Guayule researcher honored
The Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops (AAIC), an international, nonprofit educational and scientific organization, held its 20th annual conference this month on September 7-11 in College Station, Texas.
During the closing banquet and awards ceremony, Katrina Cornish, PhD, Senior Vice President, Research & Development at Yulex Corporation was honored with the AAIC’s 2008 Outstanding Researcher Award. Dr. Cornish is the world’s leading scientific expert on guayule and its natural rubber and resins.
Nine presentations were made on topics related to Natural Rubber and Resins during the conference, including presentations by Dr. Cornish recapping research into the effects of temperature on guayule tissue prior to rubber and resin extraction.
Dr. Cornish has over 120 patents and publications (not including abstracts), of which more than 95 are related to rubber biosynthesis and production. Amongst her numerous awards, her guayule latex development was recognized by CONNECT and received the 2005 Most Innovative New Product Award presented to Yulex for Yulex™ latex in the Life Sciences – Medical Devices & Diagnostics category. In 2004, Dr. Cornish received the Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government in recognition of her inspired leadership and proving that good government can change our lives. In 2002, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and won a presidential award from the American Chemical Society. She was also honored with the USDA’s Scientist of the Year Award for Outstanding Senior Research Scientist in 1998.
