K-State’s Department of Animal Sciences hosts Undergraduate Research Forum
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State University students put their decision-making skills on display in preparation for their future careers during the recent Undergraduate Research Forum, hosted by the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry.
Department officials said the annual event highlights research by undergraduate students during the just-completed semester. The event was held at the university’s Stanley Stout Center, north of main campus.
“Undergraduate research is an opportunity to perform in-depth study, gain transferable skills, develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, define academic and professional interests, and form relationships with mentors, professors and other students,” said Cassie Jones, professor and program coordinator. “The program gives students the opportunity to work with ASI faculty and graduate students on a project that is rewarding and helps them prepare for their next goals.”
Jones added that understanding the value and constraints of research data helps students apply it appropriately when they begin their own careers. “An undergraduate research experience helps them understand how to value that data during the decision-making process and will help make them more successful animal scientists,” she said.
Seven students were awarded $1,000 scholarships based on a combination of their scientific abstract, poster and presentation of data. They are:
• Cassandra Black, Bellevue, Neb.
• Brigette King, Smithton, Ill.
• Jordan Vail, Westminster, Colo.
• Keaira Menard, Kinsley, Kan.
• Emma Pool, Caney, Kan.
• Ivan Bueso-Interiano, Kansas City, Kan.
• Laura Carpenter, Wamego, Kan.
Jones said this year’s symposium and the awards were sponsored by the Dr. Mark and Kim Young Undergraduate Research Fund in Animal Sciences and Industry.
Sixty-eight students participated in the Undergraduate Research Forum. Students presenting research, including their project and mentors (in parentheses), were:
• Marisa Avila – Effects of sorghum concentration on digestibility (Chuck Zumbaugh and Jones).
• Jill Broxterman – Characterization of model milk protein concentrates containing microparticulated whey proteins (Jayendra Amamcharla).
• Jasmin Choate – The impact of Synovex C implantation during suckling on pre-weaning growth performance of beef cattle (Payton Dahmer and Jones).
• Autumn Eggers – Investigating the prevalence of Anaplasma marginale in breeding cows and the impact of chronic anaplasmosis on packed red blood cell volume and pregnancy rates (Kathryn Reif).
• Elizabeth Fisher – The effects of grain sorghum inclusion on nutrient digestibility in Rambouillet lambs (Zumbaugh and Jones).
• Amanda Holmes – Development and scale-up of gluten-free lemon blueberry muffin (Kelly Getty and Kelly Whitehair).
• Audrey Marchek – Trends in feedlot performance and economics-focus on feedlots (Ken Odde).
• Tiffany Oberdorf – The effects of sorghum inclusion in lamb diets on apparent total tract digestibility (Zumbaugh and Jones).
• Trinity Pfaff – Effects of an in-feed yeast fermentation based-probiotic on the prevalence of Salmonella in lymph nodes of dairy cattle (David Renter).
• Samantha Rice – Antimicrobial activities of cannabinoids against bacterial pathogens that cause liver abscesses in feedlot cattle (T.G. Nagaraja).
• Oliver Schmitz – The effects of inoculants on nutritional composition, fermentation, and bacterial communities on freshly cut corn silage (Mike Brouk).
• Jordan Vail – Generation and characterization of polyclonal antibodies against Bovine Parainfluenza-3 Virus [Genotype C] (Tae Kim and Waithaka Mwangi).
In addition, Jones said students in a department meats class worked together to evaluate an antibody to extend meat shelf-life; students in a sheep class evaluated the addition of soybean meal to increase crude protein on lamb growth and nutrient digestibility; and students in a beef class studied Guanidinoacetic (GAA) supplementation to dairy calves.
More information on the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry undergraduate research program is available by contacting Jones at 785-532-5289 or [email protected].
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The Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry serves students, livestock producers and the animal and food industries through teaching, research and education. The K-State ASI department prepares students for careers in the animal and food industries. The curriculum includes the study of nutrition, reproduction, genetics, behavior, meat science and food science with production, management, and agribusiness skills. For more about the K-State’s ASI department visit asi.ksu.edu.
K State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Story by:
Angie Stump Denton
785-562-6197
[email protected]
