Troy Heeren, agricultural specialist in natural resource ecology and management, is a recipient of the staff 2026 Peer Award for Leadership and Service from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. He supports research and extension efforts in NREM and with the research farms. He also provides in-field forestry training for 20 undergraduate and five graduate students.
Heeren has a unique skillset – an intersection of forestry, biology and engineering – that ideally compliments the diverse research and extension efforts of the department. He works with the Forest-to-Farm and From Nuisance to Asset programs, designed to quantify and communicate ecosystem goods and services of Iowa forests. He supports work on saturated buffers, extension field days and bioreactor experiments. Heeren also manages equipment and safety procedures for the forestry wood shop in Bessey Hall. A unique contribution in 2025 was the construction of custom bird specimen cabinets that will benefit hundreds of students annually and saved the department thousands of dollars.
“He is an innovator and excellent problem solver, traits that are essential to some of this work,” stated a colleague. “If a representation of a MacGyver exists in CALS – problem solving through skills, ingenuity and a never-give-up attitude – Troy is it.”