Fresno State plant science professor Anil Shrestha was honored by the American Society of Agronomy with its Fellow Award.

The distinction is the organization’s highest accolade, and this year’s recipients will be recognized at the organization’s annual conference Nov. 6-9 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Award winners were selected based on their outstanding contributions in education, national and international service and research.

Shrestha teaches classes at Fresno State in plant health, plant science, biometrics, weed science, pest management and crop productivity. His primary research is in integrated vegetation management in agricultural and non-agricultural systems.

He is a nationally-respected researcher, and has authored 90 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 16 peer-reviewed extension articles and six book chapters and has delivered more than 120 presentations.

Past award winners from the Fresno State plant science department include Bruce Roberts and Ganesan Srinivasan.

Earlier this year, Shrestha earned President Barack Obama’s Volunteer Service Silver Award and Winrock International’s Volunteer Spirit Award for helping scientists, faculty members and students in Nepal to develop skills in experimental designs and data analysis.

He returned to Nepal in June for two months with the same USAID/Winrock Farmer to Farmer volunteer program. He is teaching at the Agriculture and Forestry University.

He is also collaborating on cereal cropping system projects with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Nepal, Bangladesh and India and International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. His program, “Train the Trainers Integrated Weed Management,” is developing surveys for weed management in the region.