The Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology Excellence in Research Award (AMBER) was established in the Spring of 2021 as a mechanism to recognize outstanding student research for students pursuing a degree in Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology (ABT).  A call for nominations will occur each spring semester and multiple recipients may be awarded depending on the number of student nominees and the quality of research conducted. Recipients will be notified at the end of each spring semester.  Each AMBER recipients will include a $50 honorarium and a signed certificate.

Current Recipients

Warren Van Nort, Justin Wong, Caroline Benda, Xiomara Arias, Caroline Harper and Luke Meredith

Who is eligible?

Any ABT student who has conducted at least two semesters of research is eligible.  Students who are currently conducting their second semester of research are eligible.

What are the requirements and how do I apply?

Students must be nominated by their research mentor (i.e. the Principal Investigator under which the student's research has been conducted) and participate in the UK Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars.  Nominations from the research mentor can be brief, and should indicate how long the student has been in their lab and describe why the student should be considered for the award. Students will be required to present their research as a poster or as an oral presentation at the UK Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars, which is held during the Spring semester.  Information on the Showcase and registration can be found here: https://our.uky.edu/showcase.

Please note that interested students must register with the Office of Undergraduate Research and the poster/presentation upload for the Showcase deadline occurs in early April.  The call for nominations is issued each spring semester and nominations may be submitted to the awards committee via Nick Teets, Ph.D. (n.teets@uky.edu).

Past Recipients

Spring 2023 -Isabella Lytle, Annabelle Wilson, Megan Johnston, Shaelin Warner, Tyler Jessup

Spring 2022 - Tabarak Azawi, Gabrielle Hammers, Elisabeth Rintamaa, Gretchen Ruschman, Henry Smith, Abgail Vetter

Spring 2021 - Bridget Bolt, Rebecca Caldbeck, Katie Chheang, Anna Foose, Alex Stewart