Alumni Corner

MANRRS Awards Alumna Commander Nisha Oatman Antoine, the deputy director of the International Equivalence Staff in the Office of Policy and Program Development, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, was awarded the 2019 UMES MANRRS Alumni Achievement Award. Antoine joined the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service in 1995 through the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program. She joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2007 after 11 years of civil service. In her current post, Antoine is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products imported into the U.S. are produced under standards equivalent to U.S. food safety standards. She provides leadership and management, ensuring the International Equivalence Staff apply a science-based equivalence process that aligns with World Trade Organization obligations. Antoine earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary medicine/animal science with a minor in biology from UMES. She received her Master of Public Health in epidemiology/biostatistics from George Washington University. Alumni Corner

NAA at Home with SANS

Just ahead of Founders Day festivities, a National Alumni Association (NAA) contingent, led by its president, Deborah Hayman, made a much-welcomed visit to the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

Upon arrival, the group was briefed about the many facets of Extension. Dr. Simon Zebelo (pictured far left, front row), assistant professor in the departments of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences and Natural Science, followed with a discussion of UMES research. Subsequently, the alumni boarded a bus that took them to the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm on Stewart Neck Road where Dr. Nelson Escobar (pictured second from far left, front row) gave them an overview of the community-based research projects established there. On the return trip to campus, the group visited the small ruminant rotational grazing demonstration plot.