He chaired the Public Affairs Committee of the American Society for Plant Biologists (ASPB) from 2006 to 2011. From 2009-2018 he was chair of the DOE, Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee. In 2008, he founded a not-for-profit corporation, Missouri Energy Initiative (MEI; www.moenergy.org), and served as its Acting Executive Director until 2011. In 2021, he cofounded the biotechnology company, Viosimos Agricuture LLC. He has received a variety of honors, including being named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. American Academy of Microbiology, American Society for Plant Biology, St. Louis Academy of Science and, most recently, National Academy of Inventors.