The Department of Animal Science held their 2022 Graduate Student Awards Ceremony on May 6, 2022. Faculty, staff, and donors helped recognize the accomplishments of the department’s graduate students. Over the last 5 years, across the four majors the department has maintained 65-80 M.S. and Ph.D. students. These graduates are trained in varying aspects of basic and applied sciences with graduate degrees in four majors that include Animal Breeding and Genetics, Animal Physiology, Animal Science and Meat Science. Minors are also offered in Animal Breeding and Genetics and in Meat Science.
The 2022 Department of Animal Science Graduate Award for Outstanding Teaching was awarded to Brady Goetz. Goetz is originally from Stewartville, MN. Brady obtained his bachelor’s degree in Animal Science at Iowa State. After graduating, he stayed at ISU for his PhD. Brady’s research involves the role of immune activation in poor transition cow performance and dietary solutions to consider. Brady’s goal is to apply his scientific and research knowledge with farmers and nutritionists to support and sustain the dairy industry. While completing his graduate school, Brady taught in the following classes: ANS 319 – Animal Nutrition, ANS 320 – Animal Feeds & Feeding, ANS 434 – Dairy Systems Management, ANS 411 – Issues in Animal Science, and ANS 475F as the dairy challenge coach.
“Some of the things I tried to do while teaching was to ensure the students not only knew I was someone knowledgeable on the subject, but they had the opportunity to speak freely and ask questions. Additionally, with teaching Ans 320 two different times, I was able anticipate questions that were going to arise and try to explain them more thoroughly from the beginning,” Goetz said.
The 2022 Department of Animal Science Graduate Student Excellence Award was awarded to Krysten Fries-Craft. Fries-Craft completed her Master of Science with Dr. Bobeck in August of 2019 and continued on for her PhD with Dr. Bobeck. During her research Krysten has been driven to learn a variety of assays and has collaborated with the Schmitz-Esser lab to learn laboratory techniques related to analysis of the microbiota. Krysten has publications that encompass applied nutrition and examination of the immunological response to probiotic supplementation. Her work culminated in a top presentation award at Poultry Science annual meetings last summer in Canada. She has 6 peer-reviewed articles, 7 animal industry reports, and 14 abstracts to date.
“My career goal is to work in the poultry/animal industry and continue implementing the skills I learned at ISU to develop and research nutritional strategies to improve animal health and protect our flocks from disease- ideally working with an animal pharmaceutical company. I think animal health is critical for public health and want to work in a capacity where I can combine both fields,” said Fries-Craft.
The Iowa State University Graduate College Research Excellence Award is to recognize graduate students for outstanding research accomplishments as documented in their theses and dissertations. For 2021-2022, Elizabeth Messersmith, Megan Abeyta, and Handagala Janaka Wickramasinghe were all recognized with this award.
Similarly, the Iowa State University Graduate College Teaching Excellence Award is given to recognize and encourage outstanding teaching achievement by graduate students. Julie Opgenorth and Jaspreet Rishi were recognized for this award in 2021-2022.
The following scholarships were awarded to current graduate students in the Department of Animal Science:
Duane and Shirley Acker International Fellowship - to foster international experiences for graduate students
Sonia Rodríguez-Jiménez & Sophia Breuer
John Airy Endowed Graduate Scholarship - for significant research accomplishment related to beef cattle breeding and management
Dathan Smerchek
Arthur and Muriel Anderson Scholarship - for excellence in academic performance and interest in swine science
Jamie Studer
Charles H. and Inez M. Callahan Memorial Scholarship - for excellence in academic performance and outstanding leadership in extracurricular poultry activities
Krysten Fries-Craft
Lauren L. Christian Graduate Fellowship - for excellence in academic performance and outstanding leadership in extracurricular swine activities
Grace Moeller & Derek Henningsen
Dr. and Mrs. M.E. Ensminger Scholarship - for excellence in academic performance, character and leadership
Julie Opgenorth
Dr. Gene Freeman Animal Breeding and Genetics Graduate Student Travel Scholarship - for excellence in academic performance and an interest in working with dairy or beef cattle
Cori Cooper & Leonora James
William Riley Gillette Graduate Scholarship in Animal Science - in recognition of academic performance in the Department of Animal Science
Brady Goetz & Jamie Studer
Robert E. and Dorothy B. Rust Graduate Scholarship in Meat Science - in recognition of excellence in academic performance and demonstrated active interest in applied meat processing or allied industry
Sarah Bludau
Dorothy Rust, Robert Rust, and Sarah Bludau
Vaughn and Meg Speer Graduate Award - to provide graduate students in monogastric nutrition with a unique training/education experience
Kayla Miller
Kayla Miller and Vaughn Speer
Thomas Sutherland Graduate Award for Excellence - for excellence in academic performance and significant accomplishment in research relative to tenure in the graduate program
Brady Goetz
David and Jacqueline Topel Scholarship in Meat Science - for excellence in academic performance, leadership and involvement in campus activities, and promise of a career related to the meat industry
Logan Johnson
David Topel, Logan Johnson, Jacqueline Topel
Harold L. and Esther G. Wilcke Scholarship - For significant research related to the nutritional requirements of domestic animals or poultry
Julie Opgenorth
Esther and Richard Willham Graduate Scholarship in Animal Science - In recognition of out-of-the-ordinary creativity in graduate student education
Vishesh Bhatia
Iowa Poultry Association Scholarship, in Honor of Tom J. Zanios - For excellence in academic performance and interest in the poultry industry
Shulan Xiao
The graduate students have also been recognized with many other industry awards and scholarships this year as shown in the following list:
Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture (2022)
Jaspreet Rishi
Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture (2022)
Maria Estefania Gonzalez Alvarez
Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture (2021) & The Graduate and Professional Student Senate Research Award (2021)
Janaka Wickramasinghe
Caine-Bogle Family Graduate Fellowship (2022)
Brady Goetz
Iowa Farm Bureau Graduate Fellowship (2022)
Julie Opgenorth
Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture (2022)
Dathan Smerchek
Iowa Farm Bureau Graduate Fellowship (2022) & Iowa Pork Foundation Graduate Fellowship (2022)
Jamie Studer
ASAS Midwest Animal Science Young Scholar winner
Elizabeth Messersmith
First place in the Iowa Pork Congress Research Poster Contest (Sponsored by Cargill) and named one of Farm Journal's Pork, Up and Coming Leaders, November/December 2021
Blythe Schultz
3rd in Midwest ASAS Graduate Student Oral Competition
Dalton Humphrey
Targeting Excellence Scholar
Sarah Elefson
American Physiology Society's Cell and Molecular Physiology Section Research Recognition Award (2022 APS CAMPS Research Recognition Award).
Swathy Krishna
USDA NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship
Tori Rudolph
The full program from the award’s ceremony can be found here: https://www.ans.iastate.edu/files/page/files/2022_document_-_grad_awards_ceremony.pdf
The greatest accomplishments from the department’s graduate programs have been the training of graduate students that are highly sought after in animal science, academia, science related fields and allied industries. Other accomplishments include scholarly outputs of peer-reviewed original research, fact sheets, patents, webinars and popular press articles generated by these students. If you are interested in contributing to graduate student scholarships, please visit the Iowa State University Foundation website.