GSD Leadership

Hi everyone. My name is Marie Lawton, and I am the current GSD president. I am a PhD student studying food microbiology in the Alcaine Research Group at Cornell University. I graduated from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst in 2016 with a BS in food science. My undergraduate research focused on produce safety. At Cornell, my research is in the dairy sector and focuses on leveraging biopreservation methods to reduce food waste. I am currently working on producing a vinegar beverage from acid whey using yeast. A product like this could become popular on the market as a health tonic and would be made entirely from a dairy waste stream. I enjoy working with dairy and hope to contribute to the reduction of food waste expansion of the market for dairy products.

I have been a member of ADSA since 2016 and became involved with GSD in 2017 when I was elected to the position of vice president. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with GSD, meeting other dairy graduate students and helping to provide opportunities for graduate students within ADSA. Since joining GSD I have had many networking and professional development experiences throughout the year and at the ADSA annual meetings. As president, I oversee the various positions and committees. Each committee, Fundraising, Career Development, Education, and Social, is run by one of our GSD officers and is a great opportunity to volunteer. If you are looking to become involved with GSD, I highly encourage you to volunteer with one of our committees!

Welcome to the ADSA Graduate Student Division (GSD)! My name is Bethany Dado-Senn, and I am an animal sciences PhD student at the University of Florida, where I study lactation physiology under Jimena Laporta. Specifically, I study heat stress and its effect on dry cows, lactating cows, and preweaned heifers. I am originally from Wisconsin (America’s Dairyland!), where I grew up on a 450-cow dairy farm, Four Hands Holsteins, with my family.

I have been a member of the ADSA-GSD since 2016, when my participation started with meeting attendance and, upon witnessing the amazing benefits of the program, blossomed into this leadership role. I am currently serving as vice president and Career Development Committee chair. My main responsibilities include planning career development webinars available to graduate students throughout the year, maintaining and updating the MyDairy Career web portal, and coordinating the annual Career Luncheon hosted at the ADSA annual meeting. These events are educational and build career knowledge, so I encourage you to explore, attend, and reach out to me if you have any questions or would like to see specific topics covered. The ADSA-GSD is an excellent tool to meet fellow graduate students, expand your knowledge and networking skills outside the classroom, and begin the next steps toward a rewarding dairy science career. Personally, all my contacts outside the universities I have attended have been made through connections in ADSA-GSD. I highly recommend investing your time into this program—it will pay back exponentially!

Hello everyone. My name is Glenda Pereira. I am a lover of the outdoors, coffee, and cows. I call home the Azores, Portugal, where I was born, and Rhode Island, USA, my permanent home. Currently, I am at the University of Minnesota, pursuing a PhD in animal science with a focus on dairy cattle genetics. My research interests have previously focused on improving the well-being and management of pasture-based dairy cattle. My family owns a dairy farm, which helped fuel my passion for dairy.

I have been a member of GSD since 2017 and currently serve as the secretary of GSD and chair of the Communications Committee. The Communications Committee is vital in providing our members with important information concerning GSD. We make efforts to invite new members to join GSD, helping everyone come together. We use social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to reach out to our members about upcoming events, share relevant industry materials, and send reminders for the annual meeting.

By being a member of GSD, I have gained friendships and professional relationships outside of my university, which can be challenging. The relationships I have made are vital to helping me become a successful member of our industry.

Hi there!

My name is Melissa Cantor, and I am originally from southern California. I am currently a second-year PhD student who is very addicted to espresso at the University of Kentucky. My thesis title is “Using precision technology as a tool for early disease detection in dairy calves.” I might have Californian roots, but I am a transplant at heart. I once lived in Ohio, Mississippi, and Wisconsin too! I found dairy after an internship as an undergraduate in an equine organization. Essentially, I learned the lifecycle of the dairy cow was a fascinating avenue for study.

I joined the ADSA Graduate Student Division (GSD) as treasurer at ADSA this year (2018) but served as GSD treasurer when I was a master’s student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2014. I am chair of the Fundraising Committee and definitely look forward to inviting students to join us! I want to work in academia in the future, and a large component of academia is fundraising. The GSD provides my first real-world experience with planning and executing a plan for fundraising for a large event. What I love about GSD is that success is dependent on the entire team, but the resources are readily available. No other graduate-level event will give you this exposure to conference planning, networking, and fundraising in your field. Whatever committee you choose, we look forward to having you!

My name is Heather Keefer (McCain), and I was born and raised in Santa Clarita, California. I received my bachelor of science degree in food science at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo in June 2016. I am currently a master’s student in the dairy laboratory at North Carolina State University working under MaryAnne Drake. I was first introduced to the inner workings of the dairy industry during the summer of 2015 when I had an internship with Darigold in Portland, Oregon, and I then knew I wanted to go to a dairy-focused laboratory for graduate school. When Donald McMahon introduced me to MaryAnne Drake through BUILD dairy, I knew it was a perfect fit. I started working under Drake in September 2016. When I graduate, I hope to pursue a career in sensory science in relation to dairy ingredients.

I have only been a member of ADSA GSD since 2017, yet I’ve already been amazed by all the benefits. GSD has helped me connect with so many people in dairy science and provides a lot of career development opportunities. I am currently the dairy foods director of GSD and the head of the Social Events Committee. The Social Events Committee plans the GSD mixer at the annual meeting for graduate students. Although it is a bit of work to plan and coordinate everything, you get to enjoy the results of your hard work with a fun GSD mixer while getting event planning experience along the way. GSD has so many amazing benefits, so do not be afraid to dive in and volunteer for a committee.

Hello everyone! My name is Connor Owens. I am currently a second-year PhD student in dairy science at Virginia Tech. My research focuses on reproduction, microbiology, and genetics, with the overall goal being to further characterize the role bacteria play in the reproductive tract of the dairy cow. I am from Norfolk, Virginia, which is a large city on the southeastern coast, so I did not have the privilege of growing up around cows or agriculture in general. It was not until I took some undergraduate animal science courses in which we took care of farm animals that I found my passion for not only dairy, but also researching and teaching others about dairy.

I have been a member of the Graduate Student Division (GSD) since the beginning of my master’s program in 2016. I am currently the dairy production director for GSD and the chair of the Education Committee for the 2018 to 2019 board. The Education Committee is responsible for providing our fellow graduate students with information on what research or research trends are going on in the dairy industry. This can be from scientific journal publications and presentations to information on trends in producers or areas of research of interest to consumers. So far I have really enjoyed my time involved in GSD, having been able to help organize webinars throughout the year as well as some of the events at the annual meeting.

If you are interested in having big input into what kind of research and information we share with our fellow graduate students throughout the year, as well as input into some events at the annual meeting, such as the 3-Minute Thesis, feel free to join the Education Committee! The current committee members have had some great ideas already, but we could really use a lot of different perspectives of the dairy industry.