Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program

At their June meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected three graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2021 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students are conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. Scholarship were awarded to:

Alycia Drwencke, a PhD candidate in Animal Behavior at the University of California – Davis, whose research focuses on the welfare implications of caustic paste disbudding and pain mitigation for dairy calves.

Paulo Menta, a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Texas Tech University, whose research focuses on predicting metritis cure as a path to reducing antimicrobial use in dairy cattle.

Kelly Mitchell, a PhD candidate in Nutrition at Ohio State University studying the stimulation of microbial protein synthesis by branched volatile fatty acids.

At their June meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected three graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2020 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students are conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. Scholarships were awarded to:

Ellen Lai, a PhD candidate in Integrative Genetics and Genomics at the University of California, Davis, whose research focuses on improving production and welfare of Holstein cattle by providing genetic tools to reduce lameness caused by foot warts and sole ulcers.

Conor McCabe, a MS candidate in Animal Science at Purdue University, studying tissue mobilization in transition dairy cows.

Mateus Peiter, a PhD candidate in Animal Science at the University of Minnesota studying the use of automated technologies to improve animal health and herd management on dairy farms.

The 2019 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Amber Roberts, an MS candidate in Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities studying the factors that influence resilient dairy farms.

Additional scholarships were awarded to:

Cesar Matamoros, a PhD candidate in Integrative and Biomedical Physiology at the Pennsylvania State University studying the role of volatile fatty acids as metabolic regulators of mammary lipogenesis in the bovine.

Russell Pate, a PhD candidate in Ruminant Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying nutritional and environmental stressors and their effect on performance and immunological parameters in dairy cattle.

The NMPF Scholarship Committee selected two graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2018 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

The 2018 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Isaac Salfer (left), a Ph. D candidate in animal science at Pennsylvania State University, who is studying the effect of nutrient intake on circadian rhythms in the mammary gland of dairy cows.

A scholarship was also awarded to Gustavo Mazon, a M.S. candidate in animal science, at the University of Kentucky, who is studying the effects of yeast-derived microbial protein in transition dairy cows’ health and production.

The NMPF Scholarship Committee selected two graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2017 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

The 2017 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Sarah Adcock (left), a Ph. D candidate in animal behavior at the University of California-Davis, who is studying the long-term welfare
implications of hot-iron disbudding in dairy calves.

A scholarship was also awarded to Carlyn Peterson, a Ph. D candidate in animal biology, also at the University of California-Davis, who is studying the use of a novel methane inhibitor to improve the environmental footprint of dairy cattle.

NMPF’s Scholarship Committee selected three graduate students to receive awards as part of the 2016 NMPF National Dairy Leadership:

Matthew Borchers (left), a PhD candidate in Dairy Systems Management at the University of Kentucky, who is studying the effect of housing environment on bedding bacterial profiles and immunological function of dairy cattle.

Brittany Shonka-Martin, a PhD candidate in Animal Science at the University of Minnesota, who is studying a comparison of feed intake, frame size, body weight, and production efficiency of ProCROSS versus Holstein cows.

Jennifer Spencer, a PhD candidate in Animal Physiology at the University of Idaho, who is studying the role of aspirin on prostaglandin secretion and alternative synchronization protocols to improve pregnancy rates in lactating dairy cows.

Four graduate students researching dairy-related topics were been selected to receive $2,000 each from NMPF’s National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

Karmella Dolecheck, left, is a Ph.D. candidate in animal science at the University of Kentucky. Her research focus is increasing dairy profitability through the application of a whole farm stochastic simulation model.

Paul LaPierre is an M.S. candidate in animal science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focus is the effects of hydroxy vs. sulfate forms of trace minerals in milk replacer on dairy calves through weaning.

Jon Pretz is a Ph.D. candidate in dairy science at South Dakota State University. His research focus is evaluation of yeast products and antioxidants alone or in combination on ruminal volatile fatty acid absorption when fed to mid-lactation high-producing dairy cows

Barbara Wadsworth is a Ph.D. candidate in animal science at the University of Kentucky. Her research focus is use of precision dairy farming technologies to detect lameness in dairy cattle.

At their June 2014 meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected two graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the organization’s National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

The 2014 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Curtis Park (pictured left), a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science at North Carolina State University. His research project is the effect of processing on the quality of skim milk powder and sources of off-flavors in whey protein concentrate.

A scholarship was also awarded to Robb Bender, Ph.D. candidate in Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his research on using statistical process control to integrate nutritional data in real-time analysis on commercial dairy farms.

At their June 2013 meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected three graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the organization’s National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program.

The 2013 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Kristen Glosson (left), a M.S. candidate in Animal Science & Nutrition at North Carolina State University. Her research project is supplementing a pasteurized milk balancer product to two feeding levels of pasteurized whole milk on the health and growth of dairy calves.

A scholarship was also awarded to Clayton Stoffel, M.S. candidate in Dairy Cattle Nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his research on the effects of different fatty acid profiles on milk fat depression in dairy cattle fed diets below 4% fat.  Yun Yu, M.S. candidate in Food Science at the Pennsylvania State University, was awarded a scholarship for her research on a novel clean-in-place approach of electrolyzed water for dairy processing equipment.

At their June 2012 meeting, the NMPF Scholarship Committee selected two graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the organization’s National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students were conducting research in areas that would benefit dairy cooperatives and producers.

The 2012 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, which is given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to Rosemarie Cabral (left), a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science at the University of New Hampshire. Her research project was “Improving immunity in the neonatal dairy calf”.

An additional scholarship was awarded to Ryan Higgs, a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science at Cornell University, for his research project “Predicting amino acid flows and improving nitrogen utilization in lactating dairy cows.”

In 2011, the National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program continued to fund graduate-level research projects of immediate interest to NMPF member cooperatives in areas such as animal health, economics, food safety, and nutrition. NMPF’s Scholarship Committee again received a record number of applications this year and acknowledged the high quality of the applicants. Ultimately, four students were awarded a total of $8,000.

The 2011 Hintz Memorial Scholarship, given to the top scholarship candidate, was awarded to João Paulo Nascimento Martins (left), a Ph.D candidate at Michigan State University. The title of his research proposal was “Effect of enhanced luteinizing hormone pulses during ovulatory follicle development on oocyte competency and subsequent pregnancy losses in dairy cattle”.

Additional scholarships were awarded to:

• Daniel Garrido, a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science at the University of California-Davis. The title of his research proposal was “Molecular validation of the prebiotic properties of casein glycomacropeptides”.
• Amanda Sterrett, a M.S. candidate in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky. Her research proposal was titled “Characterization of relationships between lying behavior, rumination behavior, and core body temperature using novel precision dairy farming techniques”.
• Laura Bradner, a M.S. candidate in Biochemistry at Iowa State University. The title of her research proposal was “Optimization of methods for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk and colostrum of naturally infected dairy cows”.