CALS Agricultural Research Stations (ARS) recently honored three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the ARS program at its annual Recognition Awards Reception and Dinner on Jan. 15.

This year’s award recipients are:

• Scott Evans (Arlington ARS) – Recognition Award for ARS Staff
• Kay Nelson (Research Animal Resources and Compliance) – Recognition Award for Service
• Jessica Sherman (USDA ARS) – Recognition Award for Research

Scott Evans – Recognition Award for ARS Staff

Scott Evans has served as an assistant superintendent at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station since 2017. He has a wealth of nutrient management knowledge and writes and implements a complicated nutrient management plan for the station. Evans uses SnapPlus to balance applications across 2,100 station acres and 2,700 acres of five neighboring farmers, which can be tricky due to research and environmental restrictions. He also worked with the DNR and a contractor to successfully complete the station’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation plan 5-year renewal in March of 2024.

Evans is also the chief technology person for the station. He manages the purchase and maintenance of guidance and application equipment that is currently used on the station planters, sprayer and fertilizer spreader, resulting in more accurate product placement and conservation. Evans also manages grain yield data with the AgLeader program, and researchers use station data to generate crop yield and quality models. He has built rapport and works closely with numerous researchers and is a valued members of the station’s management team.

Kay Nelson – Recognition Award for Service

Kathryn (Kay) Nelson has been a large animal program veterinarian with UW Research Animal Resources and Compliance since 2011. She is known as an advocate for the facility, an exceptional clinician and a guardian of UW animal program compliance. Nelson has thorough knowledge of staff and facilities at several ARS stations, and each of her visits is a learning experience framed by the management and treatment of animals.

Nelson has helped champion the need for new healthcare treatments and procedures, updated equipment and animal wellbeing enhancements. She invests endless amounts of energy to help give university animals a better life and make operations a better place for both animals and people. She engages staff in her diagnosis and treatment decisions, so everyone understands the “whys” of a chosen protocol, taking every chance to teach staff something new. Nelson values animal care staff and gets to know them all, including students and interns. Her performance in practice is characterized by clinical skills, people skills, engagement and adaptability.

Jessica Sherman – Recognition Award for Research

Jessica Sherman is a biological science lab technician with Eric Young at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Unit, located at Marshfield ARS. Her program focus is dairy system manure management, field application methods and nutrient cycling. Sherman has facilitated research on watershed design and groundwater quality, and she has evaluated the Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast (RRAF) system for alerting private well users of potential degraded water quality.

Beyond her research program, Sherman’s contributions to the Marshfield station include participation on the station grazing committee, the USDA Safety, Health & Environmental Management (SHEM) committee and as a presenter for field days. She has a quiet determination and embodies a work ethic of honesty, integrity and reliability. Sherman is a researcher driven by a genuine desire to advance the field of soil science. She doesn’t think twice about rolling up her sleeves and isn’t afraid to get dirty to collect sound data. Sherman excels at designing field experiments and visualizing how the data will fit into a publication, and she sees her work to completion.