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Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

CFAES

Darren Drewry receives ORAU Powe Award

Oct. 12, 2020
Darren Drewry, Assistant Professor in FABE

Dr. Darren Drewry, Assistant Professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering has been named the recipient of the 2020 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).

ORAU provides technical and innovative scientific solutions to advance the United States' national priorities in security, health, science, and education. Through specialized teams of experts, unique laboratory capabilities, and access to a group of more than 100 major Ph.D-granting institutions, ORAU works with local, state, federal, and commercial customers to advance national priorities to serve the public interest.

The award grants seed funding for research and professional growth to junior faculty members at ORAU institutions. Winners receive a one-year $5,000 research grant, which is matched by the home institution. Drewry is one of just 35 recipients of this year’s national award. 

“It was an honor to be selected as one of the two nominees from Ohio State University to compete for a Powe Award this year, and I feel very fortunate to have received this award from ORAU,” said Drewry. 

Drewry explained that simulation-assisted breeding has tremendous potential to quickly advance crop improvement to help meet future food and energy security goals. This award will allow Drewry to collaborate with Dr. Daniel Jacobson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to integrate his prior work in vegetation biophysical simulation with the phenotypic information emerging from modern genomic selection approaches.