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Department of Animal Sciences

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DNMC Dairy Summit Student Essay Contest

The DNMC Dairy Summit is an industry gathering of dairy producers and dairy industry professionals that meet annually for a weekend of fun and education. The 11th annual renewal of this event will be held August 1-4, 2019 in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Eldorado Hotel and Spa. DNMC is pleased to announce the 5th edition of the Dairy Summit Student Essay Contest. The winner of this contest will be awarded $750, travel costs to the meeting and participation in the recreational events. The student will be asked to present their winning essay to the conference attendees. The faculty member that assists with the winning student submission will also receive registration to the event, hotel accommodations, and travel costs. There will be two runners-up recognized at the meeting. These two individuals will receive a $200 cash award and will be required to send a poster of their winning essay. The poster should be formatted as if for a scientific meeting and submitted in the typical poster size. All essays accepted for submission will be included in a bound booklet to be provided to conference attendees. This compilation of essays will be a way for contestants to present themselves to as many as 20 western US dairy producers and 13 sponsoring companies for potential future employment opportunities. The objective of the essay is to clearly define a current problem or issue in the dairy industry. After the statement of the problem, the student should provide details of how he/she may address or solve the problem through educational or career plans. The essay is limited to a two-page maximum and should not be a resume or personal story. The submissions will be scored on a rubric that focuses on the clear statement of a problem/issue and how the student plans to generate potential solutions. Judges will be industry professionals who are familiar with emerging trends and topics. Writing skills and overall professionalism of the essay are included in the rubric. This contest is open to college juniors, seniors and master’s degree candidates. A student is defined as being enrolled in a university during the 2019 academic year. Student’s designated to graduate during the 2019 academic year will be considered. Please send only a PDF version of the essay. Be sure to include all contact information for the student in the PDF document, not just the email message used for delivery. Send all submissions and any questions to DairySummitEssay@gmail.com. Thank you for your interest and feel free to share this call for essays with other students or faculty who may be interested.

The submission deadline is May 20, 2019.