On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, the Department of Animal Science held their annual awards banquet. This event is a celebration of students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends who have made significant contributions to the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University and the field of Animal Science. The following students, staff, and faculty were recognized at the event.
Hillary Martinez
Z.L. Carpenter Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Meat Science
Martinez is a PhD student studying under Dr. Rhonda Miller. Her research focuses on evaluating human emotions using eye tracking and video image analysis to understand how consumers react to differences in meat color and marbling, as well as prediction of consumer liking of beef for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor.
Camila Sandoval
“Tony” Sorensen, Jr. Achievement Award.
Sandoval is a Ph.D. student under the direction of Dr. Carey Satterfield studying animal physiology and reproduction.
Rachel Park
2019 Outstanding Master’s Student
A native of Ravenna, Ohio, Park is studying animal welfare and is advised by Dr. Courtney Daigle. Her thesis research is entitled “The impact of environmental features on beef cattle behavior, health, physiology and performance.”
Bailey Engle
2019 Outstanding Doctoral Student
Engle is originally from Big Timber, Montana, and is studying under the direction of Dr. Clare Gill and Dr. Andy Herring. Her dissertation research is focused on the genetics of beef cow reproductive longevity and lifetime productivity. She was unable to attend the awards banquet and her award was accepted on her behalf by Dr. Clare Gill.
Nicky Oosthuizen
2019 Ronnie L. Edwards Teaching Award
Dr. Ronnie L. Edwards, as Associate Head for the Department of Animal Science, spent over two decades working with the graduate program. One of his major activities was coordinating the teaching assistantships for the department, helping to ensure the best graduate teachers possible for the courses taught.
As a way to remember his love for graduate students and his commitment to excellence in graduate teaching, the Department of Animal Science established the Ronnie L. Edwards Graduate Teaching Awards in Animal Science. This award recognizes the important contributions of graduate student teaching in the Department of Animal Science to the overall undergraduate student experience.
Oosthuizen is a PhD in the Physiology of Reproduction degree program and a native of Pretoria, South Africa. She is advised by Dr. Cliff Lamb.
She has played an active role in teaching ANSC courses serving as a teaching assistant for both ANSC 434: Animal Reproduction Management and ANSC 406: Beef Cattle Production and Management. She is also committed to understanding the scholarship and pedagogy to become a better teacher. The classes in which she has served as a TA rated her higher than her peers. In addition, she participated in the Future Faculty Academy presented by the Center for Teaching Excellence, learning instructional techniques to improve the educational experience for her students. She also actively participates in adult educational experiences, participating as an instructor for the Bovine Elite Reproduction Management School.
An example of her teaching impact is from one of the students in her Animal Reproduction Management lab section who said, “Nicky was the best laboratory lecturer I have ever had for my time here at Texas A&M. She is enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter. I enjoyed every lab and lab lecture while staying engaged and absorbing the material. While she kept the standards of her students’ success high, she never made me feel intimidated or uncomfortable coming to her and this is a very rare trait in college professors and TAs. I wish I could have her for every future lab. She was truly an exceptional teacher and person”
Additionally Nicky has published four research manuscripts and presented nine abstracts in addition to serving as the president of the Animal Science Graduate Student Association.
Kyle Phillips
2019 Animal Science Outstanding Staff Service Award
Phillips serves as the assistant manager for the Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center (RMSTC). He has been in his current position since April 2015, but actually started working for the department in March 2011 as a student worker, also at RMSTC.
Sarah Rodriguez
2019 Animal Science Outstanding Staff Service Award
Rodriguez serves as a business associate III in the department’s accounting office. Her main focus is handling and processing procurement card payments, assisting with travel expenses and other business office needs. Rodriguez has been with the department since September 2017.
Dr. Thomas Welsh, Jr.
Animal Science Graduate Student Association Outstanding Faculty Award
This award, given for the first time in 2019, was established by the ASGSA to recognize a faculty member who has made an impact on the association and the lives of graduate students.
Welsh is a professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow focusing on physiology of reproduction, teaching courses in growth and development of livestock and physiology of growth and stress in livestock.