W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — January 10, 2020 — Casandra W. Robinson, physical scientist in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standards Coordination Office, Gaithersburg, Md., will serve a three-year term on the ASTM International board of directors.

Robinson is responsible for the development of documentary standards and coordinating with NIST technical units, other federal agencies, industry, and relevant stakeholders in the development of standards and conformity assessment systems. Overall, NIST advances measurement science, standards, and technology to enhance U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness.

An ASTM International member since 2006, Robinson is a member of the committees on homeland security applications (E54), textiles (D13), leather (D31), pedestrian/walkway safety and footwear (F13), and personal protective clothing and equipment (F23). She has been honored with the Award of Merit, and the E54 Award of Appreciation.

Prior to joining NIST in 2012, Robinson served as program manager with the Savannah River National Laboratory. For the previous five years, she supported the National Institute of Justice’s Standards and Testing Program with the development of performance standards and conformity assessment for public safety equipment.

Robinson holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Clemson University and a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Alabama.

ASTM International’s board of directors is made up of 25 leaders from an array of companies, associations, and government bodies worldwide. Several members are based outside the United States.

Posted January 10, 2020

Source: ASTM International

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — January 9, 2020 — Dr. Carol Pollack-Nelson, owner of Independent Safety Consulting LLC, Rockville, Md., will serve a three-year term on the ASTM International board of directors.

Pollack-Nelson is also a human factors psychologist specializing in consumer product safety. She provides guidance to stakeholders on a wide range of product safety issues including foreseeable use and anticipated hazards.

An ASTM International member since 1992, Pollack-Nelson is a member of the committees on consumer products (F15) and textiles (D13). She was honored with the F15 Consumer Award in 2006.

Before working as a consultant, Pollack-Nelson worked as a senior engineering psychologist at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from 1988 to 1993.

Pollack-Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from George Washington University.

ASTM International’s board of directors is made up of 25 leaders from an array of companies, associations, and government bodies worldwide. Several members are based outside the United States.

Posted January 10, 2020

Source: ASTM International

AUSTIN, Texas — January 10, 2020 — Dr. Don Jones, Cotton Incorporated’s director of Agricultural Research – Breeding and Genetics in Cary, N.C., has been selected by the Joint Cotton Breeding Committee as the recipient of the 2019 Cotton Genetics Research Award.

The announcement was made here today during the 2020 Beltwide Cotton Improvement Conference, which convened as part of the National Cotton Council-coordinated 2020 Beltwide Cotton Conferences. Jones, who has devoted his 35+ professional years to plant breeding and genetics, received a plaque and a monetary award.

Since 2009, Jones has been instrumental in the development and collaborative release of more than 50 public germplasm lines resulting in six cultivars. Of those six, two have exceptional fiber quality — traits that are valued by the market and that help to maintain cotton’s competitiveness.

Jones led the development of a Universal Material Transfer Agreement that helped protect the intellectual property of public cotton breeders/institutions and later private seed companies who were willing to abide by the Agreement. He also spearheaded efforts to identify cotton fields with appropriate levels of Fusarium wilt race 4 (FOV4) infection and coordinated the first nationwide screen for resistance — an effort that identified 11 breeding lines with possible resistance to this upland cotton production disease threat.

Participation has increased by 40 percent in the biennial Cotton Breeders Tour since Jones began organizing the event which fosters communications/provides training for researchers. He assembled the public/private sector consortium that developed and oversees Cotton Incorporated funding support for CottonGen, the cotton community’s genomics, genetic and breeding database.

Jones also stepped up and established the current Cotton Winter Nursery in Costa Rica after it had to be moved from Mexico. Now in its fourth season, the nursery provides expedited cotton breeding efforts by providing a tropical area to rejuvenate cotton genetic resources maintained in the national cotton germplasm collection.

One nominator, Dr. B. Todd Campbell, a USDA research geneticist, said Jones’ interpersonal skills have resulted in numerous examples of building successful research teams that led to major impacts for the industry. He said one example involved Don’s ability “to bring the best and brightest cotton genomics scientists together on a unified team to produce the first gold standard reference genome for the cotton industry. Since leading this collaborative effort, the cotton industry has seen an explosion of scientific advance using knowledge of the cotton genome.”

The author of 74 peer-reviewed publications in the past decade, Jones received the 2017 Special Service Award from Texas A&M University and the 2019 Agronomic Industry Award from the American Society of Agronomy.

Jones earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Agronomy from the University of Tennessee and his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Nebraska. Prior to joining Cotton Incorporated in 2003, he was a research scientist at Syngenta and then Monsanto.

The annual Cotton Genetics Research Award was established in 1961 by U.S. commercial cotton breeders to recognize and encourage basic research in cotton genetics, cytogenetics and breeding. It is administered by the Joint Cotton Breeding Committee consisting of representatives of the NCC, the USDA, state experiment stations, Cotton Incorporated and commercial breeders.

Posted January 10, 2020

Source: National Cotton Council