USA
August 26, 2025

Today, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the 11 recipients of the 2024 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award (New Innovator Award), an award granted to early-career scientists supporting research in one of FFAR’s Research Priority Areas. The New Innovator Awardees’ promising research is opening new avenues of knowledge to deliver groundbreaking solutions to difficult challenges.

FFAR’s New Innovator Award provides early-career scientists with funding to conduct food and agriculture research without the pressure of securing additional funding. While matching funds were not required for this award, some recipients secured additional funds culminating in a total investment of $5,371,624 over three years.

The following individuals received a 2024 New Innovator Award:

1. Dr. Evan Craine, The Land Institute
2. Dr. Samuel B. Fernandes, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
3. Dr. Scott Maguffin, State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta
4. Dr. Kalavathy Rajan, Texas Tech University
5. Dr. Vincent Ricigliano, USDA-ARS Pollinator Health Unit, Davis
6. Dr. Raquel Rocha, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
7. Dr. Ruggero Rossi, Johns Hopkins University
8. Dr. Tianhu Sun, East Tennessee State University
9. Dr. Lirong Xiang, Cornell University
10. Dr. Yushu Xia, Columbia University
11. Dr. Hannah Waterhouse, University of California, Santa Cruz

To learn more about each awardee’s research project, please visit the New Innovator Award page.

Website: http://foundationfar.org/

Published: August 26, 2025