Plant and Soil Science Associate Professor Eric Bishop von Wettberg has been awarded the 2022 Hubert W. Vogelmann Award for Excellence in Research & Scholarship by the ̽̽ College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Von Wettberg is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of crop genetic diversity and evolution research. Working primarily with legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, fava beans, and forages, his laboratory seeks to understand the ecology and genetics of wild relatives of agricultural crops in order to breed better domesticated crops, conserve crop genetic resources, and build resilience to climate change in agricultural systems. He considers protecting wild relatives of crops and the systems where they grow to be essential to preserving a reservoir of adaptive variations for future agricultural production.
"His work matters and has impact,” said Steve Keller, associate professor in the ̽̽ Department of Plant Biology. “His research stretches across political borders and makes substantiative progress towards how genetic diversity can be harnessed to improve our food systems and benefit our growing population.”
As well as being a visiting scholar and scientific collaborator, von Wettberg has an impressive record for peer-reviewed publications and has been invited to speak in over 35 institutions or symposia across the world, from Morocco to Madagascar.. Citations in Google Scholar number 3,695 and his research has been published in well-known journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, New Phytologist, Genome Biology and Evolution. In addition, he serves on the editorial board for international journals such as Plant People Planet, Frontiers in Genetics, and The Plant Genome.
Colleagues near and far consider von Wettberg to be dedicated to transdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship.
"A scholar like Dr. Bishop von Wettberg could build an entire career around his laboratory work focused on wild crop relatives of globally important legumes, but he extends his basic research into the applied realm, demonstrating its applicability to climate change adaptation, maintenance of biodiversity, and social justice,” said Community Development and Applied Economics (CDAE) Assistant Professor Daniel Tobin.
An example of von Wettberg's dedication to social justice has been to serve historically marginalized communities in a variety of ways, including research related to regional seed systems. He developed a collaboration with Alnôbaiwi, a nonprofit that preserves Vermont Abenaki cultural heritage.
“His approach to the collaboration with Alnôbaiwi is marked by respect, reciprocal learning, and public service. Collaborating specifically with the Seeds of Renewal project, Dr. Bishop-von Wettberg draws on his expertise to support efforts to grow and maintain important crops to Abenaki culture," said Tobin, who is currently working with von Wettberg on a grant supporting a BIPOC seed consortium interested in identifying market niches for culturally meaningful seeds.
̽̽ students have benefited from meaningful and career-enhancing research opportunities with von Wettberg. His lab has generated a series of publications with student authors, and he actively encourages undergraduate and graduate students to work on his funded projects, and to seek out other opportunities.
"As a mentor, first and foremost, he is patient and kind, and always willing to take the time (even when he doesn’t have it) to help his own students, and even those of others," said Keller. "I have never seen him say he was too busy, or that he’s too committed to provide his advice and mentoring to a student or colleague in need. He has an active, vibrant lab of early-career scientists that clearly love what they do and thrive under his leadership."
Von Wettberg received a PhD in ecology and evolution from Brown University, and a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College. He served as Fulbright specialist at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Among his many affiliations and associations, he is currently an Environment Fellow at ̽̽'s Gund Institute for Environment.
The Vogelmann Award honors Professor Emeritus Hubert “Hub” Vogelmann, former chair of the CALS botany department and himself a model for the award’s criteria. The recipient of this annual award has their name engraved on commemorative plaque and receives $2,500, which can be used to support research efforts.