By Hal Morris

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 24, 2024) — Kendall Foster, a University of Kentucky student employee in the UK Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, is the recipient of the 2024 Student Employee of the Year award from UK Human Resources.  

Foster, a senior majoring in agriculture, was one of 10 finalists chosen for the award. She is a research assistant in the department’s Agroecosystem Nutrient Cycling research group. The group conducts research to advance the productivity, profitability, and environmental performance of grain production systems in Kentucky and beyond. 

Foster is the only undergraduate student in her research group trained in inorganic nitrogen analysis. 

“She plans her time well and prepares laboratory supplies carefully to work as efficiently as possible,” said Hanna Poffenbarger, Foster’s nominating supervisor. “She follows detailed protocols carefully, never cutting corners, and always monitors quality controls to ensure that our research results are reliable. She is also adaptive to the unpredictable nature of field research.” 

Foster said she is honored and credits Poffenbarger for her success as a research assistant. 

“I am very blessed to be recognized as UK’s Student Employee of the Year,” Foster said. “I am thankful for the research team I work with and especially for my supervisor who has helped me so much to learn and grow.”  

Poffenbarger said Foster’s outstanding work quality was particularly evident in her internship project. In the summer of 2023, Foster collected data on the decomposition and nitrogen release of grass and legume sole cover crops and grass/legume mixtures for the corn growing season. Her supervisor said her analysis went beyond her expectations. 

“I love how this job has reinforced the topics I have learned in my classes, contributing to greater understanding of foundational knowledge,” Foster said. “I highly recommend for any student pursuing a STEM major to get involved in a research group related to their interests and career goals.” 

Foster received the award during UK HR Student Employment’s Student Employee Appreciation Week. Hundreds of UK student employees turned out to events throughout the week.  

“We are in our third year of celebrating Student Employee Appreciation Week, and it is amazing to see the growth and enthusiasm surrounding this event. We recognize that our student employees are an essential part of our team and contribute,” said Ben Ward, employee consultant for HR Student Employment. “As we continue to celebrate this event each year, we hope to expand its reach and show our appreciation for all the hard work and dedication that our student employees put into their roles.” 

UK Human Resources congratulates the 2024 finalists:  

Douglas Waddell, Young Library Circulation 

Nominated by Matthew Gilley and Anna LaMure  

“Douglas exceeds our department expectations and demonstrated exceptional performance in our moving/shifting project by not only doing a large amount of the physical labor involved but created a document that formulated a way to track this information. I am impressed by not only his labor but work ethic,” Gilley said. 

“I have seen Douglas take more initiative to help with projects. He has a thorough understanding of what the circulation department needs to function at its best,” LaMure said.  

Joshua Nelson, Pigman College of Engineering 

Nominated by Jeffrey Seay 

“He is a dedicated worker and has been essential in moving our project forward. Josh has exceeded my expectations regarding leadership. Josh has always approached his work with an eye for doing the best job possible. Josh is a creative outside-the-box thinker and is constantly coming up with new ideas to improve our processes, while understanding that our work is intended to benefit communities in developing countries. Josh has been a leader when we conduct summer research abroad trips to implement the work,” Seay said. 

Katelyn Fortney, Agricultural Economics 

Nominated by Nicole Atherton 

“Katie has demonstrated exceptional skills in project management, creative problem-solving, and generating innovative ideas. Her efforts have strengthened our department's relationships with numerous alumni and students, engaging them with opportunities such as guest speaking, providing feedback on industry practices, advising students on career opportunities, and helping to expand relationships with partners and organizations. Katie’s work is also used by county ag agents across the state to promote resources and education to stakeholders and Kentuckians at large,” Atherton said. 

Sophie Arnold, Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement 

Nominated by Emma White 

“She not only raised significant funds for the university but also effectively managed a team of student employees, fostering a positive work environment and facilitating increased donor engagement. Sophie's dedication to the Phonathon program directly aligns with the university's core values of integrity, social responsibility and community engagement. She consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic, initiative and a passion for serving the university community,” White said.  

Jack Graba, Natural Resources and Environmental Science 

Nominated by Mike Darrington 

“Jack has always worked with integrity and excellence. After only being in the lab for six months, I was able to leave him in charge of the colonies while I went to a conference for a week. To put this in perspective, if he failed to maintain the colonies, my postdoctoral project would have been finished. He has done everything in his power to help his lab mates, offering to help outside of his own work. Jack has exceeded my expectations,” Darrington said.   

Brenna Swan, Transformative Learning 

Nominated by Christie Maier 

“Brenna has served as a leader among her peers to not only the tutors she supervises but also the other members of the SPC team. Brenna has taken on the unofficial role of mentor and is often the first person her team comes to with a question or challenging situation. She is a sounding board, voice of reason, and coach for her team in addition to her regular job responsibilities. Brenna has also demonstrated superior work ethic and commitment to our values through her work with the peer tutoring program’s re-certification process,” Maier said. 

Diamond Moody, Residence Life 

Nominated by Christopher Oliphant 

“Diamond's contributions include creating inclusive and inspiring in-hall displays. They have formed impactful relationships with residents and have followed up on anything that she can help with. They follow the university's core purposes with their commitment to inclusion and positivity. They have exceeded expectations with professionalism, compassion, work ethic, initiative and commitment to making Roselle a better place to live,” Oliphant said.  

Colby Lee Gore, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 

Nominated by John Maddox 

“It is exceedingly rare for faculty to seek advice from a student, but that is a common occurrence with Colby. Beyond being an excellent machinist, he has also contributed to the educational mission of our program. He developed educational materials I am including in my EGR 103 course this semester. His contributions have far exceeded the expectations for a student worker, and we have been fortunate to have a student worker of such caliber, reliability, and technical ability in our program,” Maddox said.  

Gail Wallace, Landscape Architecture 

Nominated by Lauren Cagle 

“Gail’s leadership is especially evident through her creation of the Kentucky Climate Student Art Competition. The Student Art Competition was Gail’s idea, and she exceeded my expectations as an intern by envisioning and pitching such an ambitious project with the potential to impact college students across Kentucky. Gail has taken the lead in several ways, including quickly taking ownership of and re-designing the organization's biweekly newsletter, actively recruiting new members, and participating as a peer in KYCC leadership meetings attended by faculty and graduate students,” Cagle said.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.