ASPB NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2015
CONTACT: Tyrone C. Spady, Ph.D., Director
of Legislative and Public Affairs
[email protected], (301) 296-0934 (office)
ASPB Nominee Channapatna Prakash Wins 2015 Borlaug CAST
Communication Award
ROCKVILLE, MD - The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is pleased to announce that its
nominee, Channapatna Prakash of Tuskegee University, was named the 2015 Borlaug Council for
Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) Communication Award for outstanding efforts using his
research and communication skills to promote food production.
The announcement was made this morning at a National Press Club event in
Washington, DC. Borlaug CAST Communication Award winners must
demonstrate an ability to communicate by written material; public presentations;
and/or the use of television, radio, or other social media. Prakash excels in all
three areas. As a specialist in the field of plant genetics and biotechnology, he
has worked for decades delivering clear, science-based information to the public
and policymakers.
Prakash is a former chair of the ASPB Minority Affairs Committee and in 2002
appeared in an educational video produced by ASPB called “History's Harvest:
Where Food Comes From.” “For years,” said ASPB President Julian Schroeder “[Prakash] has impressed
me with his willingness and ability to communicate science and agricultural issues and to volunteer his
time and efforts.”
He was instrumental in establishing the plant biotechnology research and training program at Tuskegee
University, and he has a long list of influential publications and presentations—he has presented his
messages about agriculture in more than 70 countries. Through teaching, research collaboration, and
lectures, he has worked especially hard to promote biotechnology research and policy in the developing
countries of Asia and Africa.
Educated in India and Australia, Prakash has a strong connection with those who have made an impact on
global food production. Norman Borlaug once praised him for “bringing common sense into the use of
biotechnology,” and Julie Borlaug Larson says that Prakash—much like her grandfather—is “dedicated to
utilizing science and technology to improve the standard of living and quality of life for the world’s most
impoverished and marginalized populations.”
He uses social media (his Twitter handle is at @agbioworld), radio/TV interviews, and other methods to
emphasize the potential of agricultural technology. As a colleague said, “He is one of the strongest and
most consistent voices countering the spread of misinformation.”
An award presentation will occur at a breakfast side event cohosted by DuPont and CAST at the World
Food Prize Symposium on October 14, 2015, in Des Moines, IA. The Borlaug CAST Communication
Award honors the legacies of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug and Dr. Charles A. Black, the first
president of CAST.
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ASPB is a professional scientific society, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, devoted to the
advancement of the plant sciences worldwide. With a membership of some 4500 plant scientists from
throughout the United States and more than 50 other nations, the Society publishes two of the most widely
cited plant science journals: The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology. For more information about ASPB,
please visit http://www.aspb.org/. Also follow ASPB on Facebook at facebook.com/myASPB and on
Twitter @ASPB.