George Meindl for his guidance throughout this journey. Also, thank you to my lab (FACAI Purdue) and the Purdue University Department of Forestry & Natural Resources for their ongoing support.”