BRIEFS ROUNDUP
Dr. Joel Caton has been selected as the recipient of the Dale Hogoboom Presidential Professorship Award. This award goes to a faculty member who has attained a balanced academic record demonstrating excellence in teaching, research and service.
Todd Molden, dairy barn manager, received the NDSU Innovation in Teaching Award during fall semester. Todd teaches dairy cattle evaluation courses.
Mikayla Faust, ag research technician, bestowed the traveling Spirit, Pep and Motivation Award on administrative secretary Darla White in December. In March, Darla awarded it to Yssi Entzi, nutrition lab manager, for the ways she encourages undergraduates and enriches her co-workers.
Adriana Behl was selected for the Midwest Poultry Consortium’s Center of Excellence Program. COE offers a variety of courses educating students about poultry science, lab methods and industry. Adriana is a sophomore from Spicer, Minn., majoring in animal science and pre-veterinary medicine.
Gerry Erickson, a retired longtime staff member of the department, was honored at the NDSU Day of Honor memorial service on Feb. 11. The ceremony commemorated the lives of NDSU students, staff and faculty who died in 2024.
Graduate student Omowumi Olatinwo received a fellowship to attend the International Livestock Congress in Houston in March. The ILC brings leaders from the livestock and meat industries together to discuss issues of international importance that affect the future of animal agriculture.
An article written by professors and graduate students associated with the department has been published in Frontiers in Genetics. It is titled “Multi-Trait Phenotypic Modeling Through Factor Analysis and Bayesian Network Learning to Develop Latent Reproductive, Body Conformational, and Carcass-Associated Traits in Admixed Beef Heifers,” and the authors are Muhammad Anas, Bin Zhao, Haipeng Yu, Carl Dahlen, Kendall Swanson, Kris Ringwall and Lauren Hulsman Hanna.
For three years, Ph.D. student Kiersten Gundersen has been working with high school student Aiden Meyer from Flasher, N.D., to submit meat-science-focused projects to the North Dakota Science and Engineering Fair. This year Aiden was selected to serve as an alternate at the March 30-April 1 state contest. His project, “Seal the Deal,” evaluated various packaging types on shelf-life stability in beef, pork and chicken retail cuts.
The Bison Strides program and its director, Dr. Erika Berg, were featured in the recently published North Dakota State University Foundation magazine. Beloved quarter horse Cutter also shared the spotlight with numerous mentions and photos.
Two students and one staff member from the department were nominated for NDSU’s Gunkelman Award this year. The students are Talea Furcht in the vet tech program and graduate student Chuti Kanjanaruch. Ag research tech Ron Johnson is the staff nominee. The Gunkelman Award recognizes the person who has made the most significant contribution to creating a happy campus environment.
Samantha Ellison and Kelsey Hooker were recognized as two of the top-10 seniors in the College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources this year. Samantha and Kelsey are both animal science majors.
Grad student Katrina Kratzke earned second place in the Gamma Sigma Delta poster awards during NDSU Student Research Days in April. Her project was titled “Short Term Impacts of Grazing Cover Crops on Profitability and Soil Health.”
Dr. Lauren Hanna has been awarded the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Teaching Award of Merit. She was recognized for her excellence in teaching at the CAFSNR Annual Faculty Meeting.
