AMES, Iowa – The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is honoring three Iowa State University researchers for distinguished contributions to economics, chemistry and plant genetics.
The association announced its 2022 class of 506 AAAS Fellows today. The fellows are being recognized “for their scientific and socially notable achievements spanning their careers,” according to the announcement.
“AAAS is proud to elevate these standout individuals and recognize the many ways in which they’ve advanced scientific excellence, tackled complex societal challenges and pushed boundaries that will reap benefits for years to come,” said Sudip Parikh, the chief executive officer of AAAS.
Here are Iowa State’s latest AAAS Fellows, their award citations and their current research interests:
Joshua Rosenbloom – professor and department chair of economics, “For distinguished contributions to the study of the development of the American economy and the economics of science, technology, and innovation.”
Rosenbloom’s current research focuses on the role of federal and non-federal funding on the productivity of academic scientists. He is particularly interested in how these different sources of funding interact to support the nation’s scientific enterprise. He is also developing a new textbook tracing the economic development of the American economy.
Aaron Sadow – a professor of chemistry, a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory and director of the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics based at the Ames National Laboratory, “For distinguished contributions to the field of chemical catalysis, particularly for research of molecular mechanisms and chemical transformations that promote sustainability.”
Sadow’s research group is developing new catalysts and studying catalytic methods to efficiently transform chemical feedstocks into more valuable chemicals. This includes the conversion of methane and natural gas into chemical reagents for synthesis, as well as chemical reactions that transform difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into recyclable liquid hydrocarbon lubricants, solvents and biodegradable surfactants.
Yanhai Yin – professor and department chair of genetics, development and cell biology, “For distinguished contributions to the field of plant signaling transduction, particularly for discovering the transcriptional mechanisms and network for the plant steroid hormone brassinosteroid in regulating plant growth and stress responses."
Yin is currently using modern genetics, genomics and phenomics tools to explore how a plant steroid hormone coordinates plant growth and drought tolerance. The long-term goal is to understand how organisms balance growth and stress responses and to improve crop production under adverse climate changes.
The AAAS has been honoring “esteemed innovators” since 1874, according to the association’s announcement. Each new fellow will receive a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (the colors represent science and engineering).
The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science and other scientific publications.
