FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture horticulture professor and researcher was recently bestowed the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Margaret Worthington, associate professor of fruit breeding and genetics for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, received one of the highest honors given by the United States government this week following a nomination in association with a blackberry breeding project supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Worthington's award comes with $250,000 in additional grant funding that she intends to use in hiring a post-doctoral bioinformatics specialist to help in her research. The money will also come in handy, she said, to support her travels back and forth from Fayetteville to the Fruit Research Station in Clarksville. 

In addition to teaching courses in the horticulture department for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, she is the director of the Arkansas Fruit Breeding Program for the experiment station.

"It's very exciting to get it," Worthington said. "It's a nice honor, and I'm very thankful."

Worthington is among nearly 400 new PECASE Award honorees. According to the White House news release, the PECASE Award is "the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers." The awards are conferred annually at the White House following recommendations from participating federal agencies.

Worthington joined the experiment station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture, in 2016. She became director of the Fruit Breeding Program in 2023 and was among the international team of scientists that year to assemble the first complete sequence of the blackberry genome, 

She is currently also serving as co-director of the $7 million NIFA-grant-supported national effort called "Through the Grapevine: Developing Vitis x Muscadinia Wide Hybrids for Enhanced Disease Resistance and Quality."

"This PECASE Award demonstrates the national and international value and excellence provided by Dr. Margaret Worthington to fruit breeding, and we are thrilled for her to receive this," said Mary Savin, professor and head of the horticulture department. "The nomination and receipt of this award highlights Margaret's capabilities and contributions to horticultural science and research and reinforces that NIFA recognizes — and has recognized — her value to advance fruit science, production and sustainability."

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

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About the Division of Agriculture: The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system. The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.