McKay is being recognized for "distinguished contributions using ecophysiology, genetics and genomics to understand the fundamental mechanisms which have driven the evolution of phenotypes in natural populations and cultivated species."
Engle accepted the award in July during the American Society of Animal Science-Canadian Society of Animal Science annual meeting in Austin, Texas.
Microbiome scientist Kelly Wrighton is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Keith Paustian and his team have created COMET-Farm, a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse accounting system that recently won the Groundbreaker Prize from the FoodShot Global Challenge.
Launched in 2017, the Alliance aims to increase the amount of high-quality fruits and vegetables available to those facing food insecurity in Mesa County and throughout Colorado.
Wrighton was cited for her outstanding success in studying the genomics and biogeochemistry of soil and deep subsurface microbiomes.
Leach has received the Agropolis Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food, in the category of Distinguished Scientist.
Mike Wilkins is studying how these microbes drive larger ecosystem functions, both in the Earth's subsurface as well as other contexts.