Brooks Blanche, a plant breeder and crop specialist with the LSU AgCenter, was presented with the 2011 Early Career Award by the National Association of Plant Breeders at their annual meeting in College Station, Texas, in May.

The award recognizes an individual active in the plant breeding field for seven years or less and who has shown exceptional accomplishments in research, teaching and collaborations, according to the organization.

Blanche has been on the LSU AgCenter faculty since 2005. He had worked as a rice breeder for several years until his resent appointment as a research agronomist at the Dean Lee Research and Extension Center in Alexandria. 

Blanche’s research responsibilities include corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and cotton. He also works in cotton breeding and maintains a corn breeding program with emphasis on reducing aflatoxin in corn, according to Ron Levy, interim director of the LSU AgCenter Central Region.

Blanche received his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University, his master’s degree from Mississippi State University and his doctorate from LSU.

While at LSU, Blanche was granted a fellowship in cotton breeding by Cotton Incorporated.