Two standout individuals from Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources have been selected to receive prestigious 2020 Distinguished Staff Awards, officials announced today (Sept. 15). The honors will be presented in a virtual ceremony later this semester.

Philip Brown, a senior research associate and program manager of Texas Coalition for Sustainable Integrated Systems (TeCSIS) Research Program, was selected for a 2020 Chancellor's Award of Excellence, while Karissa Greathouse, CASNR's Distance Education Instructional Technologist, is set to receive a 2020 Masked Rider Award.

The award is the highest honor that a staff member can receive for his or her dedication to the Texas Tech community. Brown was nominated for this year's recognition by Chuck West, the Thornton Distinguished Chair with Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science.

As program manager of the TeCSIS Research Program, and Administrative Technical Coordinator for the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC), Brown encompasses a wide array of duties in research, producer demonstration, and outreach education. For the research program, he manages overall field, laboratory, office, and computer operations, as well as supervising forage personnel, and participates in graduate student training in forages and grazing systems.

In addition, his responsibilities include technical and administrative duties in interacting with producers, and industry partners for TAWC, a multidisciplinary education, and demonstration program focusing on water conservation and soil health. His bachelor's degree is from Tarleton State University and his master's degree in crop science is from Texas Tech University. Brown has served three consecutive Thornton Chair forage programs in the Department of Plant and Soil Science in his 30-plus year tenure as senior research associate.

Separately, the 2020 Masked Rider Award recognizes an individual who has three or more years of service with Texas Tech, and has contributed to the success of Texas Tech through his or her accomplishments at work and leads by example. Award recipients receive $500. Greathouse was nominated for this year's honor by Cindy Akers, CASNR's Associate Dean for Academic and Student Programs.

As CASNR's Distance Education Instructional Technologist, Greathouse helps CASNR faculty develop and redesign instructional materials and products using technology-based resources for online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses, as well as assisting the faculty in becoming proficient in and applying instructional technology. In addition, she works directly with CASNR faculty to evaluate CASNR distance education online courses, and has implemented a course review process to ensure quality, consistency, and accessibility compliance within CASNR.

With the Texas Tech move to Phase IV of the COVID-19 plan in March 2020, she worked closely with CASNR faculty who had not taught online and didn't have a lot of previous experience with online instructional technologies such as Collaborate Ultra, Mediasite, and Blackboard. "If there is a tiny silver lining in this situation, it is that many of our faculty members now have so much more confidence in their own personal abilities and skills to teach in an online or hybrid modality," she said. Since March, Greathouse has developed how-to guides as well as rounding up pertinent resources and information to email to our faculty almost daily.

CONTACT: William Brown, Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or william.f.brown@ttu.edu

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