Students, Faculty Receive Awards at Poultry Science Association Meeting

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Students and faculty in the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas received awards at the 2014 Poultry Science Association’s annual meeting, held July 14-17 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Walter G. Bottje, a professor and physiologist with the department, received the Zoetis Fundamental Science Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in basic disciplines — genetics, genomics, immunology, molecular, cellular and developmental biology, physiology, poultry health and proteomics. Bottje received $1,000 and a plaque provided by Zoetis, an animal health company.

Guillermo Tellez of the John K. Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory research staff received the Frank Perdue Live Poultry Food Safety Award. This award is presented for research in food safety that makes a sustained impact on decreasing potentially harmful pathogenic organisms delivered to the processing plant that have been shown to come from breeder and/or live operations. The $3,000 award and plaque is given only in even-numbered years.

Lisa R. Bielke, also a research scientist in the John K. Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory, received the Poultry Science Association’s Early Achievement Award for Research. This award recognizes the distinctive achievements of Poultry Science Association members in the early stages of their careers. She received $250 and a plaque from the association.

Samantha Cox, an undergraduate student, received a Student Research Paper Certificate of Participation in the Environment and Management category.

Five graduate students were awarded Graduate Student Research Paper Certificates of Excellence. They were:

• Kristen A. Byrne, directed by Professor Gisela Erf, under the category Genetics, Immunology, Pathology, for her paper titled “Monitoring leukocyte recruitment in chicken blood and feather pulp during the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)”
• Justina Victoria Caldas, directed by Professor Craig Coon, under the category Nutrition II, for her paper titled “Energetic efficiency and body composition of broilers fed diets with exogenous enzymes”
• Juan D. LaTorre, directed by Professor Billy M. Hargis, under the category Nutrition II, for his paper titled “Improvement of the nutritive value of rye for neonate broiler chickens by direct-fed microbial-induced bacterial translocation and viscosity reduction”
• Sarbjeet K. Makkar, directed by USDA research physiologist Narayan C. Rath, under the category Nutrition III, for her paper titled “Nutritional effects of egg shell membrane supplements on chicken performance and immunity”
• Megan Hancock, directed by Professor Wayne Kuenzel, under the category Physiology, Endocrinology, and Reproduction, for her paper titled “Central administration of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and vasotocin 4 receptor (VT4R) antagonists on food intake and a stress response in chicks”

Rodney E. Wolfe, manager of the department’s pilot processing plant, received the Tyson Foods Inc. Support Personnel Award. This award, which includes $500 and a certificate, is given annually in recognition of outstanding support of poultry science research, extension, or teaching programs.

Mike Kidd, department head and director of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, was acknowledged as outgoing past president and board of director member.