The University of Minnesota Crookston held a reception on Monday to honor Dr. Tony Schroeder the campus’s first recipient of the McKnight Land-Grant Award. Schroeder said that even though he’s the recipient, for him the award also represents all of the students involved in research at UMC on the diversity of freshwater sponges and the impact of environmental contaminants on animal development. “It’s a great thing for the University of Minnesota Crookston being able to represent what it is we do here as it relates to teaching, research, and being able to educate our students,” said Schroeder. “I’m really about receiving it but really what it means for the University of Minnesota Crookston and our students.”
Schroeder is just fourth of more than 240 recipients to be selected from outside the Twins Cities campus, the previous three were from Duluth and was selected as one of ten recipients from several hundred eligible faculty. Common recipients of the award are usually research faculty teaching just one class a year and also have the added benefit of graduate students. Schroeder teaches multiple classes and utilizes undergraduate students to conduct research. He has also had 19 peer-review scientific papers since 2015 and is the co-principal investigator on more than $600,000 in research grants.
Schroeder added that award is not just encompassing of what he has done at UMC, but of the people who have helped and supported him throughout his young career. “One of the things to recognize about the McKnight Honor is it’s about early career stuff,” said Schroeder. “So, it’s not just about what I’ve done at Crookston but it’s important to note that I’ve had so many wonderful people I’ve worked with who have supported me through my early career. Including here at Crookston, some wonderful faculty with whom I collaborate and work with who have really guided me to develop as a scientist and an educator. It’s a wonderful situation for me being able to receive but it’s really because of the opportunities I’ve had throughout and the people that have supported me. That’s what this is really about.”
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