The 2021 Rossmann Manatt Faculty Development Award has been presented to Amy Toth, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology and entomology at Iowa State University.
The award, announced March 22 during the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ virtual Faculty and Staff Awards ceremony, recognizes a tenured faculty member who has demonstrated an exceptional level of creativity and productivity in scholarship, teaching and service and who shows great promise continuing such achievement.
Toth came to Iowa State in 2010 following a USDA postdoctoral fellowship at Pennsylvania State University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Bard College and Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
She is a leading scientist in the field of social insect biology, with research focusing on the genetic and genomic basis of sociality in bees and wasps, and the effects of environmental stressors on bee health. Her work at Iowa State has garnered 24 research grants totaling more than $6.5 million. Toth’s highly-cited publications, long award list, success in obtaining extramural research funding, leading roles in the professional community, national and international invitations received and the productive research team she has built all testify to her outstanding work.
Included with the Rossmann Manatt award is a monetary gift that can range from $5,000 to $10,000. Toth will use the funds from the award to initiate a new traineeship, the “ISU BEE SQUAD.” The project will benefit diverse undergraduates in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and those in STEM fields by providing them training in bee biology and hands-on beekeeping and honey production experience. She envisions this project as a stepping-stone to a long-term, recurring, revenue-generating and potentially self-maintaining training opportunity.