E. Broadus Browne Research Awards

Award Description

The E. Broadus Browne Research Awards for Outstanding Graduate Student Research are given in recognition of Director Edmund Broadus Browne’s distinguished service to the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station (GAES). The award memorializes not only his professional contributions to the college and the experiment stations but also his popularity among the staff. He preferred to lead with a story and end with a laugh.

Browne’s career at the University of Georgia (UGA) started in 1947 with an assistant professorship in genetics and plant breeding. In 1951, he became the first director of the College Station at Athens. He served as director of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton from 1973 to 1981. Browne then returned to Athens to serve as director of the Experiment Station System. He retired in 1984 and passed away in 1987.

The award is presented to outstanding master’s and doctorate students in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) based on both their research creativity and effective communication.

The first-place doctoral award consists of a certificate, $2,000 and up to $2,500 in travel funding support to attend a professional meeting. Second place is awarded $1,000. The first-place master’s award consists of a certificate, $1,000 and up to $2,500 in travel funding support to attend a professional meeting. Awards are sponsored by the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station.

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E. Broadus BrowneE. Broadus Browne

Nomination Procedures

  • Each department/institute will determine their own criteria for their student award nominees.
  • The department/institute head may nominate one candidate for each award.
  • A cover letter for each nominee along with their written report should be emailed as a PDF document to the Associate Dean for Research.
  • Nominations are due on or before the last Friday in January. Hard copies will not be accepted.

Award Eligibility

  • The graduate student must be enrolled in the respective degree program within CAES at the time of the competition and the graduate student’s major advisor must have a GAES appointment.
  • The work reported must be performed during the student’s M.S. or Ph.D. degree program at UGA and will be certified by his/her major professor or department head.
  • Each department or official institute offering a graduate program in the college is limited to one M.S. and one Ph.D. nominee.

Student Requirements

Each student shall prepare a written report, not to exceed ten, single-sided 8½ x 11-inch standard pages (including text, footnotes, references, citations, tables, figures, and graphs). The top of the first page shall include the title of the report, the student’s name, and contact information (department, daytime phone number, and UGA e-mail address). All text material shall be typed and double-spaced (including footnotes, references, and tables). Use 1-inch margins and 12-point Times Roman. As an aid, refer to the format template (PDF). Failure to follow these guidelines will result in being disqualified.

The report shall include an abstract, a problem statement, the creative research approach, results and conclusions, and should be written in a manner so that it is readily understood by a knowledgeable layperson. Participants will be evaluated on the appropriateness of research procedures, interpretation of results, conclusions drawn, editorial correctness (i.e., clarity and organization), quality of the science, originality of the research, and significance to the CAES mission.

Students shall also give an oral presentation limited to twenty minutes; ten minutes to present the research and ten minutes to answer questions. The oral presentation must effectively communicate the scientific merit and creativity of the research and utilize effective visual aids. The student will be evaluated on effective responses to questions from the audience. As with the written report, the oral presentation should be directed to a knowledgeable layperson. The Graduate Committee chair will poll the Graduate Committee to find a mutually agreeable time for oral presentations.

Evaluation and Selection Process

  • A review panel member shall evaluate and rank each written report prior to the oral presentation.
  • All students will make an oral presentation to a review panel composed of CAES Graduate Affairs Committee members at a date to be determined. A committee member shall abstain from voting or providing any comments on a student from his/her department/institute or if he/she is a member of the student’s advisory committee.
  • After the oral presentation, the panel member shall evaluate and rank the student for the effectiveness of the oral presentation.
  • Each panel member will then rank the students based on the combined written report and oral rankings. The review panel will pool their rankings and the Ph.D. and M.S. award winners will be determined jointly by the panel members based on this combined ranking.
  • Criteria form for scoring and ranking (PDF)


Award Recipients

Winners of the E. Broadus Browne Research Awards for Outstanding Graduate Student Research

Year MS Ph.D.
1987   John D. Floros
1988   Ray Smith
1989   Darrell W. Ross
1990 Vivek Gnanesekharan  
1997 Hannah Green Consuelo de Moraes
2003 Brett Lumpkins  
2004 Ethell Vereen Jr. Peter S. Ojiambo
2006 Caleb Warrington Amanda Ellis
2007 Herbert Ssegane Matthew Chappell
2008 Nathan Lord Adrea Pruijssers
2009 Jeffrey Garton James A. Robertson
2010 Sara Beth Pinson Rick Gerhold
2011 Zachary King
Lucas O'Meara (2nd)
Reben Raeman
Bhabesh Dutta (2nd)
2012 Tamara Loeffler Brian Jordan
Sydney Everhart (2nd)
2013 Taylor Kronn Tripti Vashisth
Stephanie Weldon (2nd)
2014 Kevin Besler Suchitra Chavan
Kerri Coon (2nd)
2015 Nicole Bachleda
Melissa Mattee (2nd)
Zachary King
Peng Tian (2nd)
2016 Erin Froetschel Forrest Goodfellow
Shuyang Zhen (2nd)
2017 Noelle Fuller Carolina Ballen-Taborda
Alex Blacutt (2nd)
Cristiano Bortoluzzi (3rd)
2018 Madison Fagan Leilani Sumabat
2019 Mary Lewis
Will Hemphill (2nd)
Ruby Harrison
Winnie Gimode (2nd)
2020 Raegan Wiggins Lorena N Lacerda
Dima White (2nd)
2021 Caroline Burks Shaun Stice
Sam McDonald (2nd)
2022 Matthew Holton
Grace Ingham (2nd)
Keila Acevedo Villanueva
Changhyeon Kim (2nd)

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