Continuing with our celebration of this year’s CALS Award recipients, we are sharing information about the winners of the Louise Hemstead Leadership Award, the Arthur J. and Ellen A. Maurer Extra Mile Award and the WALSAA Outstanding Advisor Award.

Christelle Guédot

Christelle Guédot, recipient of the Louise Hemstead Leadership Award,  is an associate professor, fruit crop entomology specialist and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology.

An important strength of Christelle’s program is her attention to integrating the diverse areas that comprise applied pest management for fruit crops. She is also skilled in building robust networks involving industry, researchers and Extension to solve these problems. This team approach along with Christelle’s collaboration with horticulture, plant pathology and entomology faculty here at UW–Madison is an excellent example of a successful systems-based approach to solving complex problems for fruit growers in Wisconsin.

Christelle very effectively conveys information with an impressive number of well-received presentations. Her support of graduate education is also evident with the large quantity of theses, dissertations and exam committees on which she serves. Undergraduate education is also a large part of her responsibilities, serving on many advising and exam committees and mentoring an impressive number of undergrads in her lab.

One of the most impressive and important contributions in Christelle’s career is her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through her college-level efforts and department-level leadership, emphasizing the importance of becoming a more respectful, inclusive, and welcoming workplace.

Calli M. Anibas

Calli M. Anibas, recipient of the Arthur J. and Ellen A. Maurer Extra Mile Award, is a research and teaching assistant in the Department of Agronomy, with a natural gift for educating.

Considered an “inspiring academic mentor, a selfless advisor for the Badger Crops Club, and a special colleague” by her nominators, Calli has led a multitude of CALS students to success. She has revitalized the UW Undergraduate Crops Judging Team and taken these students to the National Crops Competition in Salt Lake City. Competing for the first time in 20 years, the UW team finished in third place.

Many students have come forward to express their gratitude for Calli’s hard work and dedication, owing many of their undergraduate successes to her efforts.

Jeri Barak

Jeri Barak, recipient of the WALSAA Outstanding Advisor Award, is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and has had a great impact on the lives of her students.

Jeri goes above and beyond in her role as an instructor, providing educational and formative opportunities for her students in and outside of the classroom. Her student nominators mentioned that at the start of the pandemic, Jeri hand-delivered ground coffee to their apartment so they could continue their mentor coffee chats over Zoom.

Jeri has dedicated herself to helping her students succeed in college and beyond, and her positive influence and unparalleled mentorship has greatly improved her students’ experiences.