Basche is recognized for academic excellence, leadership
Rich Bischoff, associate vice chancellor of IANR (left), presents Andrea Basche with the Dinsdale Family Faculty Award at the Distinguished Fellowships and Awards Luncheon Dec. 7. Loren Rye | Pixel Lab
Friday, January 27, 2023
by Fran tenBensel Benne | Agronomy and Horticulture
Andrea Basche, an assistant professor in cropping systems in agronomy and horticulture, was presented with the Dinsdale Family Faculty Award at the Distinguished Fellowships and Awards Luncheon Dec. 7 on East Campus. The University of Nebraska’s IANR, ARD and CASNR hosted the luncheon.
The Dinsdale Family Faculty Award honors faculty members for outstanding teaching, research and outreach in IANR. It is especially focused on non-tenured faculty who firmly commit to academic excellence. The award is named for Roy Dinsdale, a 1948 University of Nebraska College of Business Administration graduate who works in a family farming and cattle operation.
Basche has a 60% teaching and 40% research appointment in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
“Andrea is becoming a recognized leader in the college for her work on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Meghan Sindelar, associate professor of practice, said. “In this capacity, she co-led the Difficult Conversations CASNR Community of Practice and supported the development of two seminar/discussion series around inclusive classrooms in the college.”
She instructs Plant and Landscape Systems 204 Resource Efficient Crop Management, 405 Crop Management Strategies and 425 Cover Crops in Agroecosystems.
She and her graduate students were recently awarded grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and Nebraska Academy of Sciences, as well as Nebraska EPSCoR, to support working with an after-school program at Lincoln Northeast High School. This is in partnership with the Food-Energy-Water and Societal Systems Early College and Career Program within CASNR.
“We are looking forward to sharing crop and soil research efforts in a series of activities and field trips with the students who we hope to inspire as the next generation of professionals in our field,” Basche said.
She and her team of researchers study several aspects of diversified cropping systems, including carbon and nitrogen cycling, water and weed dynamics, as well as policy and human decision-making. They are currently part of a large collaborative effort to study the management and supply chain efforts for a perennial grain crop called Kernza®.
“It’s an exciting, low-input crop that can be harvested several years, grazed or hayed,” Basche said. “In 2022, we harvested our first year of experiments and had excellent yields, which is particularly exciting considering the drought conditions.”
“Dr. Basche has established a personal connection to the members of the Resilient Cropping Systems Lab she leads through conversations, lab meetings and having an open-door policy,” Fernanda Krupek, a doctoral candidate in Basche’s lab, said. “She has stressed the importance of transferring both the technical and ethical aspects of good research and teaching standards and practices.”
“Andrea has gone above and beyond in serving the Nebraska public,” Sindelar, said. “She has used her research program to address significant gaps in cover crop and soil health outreach despite not having an extension appointment.”
In November, Basche was recognized by the American Society of Agronomy with the 2022 Early Career Award.
In 2014, Dave Lamb was the last department faculty member to be honored with the Dinsdale Family Faculty Award. Basche is among good company as only five other department faculty have received the award, including current Department Head and John E. Weaver Professor of Agronomy and Horticulture Martha Mamo, Professor and Heuermann Chair of Agronomy Harkamal Walia, Eugene W. Price Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology Tom Clemente, and Adjunct Associate Professor Deana Namuth-Covert.
Basche to receive ASA Early Career Award
Monday, August 22, 2022
Andrea Basche, an assistant professor in cropping systems in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, will be formally presented with the American Society of Agronomy Early Career Award at the ASA Awards Ceremony Nov. 8 during the scientific society’s Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Basche has a primary teaching appointment at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and instructs Plant and Landscape Systems 204 Resource Efficient Crop Management, 405 Crop Management Strategies and 425 Cover Crops in Agroecosystems.
In her courses, Basche includes multi-dimensional elements of modern agriculture, with an emphasis on topics such as soil conservation and profitability, through engaging teaching strategies such as outside of the classroom activities and interactions with various stakeholders.
She has authored 25 peer-reviewed publications including several specific to scholarship of teaching. She has developed courses for students and professional development for her peers on diversity, equity and inclusion topics to support a more inclusive agricultural field.
Her research team studies several aspects of diversified cropping systems including carbon and nitrogen cycling, water and weed dynamics, as well as policy and human decision-making.
Basche is a nationally recognized leader on cover crops, soil health and climate change, and has delivered over 65 invited presentations and interviews to a range of audiences — from NPR’s Science Friday and BBC Future to Ag PhD Radio.
She has been an active member of the Tri-Societies — ASA, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America — for over 12 years, including serving as an associate editor of Agronomy Journal and a member of the CSSA policy committee.
Basche was born and raised in southern New Jersey, near to crop-producing regions in the state as well as the shore. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University in biological sciences, a master’s degree from Columbia University in applied climate science and a doctorate in crop production and sustainable agriculture from Iowa State University.
The ASA Early Career Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in agronomy within seven years of completing their final degree — bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate. The award includes a certificate, a complimentary ticket to the award ceremony and $2,000.