LOOK FOR US IN THE AUBIE CALENDAR!
You can purchase an Aubie Calendar at the Auburn Bookstore or online. Photo by Melissa Humble.
Just Hatched
D E PA R T M E N T O F P O U LT R Y S C I E N C E | A U B U R N U N I V E R S I T Y | FA L L 2 0 1 6 N E W S L E T T E R | V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 2
B E LIE V IN G I S S E E IN G Dear Alumni and Friends, As I reflect on 2016, I am amazed at the accomplishments we as a Department made in the last 12 months. I believe 2016 will go down as an important year for us as we continue to move ahead to position our Department to be the best it can be. Many of pieces that go into our vision of being a premier poultry and food program are now coming to fruition. Of particular note, on November 4, 2016 we dedicated the Charles C. Miller, Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, which eventually will replace our existing poultry farm. It was a great time for us as the Auburn Family to celebrate and continue to look to the future. The existing, newly-opened, and future facilities that will comprise the complete Miller Center will provide the environment in which our students, faculty and staff can thrive and make a difference in serving our poultry and food industries. Our student enrollment is strong… 83 this fall! Of course the job market remains extremely good for our graduates. In Spring 2016, we placed students with a number of companies, including Cobb-Vantress, CSM Bakery, National Sanitation Foundation International, Peco Foods, Tyson Foods and Ventura Foods. Our number of graduates continues to lag behind the job demand, so we continue to aggressively recruit. We now have formal “2+2” arrangements with three
community colleges in the state, and there are a total of 24 students enrolled. As I mentioned in the Spring newsletter, we have revamped our Poultry Production curriculum to better prepare our students as future leaders, problem-solvers and entrepreneurs. Our Department is also committed to expanding use of ePortfolio, a new tool to enhance our students’ learning experiences, professional growth, and visibility with potential employers. Our goal of course is that Auburn graduates will be the employees of choice among our industry stakeholders! Over the past two years, we have welcomed six new faculty members to the Department. I am very pleased with the commitment and enthusiasm these folks bring to our program. Their teaching, research and extension efforts are becoming “well-rooted” and beginning to “bear fruit.” More importantly, these faculty members are applying their expertise to address critical needs in the poultry and food industry. More specifically, we are focusing our programs in the key areas of efficiency & sustainability, food quality, food safety, and poultry health. We are exceedingly well positioned to develop the new knowledge and technology to serve our stakeholders well into the future. The old saying goes “seeing is believing,” but I think “believing is seeing” is more appropriate. Our accomplishments have
CHARLES “BUDDY ” MILLER III SPE AKS AT THE NOV. 4 DEDIC ATION
been borne from our belief in our mission to serve the needs of our stakeholders and a strong belief in being the best. Belief plus commitment is now allowing us to start to see new facilities, new programs, more students, and more support. So on behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Poultry Science, I sincerely thank you for your belief and support. In closing, my wife Kim and I wish you a very wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and a 2017 full of blessings for you and your family. WAR EAGLE!
Don E. Conner Department Head & Professor
TR ANSFE R S TUDENT S FIND SUCCE SS AT AUBURN
FOOD SCIENCE STUDENT, Mary Jo Toohey speaks at the 2016 Scholarship recognition program.
ENROLLMENT & SUPPORT In November 2016 our department received $21,481.00 from the US Poultry & Egg Association Harold E. Ford Foundation, which was used in direct support of our recruiting efforts and events. Our department is once again experiencing a record high enrollment for Fall 2016 – with 30 new incoming students. We know that the support from the Ford Foundation is enabling us to engage students around the state and educate them on the opportunities available in the poultry and food industries. As we enter the fifth year of implementing 2+2 programs in the state, we have expanded to three community colleges: Wallace State Hanceville, Gadsden State Cherokee, and Wallace Dothan. These locations allow us to reach diverse student populations and serve many areas of the state. We look forward to developing relationships with more key community colleges in Alabama.
The 2+2 Program through the Department of Poultry Science at Auburn University partners with community colleges across the state of Alabama to provide a pathway to Auburn for students enrolled in community colleges. The program is in its third year at Wallace State Community College Hanceville and its first year at Wallace State Dothan and Gadsden State, Cherokee. Over the past 3 years, over 30 students have enrolled and learned more about the opportunities available through a poultry science degree. The Intro to Poultry Science course (AGP 130/POUL 1000) is taught by Wallace Berry, Auburn University poultry science professor, and the lab is facilitated separately on each campus. Student support and on-campus events are provided through Student Services Coordinator, Codi Plaster. In years past, participants in the program have also been invited to attend the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, Georgia as part of a Transfer Student Program where transfer students are guided through the expo and visit with students and faculty in the department. In some cases, finical aid is a barrier to pursuing a degree in poultry science for transfer students. To address this, our department has transfer student scholarships that help make their Auburn education a real possibility. “Generally speaking, about 80% of students who applied for the 2016-17 school
year were awarded department scholarships,” Plaster shares, “but 100% of the transfer students who applied this year were offered scholarships.” 2+2 programs allow our department to lay a foundation for a relationship with students before they come to campus. “As students enroll in a Poultry Science course, participate in campus visits or events at the college level, they have a direct line of communication within our department,” Plaster says. “Our goal is for students to feel so comfortable with our department that the transition from community college to Auburn is a smooth one.” The three community college campuses enrolled in the 2+2 partnership are located in parts of Alabama where the poultry industry is integral to the economy. The long-term vision for this partnership is to improve job force development and general education and awareness of the industry, as well as its importance to our state. As recruiting efforts continue at the community college level, the numbers of transfer students who choose to enroll in the 2+2 program rises each year. Our department is proud to partner with these community colleges, and is committed to providing excellent educational opportunities and a smooth transition to Auburn for students enrolled in the program.
Student ePortfolios
Work & Play
BY THE NUMBERS
60
of those ePortfolios are poultry and food science students.
OUR FA LL BBQ WA S A NOTHER G RE AT SUCCES S , AND THIS FA LL , THE COLLEG E OF AG RICULT URE HOS TED BIRDS & BRE WS - A SCHOL A RSHIP FUNDR A ISING E V ENT TH AT SUPP ORT S OUR DEPA RTMENT.
Student ePortfolios were created in our department this academic year.
35
that’s because this year
3
Faculty committed to integrate the ePortfolio project into their classes.
They’re teaching classes in poultry production, products & processing and introduction to food science.
1 $500 We also have
student worker who evaluates & assists with ePortfolios
made possible by a $500 grant.
Like our Facebook page for more photos: facebook.com/auburnpoultryscience
AUBURN HOSTS FSPCA COURSE
THE CHARLES C. MILLER J R P O U LT R Y R E S E A R C H A N D E D U C AT I O N C E N T E R D E D I C AT E D Thanks to a $2.5 million gift from Buddy Miller and his wife Pinney Allen, we have been able to establish a new poultry “farm,” which has been named for Buddy’s father, Charles C. Miller, Jr. This gracious gift allowed us to leverage another $2.5+ million from other generous donors. With these collective funds, we have constructed three new buildings to support the Department of Poultry Science and the National Poultry Technology Center: 1. Poultry nutrition research facility 2. Poultry management research facility 3. Poultry housing-equipment testing and modeling facility With recent completion of these three buildings, we dedicated the Charles C. Miller, Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center on November 4, 2016. Truly a monumental day for us! These new buildings complement the existing Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center that opened in late 2012. In 2017, we will construct the Center’s Administrative Building, an 8,000 sf facility that will serve as the gateway to the new Center, offer a 1,700 sf education-training room, and provide a home for educational and historic displays,
including the Alabama Poultry Hall of Fame. Fundraising is ongoing to construct additional facilities to complete buildout of the full Miller Center. Future buildings will include: pilot processing plant, hatchery, additional live-bird research houses, broiler-breeder house, BSL2 necropsy lab, and aviary facility. These facilities will be constructed at the speed in which funds are secured. The Department of Poultry Science and the NPTC are extremely grateful to all of our donors for their support, encouragement and belief in what we are doing to better the industry in Alabama and beyond.
In August 2016, over 50 participants came together for the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance’s Preventive Controls for Animal Food course, hosted by the Department of Poultry Science in conjunction with the American Feed Industry Association. “Our hopes are that Auburn University can become a pillar of knowledge and training for the animal food industry,” says Charles Starkey, professor in the poultry science department at Auburn, “Trainings such as this one help Auburn shine in its abilities and service to the industry.” Participants in the course were able to obtain information necessary to assist them in strengthening their businesses’ compliance with the new FDA regulations. They met face-toface with individuals from Auburn University and the American Feed Industry Association that can give them ongoing support regarding these new regulations. “By applying this knowledge, the industry will move even further forward in its goal to provide safe animal foods to both the industry and consumer as well as aiding in producing safer foods from animals raised for meat and poultry products,” Starkey says. This training is the first of many to be held at Auburn focused on safer and more efficient productions of animal feeds. It provided resources to the poultry, livestock, and feed industries. “Trainings like these contribute to making the entire food chain safer and healthier for all,” Starkey says.
EXCHANGE PROGR A M WELCOMES HONDUR AN STUDENT S Honduran Graduate Students and Interns pursue research at Auburn University. Auburn University’s Department of Poultry Science is partnered with the Panamerican Agriculture University, Zamorano in Honduras. This partnership provides opportunities for Honduran students to intern and complete graduate degrees through Auburn. Student interns spend 15 weeks in Auburn, Alabama contributing to various research endeavors in the department while working on their research thesis in completion of their programs at Zamorano. While they do not usually participate in courses at Auburn, they are required by their university to complete 660 hours of research while here. Upon returning to Zamorano, interns are expected to defend their research projects. Graduate students from Zamorano have the same requirements as any other graduate student in the department. That means, they take at least 9 course credit hours each semester, conduct research and construct and defend a thesis project here in Auburn. The exchange program provides a special challenge for Latin American students and interns. Students have found both personal and professional growth in the program, which they can take back to their home country to contribute to their local and national industries. Juan Carlos Aranibar, of Cochabamba, Bolivia, says “This internship going to increase my knowledge about production, processing and feeding broilers; knowledge that I’m going take back to my country and help develop this area.”
IPPE
2017
WE’LL BE AT IPPE 2017 IN ATLANTA, GA JAN. 31 - FEB. 2, 2017. VISIT US AT BOOTH B7 ON THE BREEZEWAY!
poul.auburn.edu
“Being away from home gives us new opportunities mature and has taught me how to depend on myself,” he adds. Another student, Ada Madrid of Honduras, chose Auburn for the national recognition of excellence in its degree programs. She is pursuing research in Food Safety & Microbiology as it pertains to poultry. “I chose Auburn for its nationally recognized programs in production, and I’m excited to attend in the Spring, because I know this internship is a valuable professional experience,” she says. “Auburn gives me the opportunity to use new technology and address real problems that help shape me as a proficient professional, and completing this internship opens doors for me to study other branches of food science,” she adds. “In addition to the benefits for Honduran students,” comments Dr. Wilmer Pacheco, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist with the Department of Poultry Science, “the cultural exchange for Auburn students is also important. We’re evaluating the possibility of conducting a study abroad in Honduras, so that Auburn students can acquire the laboratories at Zamorano that process plants for vegetables, meat, milk, honey, coffee and more.” Dr. Pacheco facilitates and recruits for the exchange program within the department. One of his interns, Endhier Elsidio Lezcano, completed his thesis project here in Auburn and has presented one of the strongest theses this year back at Zamorano. Endhier’s research trial
FACULT Y & STUDENTS VISIT HONDURAS
is going to be presented at the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2017. The exchange program between Auburn and Zamorano continues to grow as more faculty in the department become involved and accept graduate students and interns in their research projects. Drs. Bill Dozier, Jessica Starkey, Amit Morey and Emefa Monu, in addition to Dr. Pacheco, have all accepted students from the Honduran university to join their research labs. The rich diversity in programs offered in the Department of Poultry Science opens many doors to Honduran graduate students and interns. As faculty from food science, poultry production, poultry nutrition and feed milling come together to accept graduate students and interns from Zamorano, the research experience in the food and poultry industries continues to grow. To learn more about Zamorano University visit: www.zamorano.edu/en.
FO O D S CIE N CE FACU LT Y PA R TI CIPATE S IN E ME RG IN G LE A D E R N E T WO R K PRO G R A M TH RO U G H IF T In conjunction with its 2016 Annual Meeting in Chicago, the Institute of Food Technologists hosted an Emerging Leaders Network program in July of 2016. Emefa Monu, Food Science professor in the Department of Poultry Science, was invited to attend this program which aims to invest in emerging food science professionals by connecting them to peers in the industry. The experience provides participants and understanding of the current state of food science and technology, emerging trends, active learning leadership skills, connections to peers around the world in interactive forums and collaboration opportunities through IFT. “It was a great experience. All of the members were early career food scientists. It was split half and half between industry and academia, with 2 people also from government,” says Monu. “Another great thing about this program, is that it is global. There were food scientists from Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Kenya, New Zealand and other countries as well as the U.S.” During the program, participants were split into forum groups of 6-7 members in similar areas, to facilitate discussion on important topics in the food industry, and in Dr. Monu’s case, Food Science in Higher Education.
“My forum group has stayed in touch and continued to have monthly conference calls where we discuss topics proposed by the group members for an hour or so,” she says. The IFT Emerging Leaders Network program has helped Dr. Monu has expanded her network, and paved the way for her to join the IFT New Professionals Working Group which designs programs and opportunities for and engages with early career food scientists.