Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Thomas Marek, 806-677-5600, tmarek@tamu.edu
DETROIT – Thomas Marek is the 2018 recipient of the John Deere Gold Medal, recognized for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of lysimetry, evapotranspiration, irrigation system technologies and water resource management in agriculture.
Thomas Marek, Texas A&M AgriLife Research agricultural engineer in Amarillo, was honored with the ASABE John Deere Gold Medal. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)
Marek, Regents Fellow and senior research engineer with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Amarillo, received the honor from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, or ASABE. The organization states the Gold Medal award is among the highest honors bestowed on its members.
The award was presented at a luncheon ceremony held during the 2018 ASABE Annual International Meeting recently in Detroit. ASABE is an international scientific and educational organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food and biological systems.
“Thomas is well known internationally as an engineer’s engineer,” said Dr. Brent Auvermann, AgriLife Research center director in Amarillo. “The John Deere Gold Medal Award from our profession’s flagship association simply validates what Thomas’s co-workers have known for years. I could not be prouder to see his impact recognized in this way.”
According to the award nomination, Marek provides direction and leadership of the Center’s irrigation program, which includes developing, assessing and integrating new production technologies into research applications for irrigated agriculture.
He also provides engineering leadership for integrated multidisciplinary research and demonstration activities, the nomination states. Marek has a distinguished record of performance in developing and implementing new crop production systems and has integrated new and advanced technologies and tools for Texas High Plains irrigated producers.
“Thomas is a great representative for the AgriLife programs at Bushland and the Amarillo center, for the Texas A&M biological and agricultural engineering department, and for Texas High Plains agriculture,” said Dr. Dana Porter, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program leader and associate department head, Lubbock.
Marek earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M. He is a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the Texas Agricultural Irrigation Association.
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