According to a Department of Energy news release, the award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. McNear will receive the award in person from President Obama at the White House this fall.

McNear heads up the rhizosphere science laboratory in UK’s College of Agriculture. The lab is focused on exploring the processes that occur “where the root meets the soil,” or in the rhizosphere, a 1-2-millimeter zone of soil around a plant root. The deposits and chemicals released from the plant root can, in turn, be influenced by or have an influence on the surrounding environment.

According to the project proposal, which brought about the nomination and subsequent award, tall fescue covers more than 15 million hectares within the United States and is considered one of the most desirable forage species for grazing livestock. Because of animal toxicity issues associated with common toxic endophyte tall fescue varieties, novel endophyte infected tall fescue varieties are gaining popularity. McNear’s project is expected to generate basic knowledge on how an agriculturally important, widely occurring plant-fungal symbiosis impacts soil microbial communities, chemical properties, and nutrient cycling. McNear was subsequently awarded the grant and is in the first year of research on the project. UK forage researcher Rebecca McCulley, PhD, and microbiologist Noah Fierer, PhD, at the University of Colorado are co-investigators