Dr. Lurline Marsh can be proudly counted among the recipients of the 2020 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Distinguished Educator Award. An outstanding professor of horticulture at UMES for the past 15 years, Marsh was honored at NACTA’s 2020 virtual conference June 16-18. Prior to COVID-19, the conference was slated to be an in-person event at the New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The award recognizes “meritorious service to NACTA and to higher education through teaching, educational research, and/or administration.” Nominees must have 10 or more years of service to higher education.
“Dr. Marsh is deeply concerned about ensuring her students are successful. This is reflected in her daily interactions with students both within and outside the classroom. This award is truly a fitting national recognition for the professionalism of an outstanding instructor and we are very proud of her,” said Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of UMES’ School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.
Marsh has won over $4 million in collaborative teaching and research grants that support training, mentoring and professional development of students at UMES. Across different agriculture disciplines, students hone their soft and disciplinary skills through these grants. Her research includes organic agriculture, food safety, soil health, and specialty crop and precision agriculture.
“For me, it (the award) represents the convergence of three impactful groups on my teaching: the students who gave me the opportunity to help them in their learning and development; the two 1890 land-grant universities that enabled my career growth, especially to support their missions to prepare students (particularly underprepared and economically disadvantaged ones) to achieve their educational goals; and NACTA that has provided me with access and a medium for networking to improve and share my teaching,” Marsh said.
In November, Marsh was also recognized as one of five regional recipients of the 2019 Excellence in College and University Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences by the Association of Public and Land-grant University system at its annual meeting in San Diego.
