At the Herbert College of Agriculture, faculty and staff alike strive to put students in the best place they can be to succeed. One example of recent success is in the Department of Animal Science where a group of students in the UT Dairy Club garnered several awards from the American Dairy Science Association at its annual meeting.
The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), founded in 1906, seeks to advance the dairy industry and raise awareness of how dairy science plays a critical role today in sustaining the world’s population. One of the ways ADSA fulfills that mission is through hosting an annual meeting for the dairy industry. There students from across the country gather to learn and to compete for awards in an assortment of categories, such as poster and oral presentations. Students from the Department of Animal Science attended the meeting as members of the Student Affiliate Division of ADSA. This division is a parent organization that works to encourage student interest in the dairy industry through leadership development and scholarship promotion. With nearly 300 undergraduate student members in this division, stiff competition is to be expected at the annual meeting.
Herbert’s animal science students brought home multiple awards, representing the College well at the national level. Taylor Van Hout, a junior from Knoxville, Tennessee, placed second in the dairy foods oral presentation competition, and Loren Foley, a junior from Waynesville, Ohio, placed third in the dairy production oral presentation competition. The UT Dairy Club as a whole won second place in the dairy club scrapbook competition.
In addition to these awards, Jayme Ozburn, a junior from Lewisburg, Tennessee, was named student affiliate division second vice president. Abby McCalmon, a recent UT alumna and incoming graduate student from Jackson, Tennessee, presented in the original research oral presentation competition.
The advisor for the UT Dairy Club is Liz Eckelkamp, who is an assistant professor and UT Extension dairy specialist. “I am extremely proud of the undergraduate students,” says Eckelkamp. Eckelkamp brought home an honor of her own from the meeting, being named the student affiliate division third year advisor, an important leadership role within ADSA.
These students embody the mission of Herbert, and their success speaks to the tenacity of all students in the College. To learn more about the Department of Animal Science, visit its website.
