Janie McClurkin Moore is the recipient of ASABE's inaugural Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) award for her constant efforts and great accomplishments in inclusion, diversity, equity, and access.
Moore is an assistant professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department at Texas A&M University, where she leads the successful, externally funded, Post-Harvest Engineering and Education (PHEED) research program focused on post-harvest engineering needs of the food and agricultural industries. She conducts research in the inactivation of mycotoxins and fungal species with post-harvest treatment technologies, and characterization of reaction kinetics in depolymerizing lignin with high-voltage atmospheric cold plasma. She also develops innovative instruction strategies for biological and agricultural engineering and first-year engineering students.
The IDEA award seeks to recognize outstanding contributions by an individual or group to ASABE-related programs of education, research, extension, development, consultation, or technology transfer that have resulted in significant improvement within the parameters of inclusion, diversity, equity and access for under-represented groups and which have led the Society in fostering a welcoming and safe community for all members.
Throughout her career, Moore has led a number of efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in agricultural and biological engineering. She organized outreach effort to Prairie View A&M University’s National Society of Black Engineering, leading to additional students pursuing graduate degrees in engineering at Texas A&M University. She has mentored undergraduate summer researchers from underrepresented minority groups from North Carolina A&T State University and Prairie View A&M University. Moore pioneered the first ASABE networking group dedicated to black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). She has fostered an environment for the growth and interactions of BIPOC and their allies of all career types and stages, professionals and students. Moore organized an oral history talk during 2020 ASABE Annual International Meeting, interviewing Dr. Charles Magee and Dr. Godfrey Gayle, two of the first black PhD recipients in agricultural and biological engineering. An 11-year member of ASABE, Moore is a member and leader on a number of ASABE committees. She is chair of the Processing Systems Crop and Feed Processing and Storage committee. Moore is also the vice chair of NC-213, a project team of engineers, scientists and economists from leading US land grant universities and government research centers that conduct research to create and disseminate the technical knowledge needed to manage quality food safety and bio-security efficiently in world grain.
Throughout her career, Moore has received a number of awards. Most recently, she received the NC 213 Andersons Cereals and Oilseeds Early-in-Career award, and in 2020 was named a Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar. Moore also received an ASABE Presidential Citation for outstanding leadership and service in the formation of the ASABE BIPOC group.