Richard Dixon, D.Phil., received the 2008 R.R. Hill Award during the recent joint meeting of the 41st North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference (NAAIC) and the 20th Trifolium Conference.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, along with Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M, hosted the event last week.

Dixon, who serves as Senior Vice President and Director of the Plant Biology Division at the Noble Foundation, received the R.R. Hill Award because of what the awards committee referred to as an "exceptional scientific contribution to the improvement of alfalfa."

Dixon began researching lignin - a substance that strengthens plant cell walls and provides structure to plants - to increase digestibility in alfalfa. His work is expected to produce tangible outcomes for agricultural producers as low-lignin alfalfa prepares to be commercially released.

"I'm truly honored to receive the R.R. Hill Award," said Dixon, who was nominated to the National Academy of Sciences last May. "To be recognized by my peers is the highest honor I can receive."

Held every two years, the NAAIC enters its 82nd year of promoting the development of improved alfalfa cultivars through education, communication and professional development of research scientists, educators and commercial representatives in North America and around the world. The Trifolium Conference, which supports the research and advancement of clovers, holds its biannual meeting in conjunction with the NAAIC. Both organizations focus their efforts on legumes, a family of plants that includes peanut and soybean.

Joe Bouton, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Director of the Forage Improvement Division at the Noble Foundation, served as host for the joint conference. More than 75 scientists, researchers, consultants, and research and development officials with various industries traveled from as far away as China and Australia to attend.

Bouton explained that the conference plays a significant role for those working with or researching legumes. The conference provides attendees an opportunity to share research, catch up on the latest advancements in the field and network.

"The real centerpiece of this conference is the crop itself - alfalfa or clover," said Bouton, who hosted the conference in 1992 as a professor at the University of Georgia-Athens. "While some attendees may be researchers and others work in commercial sales, we really just say, 'I work with alfalfa,' or 'I work with clover.' That's the broader issue, which allows us to come together and find out what is happening with these crops worldwide."

The first two days of the meeting took place in Dallas and consisted of presentations of professional research. On the third day, the attendees took a special trip to the Noble Foundation to see the organization's world-class facilities and research projects.

During the awards ceremony that afternoon, David Miller, Ph.D., a scientist with Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a developer and supplier of genetically advanced plants to farmers, stood in the Noble Foundation's spacious Forage Improvement Division atrium and called the Noble Foundation "The Cathedral of Forages."

"The fundamental and translational research occurring at the Noble Foundation is a sight to behold for other scientists," Bouton said. "It makes them feel good to know that we've fashioned our research around these crops. While harsh economic conditions are causing others to shrink or change their research, the Noble Foundation is flourishing."

08-024

###

News Release Issued: June 17, 2008

For media inquiries concerning the Noble Foundation, please contact J. Adam Calaway, Director of Public Relations, at 580.224.6209 or by email at jacalaway@noble.org.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.