VA Tech Professor Says “He Wouldn’t Be Where He Is Today Without Jones College”

Posted 04/21/2022

VA Tech Students

Story by Raegan Barber, Jones College Alumni & Foundation Writer
raegan.barber@jcjc.edu
601-477-4199

 

 

Dr. Shawn Askew, a professor of over twenty years in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech, found his life’s passion and purpose at Jones College.

Doctor AskewDr. Askew claims that while he was growing up in the Mt. Olive and Collins areas, he was not the type of kid that anyone would have bet on becoming a college professor. “I was a problem child in grade school,” he says. “Teachers three grades away dreaded my imminent arrival to their classes.  I had an attention disorder and a general lack of motivation for academic life.  Every teacher would ask the class ‘who wants to go to college?’ I always made it a point to be the only person not to raise my hand.” His attitude toward higher education didn’t change until he met a high school agriculture teacher named Mr. Kennedy who sparked his interest in the subject. A year into the Jones experience as a part-time student at the time, he says that a newfound motivation started “coming from within” once he found a subject he was interested in. He took out loans, quit his job, committed to a full-time schedule at Jones, and started to develop a passion for academia. He says, “The more I learned, the hungrier for knowledge I became. That really has not changed to this day.”

Describing the first taste of freedom that Jones offered him as “frightening but liberating,” Dr. Askew reflects on the newfound responsibility he felt for his life, future, and schedule while at Jones. “But the folks at Jones steered me well,” he says, “and I was prepared when I left. More than I knew.” Four years after graduating from Jones, Dr. Askew had completed his B.S. in Agricultural Pest Management and M.S. in Weed Science at Mississippi State University. He started his Ph.D. studies at North Carolina State University in 1997 and received his doctoral degree in Crop Science in 2001. He is thankful to Jones, saying “it (Jones) was an affordable ‘gateway’ without which I never would have walked down the path that led me to this career I love at Virginia Tech.”

First hired as an assistant professor by Virginia Tech at the age of  27, Dr. Askew has now been employed by the university for over twenty years. He and his graduate students have conducted some exciting and groundbreaking research. “In many cases, I get to be the first person in the world to discover a solution related to my field of study,” he shares. “From using putting robots to measure the impact of weeds on golf ball putt trajectories to spraying weeds with agricultural spray drones. We trace the movements of herbicides throughout plants using radioactive molecules and use high-speed cameras to measure how rain droplets wash pesticides from leaf surfaces. Really, we just continually push the envelope to reduce pesticide load in the environment and choose products that more specifically target the pest and minimize harm to others.”

Dr. Askew’s research in weed control for turfgrass at Virginia Tech has generated over $4.9 million, he has authored and co-authored 79 peer-reviewed journal articles as well as over 600 abstracts and extension publications, and he has presented over 1,100 talks, lectures, and presentations on invitation. In 2011, he was recognized by the Weed Science Society of America as the Outstanding Early Career Weed Scientist. In 2012, he was recognized by the Southern Weed Science Society as the Outstanding Young Weed Scientist.

When asked what he enjoys about teaching, Dr. Askew’s reply was reminiscent of the experience he had when Mr. Kennedy introduced him to agricultural studies: “I love that moment when you actually connect with students on a topic. Their attention focuses. Their engagement increases.” Since his personal motivation always relates to the needs and gifts of others, Dr. Askew believes he found his purpose in shaping lives through education. His students have gone on to earn academic awards from scientific societies, become leaders of global teams within agrochemical companies, and find work internationally in places such as China, Korea, South America, and India. He shares that tracking students’ careers after they graduate is one of his favorite things about teaching. “They are all, every one, an extended part of my family,” he says. Dr. Askew describes his work as “rewarding,” but jokingly adds, “the most depressing part about being a professor, though, is that everyone around you stays the same age and you just get older and older.”

From “I would never go to college” to a career in higher education, Dr. Askew is proof that Jones is a place where lives can be changed, passion can be realized, and purpose can be found.

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Photo #1: Dr. Shawn Askew’s VA Tech employee photo
Credit: Virgnina Tech

Photo #2: Dr. Askew Presenting VA Tech students with weed mgt. strategies for Golf Courses and Sports fields.
Credit: Twitter, @VTturfweeds