Elizabeth Thilmany, image by Edwin Remsberg
As the spring semester comes to a close, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ (AGNR) Dean’s Student Advisory Council (DSAC) recently announced their academic award winners during a virtual awards ceremony. Elizabeth Thilmany, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park who is double-majoring in Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) and Geographical Sciences, was named the AGNR’s outstanding undergraduate student researcher. This award recognizes the significant and long-lasting research contributions made while working on projects within AREC for the Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI), an MPowering the State initiative, and the Center of Excellence at the Nexus of Sustainable Water Reuse, Food, and Health (CONSERVE), a USDA-NIFA funded center of excellence, programs.
The AGNR Dean’s Student Advisory Council is an organization of undergraduate AGNR students representing and communicating the student’s voice to the Dean. DSAC also supports student events within the College, and members of the Council serve as leaders throughout the College.
“Elizabeth is a dedicated researcher who throws herself into any research project she is given,” said Paul Goeringer, Extension Legal Specialist and senior faculty specialist in AREC. “When the pandemic broke out, Elizabeth was instrumental in developing the initial research on a number of issues ALEI was being presented with. For the past academic year, Elizabeth has worked to develop model farms within the state to demonstrate the value of a farm succession plan. Once finalized, these models will help show in economic terms the impact of a lack of a proper succession plan on a family farm. This work will really assist AREC and ALEI as we educate producers and other stakeholders on the importance of succession planning.”
Thilmany has also provided research assistance to CONSERVE, “Elizabeth has worked with us to help answer a common question our stakeholders have: What are the regulations around water reuse? Water reuse, the process of using treated municipal wastewater for a beneficial purpose like irrigation, is regulated differently across the country. Elizabeth’s research will help the CONSERVE Extension team answer these questions in digestible, easy-to-understand publications,” said Mayhah Suri, faculty specialist and Extension specialist with CONSERVE and AREC.
“It has been a real privilege to continue contributing to the meaningful work of ALEI and Conserve, so being awarded for these projects is an extreme honor,” Thilmany said.
Congratulations again to Elizabeth Thilmany on this accomplishment!
