Sally Mackenzie Named AAAS Fellow for Work on Plant Mitochondrial Biology
Released on 03/01/2004, at 12:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Lincoln, Neb., March 1, 2004 -- University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Sally A. Mackenzie has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general federation of scientists and publisher of Science magazine.
Mackenzie is project leader for the plant science initiative at UNL, an interdisciplinary research and training program in the basic plant sciences. She is also Ralph and Alice Raikes professor of agronomy and agriculture and professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and at the Center for Biotechnology.
AAAS fellowships, named by the recipient's peers, were awarded to 348 members this year.
Fellowship winners are honored for their efforts to advance science or applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. Mackenzie was named in particular for distinguished contributions to the field of plant mitochondrial biology, with emphasis on mechanisms underlying mitochondrial genome stability.
Mitochondria are subcellular compartments that function in energy metabolism, cellular longevity, and aging functions of cells. In humans, about one person per 8,000 suffers from genetic disorders that originate in mitochondrial genes. In plants, mitochondrial mutations can give rise to a male sterility trait that is valuable agriculturally for hybrid seed production, and for enhancing reproductive capacity in wild plant populations as they evolve in nature.
Mackenzie was honored last month at the fellows forum during the AAAS annual meeting in Seattle.
CONTACT: Sally Mackenzie, Distinguished Professor, Agronomy and Horticulture, (402) 472-6998