Student Achievements

The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge contest was held from March 30th through April 1st in Twin Falls, Idaho. Teams from 27 universities participated in the evaluation of three dairy farms averaging about 3,000 cows each. The Penn State team, coached by Lisa Holden and Gabriella Varga, received a Platinum Award (first place) for the dairy they evaluated. The team consisted of Daryl Maulfair, Joel Krall, Rosie Zaginaylo, and Tim Crouse. Anthony Ling was the alternate member of the team. Many faculty helped in providing information to these students that added to their success. These included Chad Dechow, Dale Olver, Ron Kensinger, Michael O’Connor, and Rich Stup. In addition Ken Griswold and Mike Lormore also provided their expertise in farm evaluation.

2006 University Graduate Exhibition: Congratulations to Dana Pape-Zambito for receiving first place honors in the Health and Life Sciences division of the 2006 University Graduate Exhibition with her presentation titled "17B-estradiol concentration in raw and pasteurized/homogenized whole milk." More than 240 graduate students participated in this annual competition, which included performances, research and visual arts presentations.

Animal Science Undergraduate Students Who Exhibited in College Research Exposition

1st Place

Shannon Sullivan

Title: Use of Mammary Gland Development and Proteins in Mammary Secretion to Predict Foaling in the Mare

Adviser: Ron Kensinger

 

2nd Place

Lindsay Spangler (Crop and Soil Sciences, Block and Bridle member)

Title: Expression of fungicidal compounds in near-isogenic sorghum lines differing in seed and plant color

Adviser: Surinder Chopra

5th Place

 

Margaret White

Title: The effects of feeding FERMENTEN to high producing dairy cows on milk production, composition, and blood metabolites

Adviser: Gabriella Varga

Honorable Mention

 

Megan Brown

Title: Evaluating the trends in gestation periods found in mares at the Penn State horse farm

Advisers: Ed Jedrzejewski, Chad Dechow

Other undergraduates competing:

Jaime Brockett

Title: Do Horses Have a Learning Process with Discrimination Tasks?

Adviser: Nancy Diehl

Kelly Cunningham

Title: Rhodococcus equi in horses; Distribution and Virulence Factors

Advisers: Bhushan Jayarao, Nancy Diehl

Jared Daubert

Title: Nitrogen and dry matter digestibility of high and low forage diets in dairy heifers

Adviser: A. J. Heinrichs

Lauren Giebel

Title: Efficient helminth control: Who are the most infected individuals?

Adviser: Peter Hudson

Michael Harper

Title: Improving Texture and Oxidative Stability of Chiparoos

Adviser: Edward Mills

Andrea Young

Title: Potential mutations in the leptin receptor gene in butterball mice may result in obesity and diabetes

Adviser: Cynthia McKinney

Graduate Students

Honorable Mention - Jessica Wilson, Animal Science

Title: The role of olfaction in the horse’s ability to discrimination the phases of the estrous cycle

Advisers: Nancy Diehl, Ken Kephart, Michael Renner

Jonathon Campbell, Crop and Soil Sciences

Title: Chop Height, Plant Population and Hybrid Effects on Corn Forage Yield, Quality and Economic Returns

Advisers: Greg W. Roth, Gabriella A. Varga, Marvin Hall

Meghan Moody, Animal Science

Title: Rumen fermentation patterns of dairy heifers fed restricted amounts of high and low forage diets

Adviser: Jud Heinrichs

Olga Olcon, Poultry Science

Expression of Adiponectin, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 in the Chicken Ovary: Regulation by Ovarian Steriods

Ramesh Ramachandran