Dairy Judging Team
WINS National Competition
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| From left to right, Joseph Sparrow, Nicole Ross, Jacob Pieper, Matt Fry, Katharine Knowlton, and Michael Barnes pose at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. |
The Dairy Judging Team won the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. in October with one of the highest total scores in the history of the prestigious contest.
The students averaged more than 47 points out of a possible 50 spread across 18 classes of placings and rankings, rising above 20 other teams from the United States and Canada to take the overall team title.
Team members included Matt Fry of Chestertown, Md.; Jacob Pieper of White Hall, Md.; Nicole Ross of Mount Jackson, Va.; and Joseph Sparrow of Owenton, Ky. Michael Barnes and Katharine Knowlton, both faculty members in Virginia Tech’s Department of Dairy Science, coached the team.
“We put a great deal of work into preparing for the contest, and it felt amazing when all of our time and effort finally paid off,” said Sparrow, a senior dairy science major. Sparrow had the second highest number of individual points and the second highest number of points in the individual reason tests. Fellow team member Fry, a junior dairy science major, won third for individual points and eighth for individual reasons at the competition.
Fry said contestants judged 12 classes of cattle and participated in six oral reason tests. “Our scores for each of the judging competitions were compared to the scores of professional judges,” Fry said. He added that he was “excited and thrilled” that the Virginia Tech team had won first in the team title.
The Dairy Judging Team scored second overall in the team reason tests, while team member Pieper scored seventh overall for individual points. Virginia Tech had not won an overall team title at the prestigious dairy judging contest since 1984, Sparrow and Fry said.
Following the Virginia Tech team’s lead, the other university teams that scored a high number of overall points included the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, and Cornell University.
College Employees Recognized for Excellence
This year, faculty and staff in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences earned six of the university’s top awards for their contributions in academic advising, international outreach and research, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and others areas.
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| David Kronfled |
David Kronfeld, professor emeritus of animal and poultry sciences, received the Alumni Award for Excellence in Graduate Academic Advising, which recognizes faculty members who have been particularly effective in advising graduate students. Kronfeld developed a graduate-training strategy to immerse students in on-site training and provide more access to animals at the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Through this process, students have the opportunity to manage large experimental units, to better understand the equine industry, and to interact on a regular basis with the owners, trainers, and riders of elite sport horses.
Two staff members were among the five recipients of the President’s Award for Excellence, given to those who have made extraordinary contributions to Virginia Tech.
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| Linda Burcham |
Linda Burcham, communications manager for Virginia Cooperative Extension, received the award in recognition of her work for the college and Virginia Cooperative Extension. Burcham coordinates the creation of college and Extension publications and manages communications and marketing efforts for Virginia Cooperative Extension including development of websites.
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| Joyce Shelton |
Joyce Shelton, program support technician for the Department of Horticulture, received the award in recognition of over 30 years of service to the department. She administers the graduate program, works as a proofing editor for major departmental documents, and serves as the lead fiscal technician. She helped install and master a computerized accounting system designed to simplify the accounting activities of her department.
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| Jeffrey Alwang |
Jeffrey Alwang, professor of agricultural and applied economics, received the Alumni Award for Excellence in International Outreach and Research. This honors individuals who work to advance international scholarship, global public service, organizational development, sponsored projects, and innovation in international research and outreach. Alwang’s work addresses the complex causes of poverty among farm households in developing countries. He has integrated students into this research, working to alleviate poverty throughout the world while enhancing Virginia Tech’s international reputation in the process.
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| Jinx Baney |
Jinx Baney, a 4-H youth development agent and unit coordinator of Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Brunswick County Office, received the Alumni Award for Excellence in Extension for her profound impact on the lives of youth throughout Virginia. She boosted local involvement in 4-H programs to reach 200 fourth and fifth grade students and was instrumental in obtaining a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address her county’s unique needs.
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| Ames Herbert |
Ames Herbert, entomology professor and insect pest management specialist for Virginia Cooperative Extension, received the Alumni Award for Excellence in Extension for his focus on integrated pest management and his program to educate crop producers about the economic value of applying pesticide on an as-needed basis. He manages more than $145,000 in federal funds each year and has helped Virginians adopt an environment that fosters a reduced use of pesticides.
Virginia Tech Dedicates Latham Hall
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| The building was named and dedicated in honor William and Elizabeth Latham (pictured) of Haymarket, Va. The Lathams provided a $5-million gift to the university to establish an endowed fund to support the academic research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. |
Virginia Tech celebrated the opening of Latham Hall, its new 84,000-square-foot state-of-the-art agriculture and natural resources research facility, with an open house and dedication ceremony in September. Several hundred alumni, faculty members, administrators, governmental officials, and industry stakeholders attended the event.
The $28.5 million facility, located on the Blacksburg campus between Cheatham and Smyth halls, will allow for the expansion of groundbreaking research in agriculture, natural resources, and other life-science areas. “Latham Hall provides our researchers a home to foster multi-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships that will bridge many sectors of science and help to actively engage our faculty to find research-based solutions to today’s problems,” said Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech.
Latham Hall houses research areas that include biodesign, bioprocessing, fisheries and wildlife, geography, forestry, water, infectious diseases, plant pathogen-environment interactions, and soils.
“While providing wonderful co-learning opportunities to students, scientists with complimentary research interests will have the opportunity to share information and foster multi-disciplinary programs,” said Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This collaborative interaction will help us to conduct life-altering research through bioinformatics, critical technologies, biomedical applications, and biotechnology.” Examples of research being conducted in the facility include:
• The development of a selective insecticide that is safe for humans, affordable to developing countries, and that can be ultimately used on bed nets to protect against mosquitoes, the carrier of malaria and other infectious diseases.
• The identification of forest management practices that are most cost-effective and offer the greatest benefit to protecting water and site quality.
• The utilization of genetic and genome-scale approaches to understand the function and evolution of genes that enable plants to resist disease-causing pathogens that often cause devastating effects on agricultural productivity.
• Work that aids in understanding how a changing global environment affects the health of declining wildlife and provides a scientific foundation for making informed conservation decisions.
• The improvement of the breeding programs of economically important crops such as soybeans, peanuts, wheat, and barley in order to increase their nutritional value and enhance their natural defenses so that fewer synthetic chemicals are needed to control weeds and pests.
• The development of techniques to enhance opportunities for bio-renewable energy.