Text courtesy of Agweek
FARGO, N.D. — The Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota honored a longtime sugarbeet breeder and awarded two scholarships at its annual research meeting.
This year there were co-recipients of the Alan Dexter scholarship, which is awarded to University of Minnesota or North Dakota State University students who are earning a master of science or doctorate degree and whose thesis is related to some aspect of sugarbeet production, processing or economics.
Dexter is a professor emeritus in the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences and a retired NDSU and UMN Extension weed control specialist. The Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota sponsors the award which annually is presented at the annual Research and Reporting Session.
Rude, a California native, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked on a project that focused on aphanomyces of alfalfa. Now a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, Rude continues to study the pathogen in sugarbeets under a project led by Ashok Chanda and Cory Hirsch. Rude’s research goal is to improve resistance to aphanomyces and understand the genetic origin of the pathogen.
Also in attendance were Dr. Ashok Chanda, Associate Professor in Plant Pathology and UM Extension Sugarbeet Pathologist, and Austin Lien, a researcher in Sugarbeet Pathology at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center. Dr. Chanda serves as Rude's PhD Advisor.