At its June meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected four graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2011 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students are all conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. The 2011 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to João Paulo Nascimento Martins, a Ph.D. candidate in animal science at the Michigan State University. His research project is “The effect of enhanced luteinizing hormone pulses during ovulatory follicle development on oocyte competency and subsequent pregnancy losses in dairy cattle.”
Other scholarship winners included:
• Daniel Garrido, a Ph.D. candidate in food science at the University of California – Davis, with his research project, “Molecular validation of the prebiotic properties of casein glycomacropeptides.”
• Amanda Sterrett, a master’s degree candidate in animal science at the University of Kentucky, with her research project, “Characterization of relationships between lying behavior, rumination behavior, and core body temperature using novel precision dairy farming techniques.”
• Laura Bradner, a master’s candidate in biochemistry at the Iowa State University, with her research project, “Optimization of methods for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk and colostrum of naturally infected dairy cows.”
The Scholarship Committee was impressed with the quality of applications and thanked all of the students who applied for the 2011 program. All eligible students are encouraged to apply next year. PD
—From NMPF News for Dairy Coops
