Honors Go to Department Graduate Students

Marcelo Bertolini, Ph.D. candidate in the Physiology Graduate Group and student of department chair Gary Anderson, was given the award for the Best Graduate Student Paper at the 72^nd annual meeting of the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science in Davis in June. The title of his paper was “Appearance of giant cotyledons in the Large Offspring Syndrome.” Marcelo earned Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Science degrees in Brazil prior to coming to Davis to begin his doctoral work in 1995. 

Monna Hess, Ph.D. candidate in the Physiology Graduate Group, was one of four graduate students on campus to be awarded a Chancellor's Teaching Fellowship for the 2000-2001 academic year. She will work with her mentor, Professor Jan Roser, in revising the content of Animal Science 15, Introductory Horse Husbandry, and developing a course web site. In addition, she will deliver approximately half of the lectures during winter quarter. Monna will be given a half-time position to support these teaching activities. 

Professor Kirk Klasing congratulates Elizabeth Koulsos on receiving the Best Graduate Student Research Presentations Award in the Immunology Section of the Poultry Science Association Meeting

Elizabeth Koutsos, Ph.D. candidate in the Nutrition Graduate Group, was awarded a certificate for the Best Graduate Student Research Presentation Award in the Immunology Section at the Poultry Science Association Meeting in Montreal in late August. Her presentation was based on her Master of Science (Nutrition) dissertation, “The effect of intra-abdominal injections of lipopolysaccharide or muramyl dipeptide on the acute phase response in Japanese quail.” Elizabeth's major professor is Kirk Klasing.

• Bridid McCrea was honored by being one of four winners of the Carpenter Youth Program Essay Contest sponsored by the USA Branch of the World Poultry Science Association. Her essay entitled “Reciprocal relationship of poultry science departments and the poultry industry” won a $1,000 travel grant for Brigid to attend the Poultry Science Association Meeting and World Poultry Congress in Montreal in August. The department also contributed some funds for the trip. In addition, she was chosen to participate in a tour of poultry facilities in Ontario and Quebec. Brigid is working on a Master of Science degree in Avian Sciences under the tutelage of Dr. Joan Jeffrey, Extension Veterinarian. She is conducting a study on pre-harvest food safety issues related to the niche marketing of poultry products.

• The 1999-2000 Kinsella Award for the best Ph.D. dissertation in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences went to Stephanie Oppenheim. Her dissertation, “The hematopoietic chimera: A model to study sheep-goat interspecies and hybrid pregnancy failure,” demonstrated that the failure of sheep-goat interspecies and hybrid pregnancies was not due to maternal humoral immune rejection. The award included a $2,000 gift and a plaque. Stefanie, majoring in physiology, was a graduate student of department chair Gary Anderson. She has just completed a two-year post-doctoral appointment in the Large Animal Transgenic Project, directed by Drs. Anderson and Jim Murray.

• Victoria Erikson was honored with the first UC Davis Foundation Graduate Fellowship for her Master of Science thesis project entitled “Evaluating the effectiveness of vegetative buffers for attenuating sediment, nutrients and pathogens in runoff from irrigated foothill pastures.” Policies are currently being developed to protect waterways from sediment and nutrients that may be transported in irrigation or rainwater. Vicky's project focuses on evaluation of different sized buffer strips compared to the area up-slope. Results will provide needed data that may assist ranchers in developing management practices to protect surface waters. Her mentor is Deanne Meyer, Animal Waste Management Extension Specialist.

• Jennifer Williams, Animal Science master's student, was the first recipient of the department-administered Jessup Graduate Fellowship. Her thesis research concerns the relationship between the sexual libido and performance of Hereford and Angus beef bulls and the frequency of mating with individual cows housed in groups during estrus. Jennifer received a summer stipend to conduct her research. Her major professor is Professor Ed Price.