Caroline Roper, an associate professor of plant pathology; and Shou-Wei Ding, a professor of plant pathology; are among the 2020 award winners from an international professional organizationof plant pathologists.

The American Phytopathological Society, or APS, regularly honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the science of plant pathology. Roper and Ding were presented with their awards at the APS annual meeting held online Aug. 4, 2020.

Roper received the Lee M. Hutchins Award due to her series of seven papers published in APS journals in the last 10 years, including Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and Phytobiomes. The award is presented to authors of published research on basic or applied aspects of diseases of perennial fruit plants.

Ding received the Noel T. Keen Award for his research on the molecular basis of plant antiviral defense and virus counterdefense. The award recognizes research excellence in molecular plant pathology.

This Inside UCR article was written by Steven Valenzuela and can be read in full here.