NMPF’s annual scholarship fundraising raffle is now live, running through this year’s Joint Annual Meeting that concludes Nov. 15 when winners are announced. Prizes this year include American Express gift cards, Target gift cards, a Cabot Creamery Premium Gift Box, and more. The raffle can be accessed here.
The NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program supports Master’s and Ph.D. students conducting research important to dairy farmers. The scholarship program is largely funded through the raffle fundraiser, making ticket purchases essential to its funding. Sustaining this program means ensuring that critical research benefiting the entire dairy community can continue.
Scholarship winners for 2023 selected by the NMPF Scholarship Committee included five graduate students who are conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. Scholarships, announced to NMPF’s Board of Directors in June, were awarded to:
- Alanna Staffin, a Ph.D. candidate in Integrative and Biomedical Physiology at Penn State University, whose research focuses on the effects of palmitic and stearic acids on mammary gland uptake, gene expression, and metabolism in lactating dairy cows.
- Alyssa Thibodeau, a MS candidate in Food Science and Technology and Oregon State University, whose research addresses upcycling of whey to produce craft organic acid-based beverages or vinegar with novel yeast and bacteria co-cultures.
- Bhaswati Chowdhury, a MS candidate in Biological Sciences – Dairy Science at South Dakota State University, whose research focuses on the control of persistent environmental Listeria monocytogenes within the dairy processing plant using genomic and phenotypic approaches.
- Luke Fuerniss, a Ph.D. in Animal Science at Texas Tech University, with research focusing on beef genetics in the dairy management system, evaluating the effects of management systems and maternal genetics.
- Usman Arshad, a Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition at University of Florida, whose research focuses on choline and its role in hepatic metabolism and performance in dairy cows.