Awards

Dr. Raja Reddy-ICAC Researcher of the Year 2020

Dr. K. Raja Reddy is a ResearchProfessor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Mississippi State University. He is an accomplished researcher in the realm of agricultural science, a respected teacher and mentor to many, while also a leader among his peers. Dr. Reddy’s research interests include theimpactof anthropogenic climate change, remote sensing, and crop modeling applications on agricultural resource management through the lens of environmental plant physiology. He has over 32 years of research experience at Mississippi State and is responsible for and credited with many critical discoveries across multiple facets of agriculture. His research includes the impact of climate change on cotton and other crop physiology, growth, and development of several outstanding foods, fiber, and native grassland s and forages crops of global importance, cotton, soybean, rice, corn, sorghum, peppers, sweet potato, switchgrass, Bahia grass; remote sensing and stress physiology; and crop model applications.

In addition to his research obligations, he developed a capstone graduate-level course, “environmental plant physiology,”that interfaces research, teaching, andlearning basedon research work he conducted using state-of-the-art sunlit plant growth chamber facilities at Mississippi State. Dr. Reddy has received several recognitions and awards: Fellowof the Crop Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy; theRalph E. Powe Award, the Highest Research Honor at Mississippi State University; and the Outstanding Research Award in Cotton Physiology, presented by the National Cotton Council of America.

He has trained over 35 visiting and 15 postdoctoral scientists and 30 students (15 Ph.D.,11 MS, 5 Undergraduate and others as committee members) from across the world in multiple areassuch as crop stress physiology, climate change, crop modeling, remote sensing, andglobal food security.Outside of his numerous academic and research obligations, Dr. Reddy serves as faculty advisor of the Indian Student Association on campus. In the Starkville community, he is actively involved with the Kiwanis Club, where Dr. Reddy has extended his leadership skills to the organization by chairing numerous committees, the Kiwanis Board, and even serving as chapter President. Dr. Reddy is also actively involved in nurturing and engaging local High School Key Club students in developing service-leadership skills and 4-H students by providing global mindedness and citizenship through various campus programs. He enjoys photography and cooking and entertaining families and friends with spicy food.