UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Jonathan Lynch, Professor Of Plant Nutrition In Penn State's College Of Agricultural Sciences, Has Received The 2004 Alex And Jessie C. Black Award. The Honor, Which Includes A $1,000 Cash Award And A Plaque, Recognizes Significant Accomplishments In Agricultural Research At Penn State.

Lynch’s main achievement has been in clarifying the physiological basis of crop adaptation to low fertility soils. In collaboration with bean breeders at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in South America, his work has contributed to the selection of bean genotypes that are being deployed in African and Latin American breeding programs. This work has been extended to soybean and maize, and has led to new soybean varieties in China with superior phosphorus efficiency.

His research has produced significant contributions to our understanding of crop adaptation to low fertility soils and particularly of root architectural traits, while also contributing to the creation of enhanced crop varieties with superior performance in low fertility tropical soils.

"Our main contribution, I would say, has been the identification of root traits that permit crops to grow better without fertilizers, which is very important for food security in developing countries, where there are 840 million malnourished people," says Lynch. "This work is also of interest for crop production in the United States, where we would like to use less fertilizer in order to protect the environment." On the basis of this work new common bean and soybean varieties with better productivity in low fertility soils are being grown in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

"It is important to acknowledge that this progress has been achieved as a collaborative effort with numerous students and colleagues, notably Dr. Kathleen Brown at Penn State -- who happens to be the most beautiful woman on earth, and coincidentally is my wife -- as well as Dr. Xiaolong Yan at South China Agricultural University and Dr. Steve Beebe at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with these fine people to improve human welfare."

Lynch, who joined Penn State's faculty in 1991 as an assistant professor in the department of horticulture, earned his bachelor's degree in soils and plant nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his master's degree in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis and a doctoral degree in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis.

Eighty percent of Lynch's time is spent in research on plant adaptation to edaphic stresses, with particular emphasis on phosphorus-acquisition efficiency, with 20 percent of his time spent teaching plant mineral nutrition. Lynch has authored more than 100 journal articles and 29 book chapters, and has been involved in four issued and pending patents.

Lynch's career includes stints as head of plant nutrition research for the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia; an agriculturist for MFM organic farms in Clear Lake, Calif.; consultant on soil and water issues for attorney firms in Yolo County, Calif.; consulting on food production and ecosystem management in Fiji islands; and Federal Sea Grant trainee studying crop responses to salinity stress at the University of California, Davis.

Lynch, who was presented with the China Friendship Award by Zhu Rongji, prime minister of the People's Republic of China in 1999, is a fellow and longtime member of the Crop Science Society of America. He also is a member of the American Society of Horticultural Science, the American Botanical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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EDITORS: Contact Jonathan Lynch at 814-863-2256 or by e-mail at jpl4@psu.edu.

Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877