: Alumni Newsletter - Spring 2017

The Department of Animal Sciences’ Joan Galbraith Jerauld was one of 12 Ohio State staff members honored with the Distinguished Staff Award. As the university’s most prestigious staff recognition, the award celebrates staff members who have made a significant impact at Ohio State.

Jerauld, an Office Associate, has been with the Department of Animal Sciences for 18 years. According to her nomination, “Jerauld’s support is essential for faculty and staff and she is known as a mentor to students throughout the department. With her problem-solving, student-first and above-and-beyond approaches, she has created an environment where students feel welcome and can succeed.”

Award recipients are nominated and carefully chosen by the selection committee based on the following contributions:

• Enhancing the quality of work life for colleagues or customers
• Providing outstanding and ongoing service to university stakeholders
• Developing creative solutions to increase department or university operations
• Consistent demonstration of one or more of the university’s values

At a luncheon held on Monday, May 1, at the Longaberger Alumni House, recipients were recognized and congratulated by Ohio State leaders, including President Michael V. Drake. Award recipients also received a $1,500 cash award, $700 base salary increase and a crystal trophy. This year’s winners will also be honored on the field at Ohio Stadium during the September 23 Ohio State football game.

Animal and dairy science lost a well-respected staff member, Grace Stephenson.

Lifelong Columbus resident Grace Alma (Fisher) Stephenson passed away on Saturday, April 15, at the age of 86 following a brief hospitalization.

A 1947 graduate of Central High School, Grace was an active member of Central's Alumni Association and a past president of the Columbus Council of the PTA (Parent Teacher Association).

She was retired from the dairy science department at The Ohio State University and a long-time member of the Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church.

Her obituary from The Columbus Dispatch can be found at Legacy.com.

The Department of Animal Sciences held its annual recognition event, the Evening of Excellence, at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on April 8, 2017. Bonnie Ayars led the Team Recognition program, with coaches and advisors introducing their teams, while Joe Ottobre lead the Awards of Excellence program.

The evening began with the Recognition of Teams. Representatives from each team spoke about the students who were a part of the teams during the 2016-2017 academic year. The list included: Academic Quadrathlon, Animal Welfare Judging, Dairy Challenge, Poultry Judging, Dairy Judging, Livestock Judging, and Meat Judging. In addition, several "anniversary" teams were honored, including 10-, 25-, and 50-year dairy, livestock, and meat judging teams.

Rounding out the night was the Awards of Excellence program. Highlights included scholarship, undergraduate research, and ASAS recognition. The Awards of Excellence began by honoring individuals that received recognition during the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences’ Celebration of Students.

The Department of Animal Sciences had four of the 21 Outstanding Seniors recognized during the CFAES event. The four recognized seniors were:

• Rachael Adams (Morgantown, WV)
• Clint Gasser (Creston, OH)
• John Rowe (Cincinnati, OH)
• Brittany Webb (Milford, DE)

The Department of Animal Sciences was also well represented amongst the Newcomb Scholars, which recognizes the top five students of each class based on GPA. The Department of Animal Sciences Newcomb Scholars included:

• Megan Whalin, Year Two (Stockport, OH)
• Aislinn Latham, Year Three (Thurmont, MD)
• Randi Shaw, Year Three (Liberty Twp, OH)
• Clint Gasser, Year Four (Creston, OH)
• Ellen Schwieterman, Year Four (Lewistown, OH)

Other College-level award recipients included:

• Ann Ottobre, Outstanding Academic Mentor Award
• Animal Science Community Alliance (ASCA), Outstanding Student Organization
• Mariette Benage, 2017 Honorary Sphinx Member

The Department of Animal Sciences also honored numerous students at the Departmental-level for winning scholarships, participation in the CFAES Undergraduate Research Forum, and academic recognition in the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS).

Individuals honored for Outstanding Student Awards were:

• Dr. G.R. Johnson Scholarship Award (Senior(s) with the Highest GPA)
  • Aislinn Latham (Thurmont, MD)
  • Hannah Walczyk (Superior, CO)
• Waldock Brothers Award (Outstanding Senior in Animal Science)
  • Rachael Adams (Morgantown, WV)
• L.E. Kunkle Award (Outstanding Graduate Student in Animal Science)
  • Stephanie Hutsko (Dublin, OH)

The final portion of the program was dedicated to individuals who have dedicated their careers to the improvement of animal and meat sciences. The Animal Science Hall of Fame induction ceremony honored Dr. Sue DeNise, while the Dairy Science Hall of Service induction ceremony honored Dr. Joseph Hogan and Andy and Itske Miedema.

A social followed the recognition of teams and included a buffet dinner, with meat dishes prepared by the Ohio State Meat Shoppe, and a live auction.

The Department of Animal Sciences' Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia, Assistant Professor, was honored by the Council of Graduate Students (CGS) with the 2017 James M. Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising. In 2002, upon the retirement of James M. Siddens (CGS faculty advisor for nearly twenty years) the Council created the James M. Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising to recognize those faculty who exemplify the best in graduate student advising at Ohio State. The only award of its kind on campus, this award is given annually each spring to one member of the graduate faculty.

Dr. Pairis-Garcia was nominated by a trio of her first graduate student advisees: Allison Pullin, Caitlyn Mullins, and Brady Campbell. All three graduated with a Master's degree during the Spring 2017 Commencement ceremony.

According to Mullins:

Dr. Pairis-Garcia has made it a point to support high-quality and extensive research projects both at Ohio State facilities and within large-scale commercial farms, where she allowed us to exercise some flexibility in designing and implementing our own studies. Furthermore, we have been able to travel internationally (Scotland and Denmark) and domestically (Ohio, Iowa, and Nebraska), to share our novel findings and gain critically important academic connections. She additionally invested significant time to provide individual mentorship related to careers, teaching, research, and working directly in the animal industries. She granted us professional development opportunities related to judging team coaching, speaking with animal producers, and animal welfare auditing. Finally, Dr. Pairis-Garcia is a friend to each of us and shows concern for our well-being. Her drive for excellence is contagious and has pushed each of us to achieve what we did not know was possible.

Dr. Joseph Hogan and Andy and Itske Miedema were inducted into the Dairy Science Hall of Service on April 8, 2017. The event took place during the Evening of Excellence recognition program hosted by the Department of Animal Sciences.

Dr. Joseph Hogan, 2017 Dairy Science Hall of Service Inductee

Dr. Hogan is a native of Jonesboro, Louisiana. He obtained his BS degree from Louisiana State University in 1981, his MS degree from the University of Kentucky in 1983, and his Ph.D. from the University of Vermont in 1986. Dr. Hogan became a post-doctoral researcher in 1986 with the Mastitis Laboratory at OARDC. In 1987, he was promoted to a Research Scientist in the Department of Dairy Science, OARDC. He became an Assistant Professor in 1992, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995, and Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences in 2001. In 2004, Dr. Hogan was appointed as the Associate Chair of the Department, a position he held until his retirement in 2016. In 2011, Dr. Hogan served as the Interim Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University.

Dr. Hogan has contributed in several significant ways to the American Dairy Science Association, the National Mastitis Council (NMC), and the International Dairy Federation (IDF). He chaired numerous committees and served as President of NMC during 2006. For IDF, he served on the Standing Committee on Animal Health from 2003 to present and the Mastitis Action Team from 2002 to present and was Chair of the Action Committee from 2003 to 2005.

Dr. Hogan maintained an internationally recognized research program in the area of mastitis control and production of quality milk in dairy herds. His research resulted in 119 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 book chapters, 87 scientific abstracts, 226 lay articles, 39 invited symposium presentations, and 239 invited seminar presentations. In 1994, Dr. Hogan was awarded the Distinguished Research Award as the Top Junior Scientist at OARDC and received the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), West-Agro Research Award. In 2014, he received the ADSA Elanco Award for Excellence in Dairy Science.

Dr. Hogan advised 13 graduate students, was a gifted teacher, and his classes were sought out by undergraduate students. The primary courses he taught were Animal Health and Milk Secretion. Teaching evaluations were always in the excellent category and he received the 1995 Teaching Excellence Award from CFAES and the 2011 Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award. The recognition provided as a recipient of the Dairy Science Hall of Service Award acknowledges Dr. Hogan’s contributions to the Department and University, the Ohio dairy industry, and dairy farmers globally.

Andy & Itske Miedema, 2017 Dairy Science Hall of Service Inductees

In 2002, Andy and Itske Miedema moved from the Netherlands to begin their family’s new dairy operation in Circleville, OH. Today, their farm consists of about 1300 cows. As stated by their veterinarian, “I came to respect their intellect, wit, progressive approach to the dairy business, and concern for their cows. The thing that I learned from Andy that made a lasting impression upon me, and helped me to become a better veterinarian and a better person, came from a statement that he often made after listening to one of my bright ideas: ‘Everything is possible.’”

The Miedemas are members of the Ohio Farm Bureau, and they were recognized in 2010 with the Ohio Dairy Producers Association’s (ODPA) Environmental Stewardship Award in association with the Ohio Livestock Coalition (OLC). Andy has served on the Board of Directors for the ODPA and represented the dairy industry on the Concentrated Animal Feeding Facility Advisory Committee with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Andy and Itske have been involved in the education of Ohio State students in many ways, including welcoming undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students to their farm. They have opened their farm for hosting the Ohio Dairy Challenge and in training students to participate in the National Dairy Challenge. All three of their children, Rixt, Sytske, and Jan, have degrees from Ohio State. Both Jan and Sytske have been members of Ohio State’s team at the National Dairy Challenge. Rixt was on OSU’s rowing team when they won the NCAA national championship in 2014.

The Miedema family has continuously welcomed Ohio State faculty and graduate students to conduct research at their farm. They always accept the requests for classes at Ohio State to be brought to the farm. They have also readily accepted the request to speak to classes on campus. Itske has devoted a considerable amount of her personal time to arranging visits for the OSU European Dairy Study Abroad.

Andy and Itske always display a positive attitude and have been devoted to their community, Ohio State, and the Ohio dairy industry. Induction into the Dairy Hall of Service is a fitting recognition for their support of the dairy industry, and the educational and research programs at Ohio State.

The Department of Animal Sciences has added a number of faculty and staff members.

The faculty and staff members listed below started in 2016 or 2017.

New faculty:

Daniel Clark, Assistant Research Professor, Meat Science

Hank LeVan, Lecturer and Livestock Evaluation Leader

Luis Moraes, Assistant Professor, Economic Optimization for Dairy Management

New staff:

Brent Hostettler, Herd Manager at the Krauss Dairy Center

Amber Robinson, Communications & Academic Program Manager

Did you know that CFAES has hired a counselor to support the needs of their students' mental health?  Dr. Wirt holds counseling sessions in Ag Admin Room 100 four days a week and is in Lincoln Tower on Wednesday. See the attached if you’re interested in making an appointment.

The Career Services page on the departmental site has been redeveloped to hopefully make it more user-friendly. Check out helpful resources for building a resume, writing cover letters and more. There are resume templates that can be used to create a resume in case you don’t know where to start. In addition, there is an option for students to submit their resume and/or cover letters for review, prior to applying for internships or going to the career expo. Check it out! https://ansci.osu.edu/undergraduate/career-services/building-resume