The UofL Board of Trustees established the $5,000 award in 1989 to honor faculty who individually impact the future of UofL students. Trustee Vice Chair Raymond Burse presented the award to Running at the April 21 trustees meeting. In his presentation, Burse noted several of Running’s accomplishments and qualities as a member of UofL’s faculty.

“Dr. Running joined the university in 2010 as an assistant professor, and since then has been a leader in generating new opportunities for students to engage in co-curricular learning and undergraduate research,” said Burse. “He was instrumental in creating three new Registered Student Organizations: the Tri-Beta Biology Honors Society; the Cardinal Edge Undergraduate Research Journal, which recently published its first issue; and the SALUD multicultural pre-health organization.”

Burse added that Running’s mentoring of undergraduate students in research has been exceptional, having consistently supervised large numbers of undergraduates taking research courses; welcoming students as volunteers in his lab, allowing them to experience the research environment and gain the skills they need to engage in research for credit in future semesters; and his success in recruiting undergraduates who are members of underrepresented groups to work in his lab.

“Ever since I joined the biology department at UofL, my goal has been to leverage my position to make extensive, positive impacts in students’ lives,” said Running, who has mentored more than 100 different undergraduates in his lab, either as volunteers, course credit or work-study. “This has brought me some of the greatest satisfaction I’ve had in my career.”

Learn more about Running’s work at the University of Louisville and beyond on the .

Industrial hemp and marijuana are two different strains of the Cannabis sativa plant. Industrial hemp seeds and leaves contain very low levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive agent in Cannabis.

Industrial hemp is a highly renewable resource with applications for food, medicine, chemicals and energy. Stalks, seeds, flowers and oils all have potential uses with established markets.

“Hemp research for renewable energy technologies is highly useful for local and regional industry, even those not related to renewables,” said Mahendra Sunkara, director of Conn Center. “The theme of our biomass work is that we do not let anything go to waste.”

Conn Center scientists and engineers have harvested about 2,000 pounds of hemp and kenaf since the project began in anticipation of industrial hemp’s legalization in Kentucky. The UofL crop is one of eight at Kentucky colleges and universities grown as part of the state’s pilot program into field-scale industrial hemp, but the only one being used for energy research.

“Our students and faculty really enjoy working on this initiative,” said biology professor Mark Running, a faculty member of Conn Center contributing plant development expertise. “The opportunity to work on a timely challenge to improve our economy and society is exciting.”

“The growing plants have been embraced by students at UofL, who frequent the hemp patches next to the Eastern Parkway viaduct for selfies,” said Andrew Marsh, assistant director of the Conn Center. “We appreciate how passionately people support legalization and exploration of hemp as a renewable resource while also bumping up their Insta game.”

The Conn Center fosters the development of transformational concepts and accelerates transition from lab to pre-commercial scale. The center maintains unique, state-of-the-art facilities for advancing scalable manufacturing R&D of solar, energy storage, biofuels, value-added chemicals and energy efficiency solutions.