James and Mary Ross Provost's Award for Excellence
William Wetzel
The recipient of the James and Mary Ross Provost’s Award for Excellence is Will Wetzel, an associate professor in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture. This award recognizes excellence in teaching and scholarship, with emphasis on first year, sophomore or core courses. Sponsored by James and Mary Ross and the Office of Academic Affairs, the award carries a $2,500 honorarium.
Wetzel teaches several large courses in the LRES department, including Principles of Living Systems, Roles of Plants in the Environment and the department’s senior capstone. His classes routinely receive exceptional evaluations from students.
“Dr. Wetzel embraces inquiry-based learning,” wrote College of Agriculture Dean Sreekala Bajwa in a letter supporting Wetzel’s nomination. “In ENSC 210 he designed an independent-study research project: students select a plant species and research question, carry out seeding, watering, data collection, statistical analysis and write a final report. Many students reported that this project was the reason they remained committed to the Environmental Science major.”
In addition to his commitment to outstanding instruction, Wetzel also maintains a vibrant research portfolio, including 48 peer-reviewed papers in top journals, such as Science and Nature, and has secured more than $2.3 million in external funding since 2020. He founded the Herbivory Variability Network, which comprises over 200 collaborators from more than 100 institutions. The network has collected more than 900 plant-insect interaction surveys across six continents, enabling global scientific analysis.
“Dr. Wetzel’s scholarly record is exceptional, particularly given his comparatively recent start in a tenure-track appointment,” wrote Bajwa. “His dedication to students, his innovation in teaching and his research leadership make him a truly distinguished candidate.”