UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2025
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The accomplishments of the faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture were celebrated at an annual awards luncheon held on the UT Knoxville campus in the new Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on July 30. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the institute.
UTIA Senior Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President Keith Carver hosted the luncheon and praised the honorees for their work. “The enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated by our UTIA faculty and staff is unparalleled,” he said. “I am always in awe of their dedication to providing real life solutions to the people of Tennessee. These well-deserved awards represent impacts and accomplishments that benefit Tennesseans and society now and for years to come.”
Neelam Chandra Poudyal, a professor in the university’s School of Natural Resources, has been awarded the UT Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture UTIA Faculty Global Lifetime Achievement Award. This honor recognizes a faculty member who has made significant and sustained contributions in teaching, research and/or Extension across their UT career in support of UT’s global vision of a world enriched by the power of ideas, made better through action and inspired by the Volunteer Spirit of service and leadership. Award recipients have demonstrated commitment to producing innovative global research and teaching, engaging meaningfully with existing partners and developing new long-term partners and fostering lifelong engaged learning among UT students, alumni and Tennesseans.
“I am truly honored to have received this award and appreciate the recognition,” Poudyal says. “I am thankful for the encouragement and support I have received from the Smith Center, the School of Natural Resources, UTIA and the UT Knoxville Center for Global Engagement for my success in global engagement. This award further motivates me to continue my engagement abroad and use that experience towards benefiting the UT community.”
Poudyal was selected to represent UT as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and more recently, was honored by the Office of the UT Provost with a James Cox Professorship, bestowed upon faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. Poudyal’s areas of focus in research and teaching include human dimensions and economic issues in natural resource management. He draws upon social science theory and methods to answer management and policy questions in natural resource conservation and management. His most recent projects have studied stakeholder behavior regarding pathogen transmission through wildlife trade networks and investigated how protected area revenue sharing could improve park-people relationships and promote integrated conservation and development.
Poudyal has been with UT for 12 years. He holds a Ph.D. in natural resources/conservation from UT Knoxville, a M.A. in geography from Western Illinois University and a B.S. in forestry from Tribhuvan University in Pokhara, Nepal.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.