In Albuquerque, New Mexico in February 2009, Dr. Jerry Stuth was presented posthumously with the highest award that is given by the national Society for Range Management, the Renner Award. There is perhaps no better way to acknowledge Jerry’s contribution to CNRIT, Texas A&M, his faculty peers and research and teaching associates than with the citation read during the presentation ceremony, as follows:

Dr. Stuth’s contributions to the range management profession are enormous.  First and foremost he was a highly respected educator and research scientist in that he 1) chaired the graduate committees of over 60 Masters and PhD students; 2) formally taught 2000+ undergraduate and graduate students in an array of rangeland management courses; 3) authored or co-authored 92 refereed journal articles, 24 books and book chapters, 90 proceedings, 27 agency publications, 11 software user’s guides, and developed and released 22 software programs; while 4) concurrently administering over $35,000,000 in grants.  More specifically, Dr. Stuth was recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the development and application of information technology for the management of rangeland ecosystems.  His many accomplishments were cutting edge and pioneering.  The following is a brief list of said accomplishments:

National Resource Planning System for USDA-NRCS:  Dr. Stuth’s leadership was key in the development of the first computerized resource planning system for grazinglands.  Subsequent refinement of the system resulted in the Grazingland Spatial Analysis Tool (GSAT) which was adopted and is used intensively as the official planning tool by USDA NRCS.  

Non-Invasive Nutritional Monitoring Systems for the Ranching Industry:  Dr. Stuth developed methodology whereby feces of free-ranging livestock can be scanned with a near infrared reflectance spectrophotometer to estimate diet quality. In concert with this technology, he developed the nutritional balance analyzer (NUTBAL) supporting software and the national grazingland animal nutrition lab (GANLAB).  

Livestock Early Warning Systems: Dr. Stuth developed the first livestock early warning system (LEWS) that delivers 90-day forecasts of impending shortfalls in forage production.  Technology was developed for East Africa but is now used extensively across an array of the world’s arid regions including portions of the U.S.

Forage Risk Assessment Management System: Dr. Stuth was leader of the team that developed FRAMS the first on-ranch forage management system that synthesizes weather, forage conditions, and grazing data to provide biological and economic feedback for adjusting stocking rates in a timely manner.  

Forage Loss Insurance for the Ranching Industry: Using an array of above mentioned technologies, Dr. Stuth conducted a large feasibility study for implementing a national forage loss insurance program for the ranching industry via the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA).  

Burning Risk Assessment System (Brass/Brass-G): Via funding from USDA RMA, Dr. Stuth participated in development of the first forest and grazing land real-time burning risk assessment system targeting private land owners.  

Department of Homeland Security National Center of Excellence for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense: Dr. Stuth was one of the core writing team members that competed for the Department of Homeland Security’s national center of excellence for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense which was ultimately awarded to Texas A&M University on October 1, 2004.  He ultimately was named science leader for Information, Modeling and Analysis for the Center wherein he led a team of 11 scientists from TAMU, UC-Davis, USC, University of Maryland and University of Wisconsin.

May God bless Jerry’s memory, his family, colleagues, and many friends.  Click here to read Jerry's memory book created by CNRIT at the time of his death.