Three CALS professors, Natalia de Leon, Zach Peery and Elizabeth R. Wright, are among 16 UW–Madison faculty recently honored with Kellett Mid-Career Awards. The award was created to provide support and encouragement to faculty members who are seven to 20 years past their promotion to a tenured position, considered a critical stage of their careers. The honor, named for the late William R. Kellett, a former president of the WARF board of trustees and president of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, comes with $75,000 that may be spent over five years.

Natalia de Leon is a professor and chair in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences and a program trainer for the Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics program. Her research group integrates plant breeding, quantitative genetics, genomics, phenomics and biotechnology to improve crop productivity and resilience. She teaches quantitative genetics and plant breeding.

Zach Peery is a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. He has worked extensively to study and conserve endangered species in the United States. His current research focuses on the conservation of spotted owls and management of barred owls in western forests, as well integrating biodiversity and ecosystem conservation planning.

Elizabeth R. Wright, the Henry A. Lardy Professor of Biochemistry, develops and applies cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography to reveal the three-dimensional structures of viruses, cells and molecular machines in their native environments. Her research has uncovered fundamental mechanisms of viral infection, cellular organization and protein assembly while advancing technologies that have transformed in situ structural biology. Wright founded and directs UW–Madison’s Cryo-EM Research Center and the NIH-supported Midwest Center for Cryo-Electron Tomography, establishing the university as a global leader in advanced structural imaging, technology innovation and scientific training.

Read more about the Kellett Mid-Career Awards and other recipients.