Top award goes to Dennis KeeneyThe Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) will present its top achievement award to former Leopold Center director Dennis Keeney at its winter board meeting March 23 in Arlington, Virginia. Keeney will receive the Charles A. Black Award, named for Iowa State University professor emeritus of agronomy and member of the founding council of CAST. The award is presented annually to a food or agricultural researcher who has made significant contributions to a scientific field and communicates the importance of this work to the public, policymakers and news media. Keeney was nominated for the award by the president of the American Society of Agronomy and six colleagues. In their recommendations, Keeney was called a "pioneer environmental scientist" in water quality, an international and national expert in sustainable agriculture, and someone who brought this knowledge to the farm through his work at the Leopold Center. "We need more scientists like Dennis Keeney who communicate broadly, both within the scientific community and beyond it to the public and to public officials," said John Pesek, distinguished professor emeritus and retired head of the ISU Department of Agronomy. "Dennis Keeney has had a tremendous positive effect upon the people of this state and upon the future direction of agriculture." Keeney now consults for several nongovernmental organizations and is president of the Iowa Environmental Council. Return to Spring 2000 Leopold Letter index |