GSD Leadership

Hello everyone! My name is Luke Qian and I am a second-year PhD student in Food Science at Cornell University under the advisement of Martin Wiedmann. My current research projects focus on the development of digital tools to aid decision making in management practices for dairy processors. One of such tools I developed in the past year is a simulation model that can predict the occurrence of late blowing defect in Gouda cheese, which is a major spoilage concern in semi-hard cheeses. I also developed a user-friendly web-app for this model that can be conveniently used by cheese processors. Prior to coming to Cornell, I completed my MS degree in Food Science at Kansas State University under Jayendra Amamcharla, where I participated in developing two models that aim to use fluorescence spectroscopy to classify non-fat dry milk based on spore levels as well as predict the emulsion characteristics of process cheese food, respectively. From these experiences, I became more confident in the power of data science to transform current dairy industry. Thus, I am broadly interested in data-driven methods to improve the quality of dairy products and optimize the dairy manufacturing process.

Having been an ADSA member for two years, I am rewarded by the vast educational opportunities provided by the organization. I particularly resonate with ADSA’s interdisciplinary nature that allows researchers from different specialization to communicate and collaborate. My vision for ADSA is to enhance the collaboration between dairy science and data science. With the growing interest in digital technology, I believe future leaders of dairy industry should be aware of the immense benefits these modeling tools can improve dairy foods and dairy processing system. With that in mind, I will strive to provide educational opportunities in digital tools through seminar and workshops. While digitalization can benefit the dairy industry, it is also valuable to our education as students. I understand for students, it is important to keep updated to current industry news while being not drowned in waves of excessive information. Thus, I am also interested in developing web tools that can extract and deliver up-to-date dairy industry news to researchers. Please let me know if you are also excited about these changes. I am looking forward to making these happen during my term at ADSA GSD.

Conor McCabe is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis, studying dairy cattle sustainability under the guidance of Dr. Mitloehner.

The upcoming ADSA Annual meeting in Kansas City will be the eighth edition (including virtual versions) of the meeting that he has had the privilege to attend. He continues to be amazed by the opportunities that ADSA gives us as graduate students by having us involved in conversations and experiences alongside the leading researchers and influencers of the global dairy industry.

Throughout the past year, he has been grateful to serve as the production division chair and work alongside a team that has put together an outstanding program for this year’s annual meeting. Among our many accomplishments, some of our successes have been as follows:

• Fundraising over $11,000 in sponsorships to help lower the costs of graduate student attendance
• Creation of an ADSA podcast event alongside industry partner Balchem to spotlight the research graduate students are doing across the world
• Collaborating with members of ARPAS leadership to develop a mentorship network between graduate students and mid- to late-career animal scientists

In his two-year term as vice president and president, he would look to continue building these partnerships with ADSA and industry to better serve today’s graduate students. We all agree that we have strong technical skills including data analysis and project management. In his term he would look to further the mentoring relationships between professional members and graduate students via a formalized program with ARPAS and other professional societies.

Lauren Engelking is a fourth year PhD student studying dairy cow nutrition and physiology, with a hint of immunology. Engelking grew up in Alberta, Canada, and she has always had a passion for animals, and figured she would probably be a veterinarian, as she is sure many students do prior to realizing how many other careers there are working with animals. In the second year of her undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta, Engelking began volunteering in a research laboratory where she assessed how different housing systems affect chicken behavior. Although she decided chicken work was not for her, Engelking had caught the research bug and was determined to continue in the animal science research field.

Soon after her work with chickens, Engelking became involved in dairy research. She loved working with cows and calves alike and was eager to continue in the dairy sector. In the final year of her undergraduate degree, Engelking joined Michael Steele’s laboratory and ran a trial focusing on varying planes of nutrition in both the pre- and postweaning periods and the subsequent effects on feeding behavior. Following this work, she was able to present her work at her first ADSA conference in 2018, where she was captivated by the extent of research occurring in the dairy industry. Engelking also spent four months in the Netherlands working with Wageningen University and Trouw Nutrition where she was involved with a trial assessing different tonicity formulations of oral electrolyte solutions for dairy calves with scours.

In 2019, Engelking enrolled in a MS program with Masahito Oba; however, she quickly transferred into a PhD program. Her graduate studies began at Hiroshima University in Japan where she evaluated how feed presentation affects dairy calf intake and gut peptide response. After this work, Engelking shifted her focus to the cow side of the industry and started looking at postpartum gastrointestinal inflammation, which is what she is still focusing on today. Her work consists of validating a marker that is specific to gastrointestinal inflammation, assessing how to prevent the onset of gastrointestinal inflammation, and how it can be treated, if incurred.

The ADSA organization has been an integral part of Engelking’s experience in research. After attending her first meeting in 2018 as an undergraduate student, she has been engrossed in the world of dairy research and ADSA continually inspires her to pursue a career in this field. Engelking is grateful for the opportunities she has been provided through ADSA including collaboration, career development, and establishing connections. She is excited by the potential opportunity to promote graduate student engagement and development through an array of programming. She also hopes to bring ideas to the table that may improve connections amongst current graduate students as she knows many people have missed out on in-person opportunities over the pandemic. The efforts ADSA puts forth in promoting student learning and integration into the industry is exceptional, and Engelking hopes that she may serve as the ADSA-GSD secretary to give back to an organization that has given her so much.

Richard Lobo is a third-year PhD student at the University of Florida working on dairy nutrition, ruminal fermentation, and microbiome under Antonio Faciola. He would like to be considered as your treasurer for the next board to keep the amazing work that the current board is doing and contribute to the development of the future leaders of the dairy industry.

Lobo is originally from a small town in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, where he was raised in a family with strong roots in agricultural production, especially in dairy, beef, and forage production. This led him to pursue a degree in animal science, which he received from Sao Paulo State University, Brazil, in 2017. During his undergraduate studies, he had the opportunity to work on research and develop nutritional projects on his own. He fell in love with the idea of finding day-to-day issues and addressing them using knowledge and technology. After that, he decided to pursue higher education and started a master’s program in animal science at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he was working with small ruminant nutrition and microbiome. After graduating from his master’s program, he started a PhD program in animal molecular and cell biology with a focus on dairy nutrition and gut microbiology. He has been a member of ADSA since 2020 when he first attended an annual meeting. Unfortunately, the 2020 and 2021 ADSA meetings were virtual due to the COVID pandemic. This year will be his first in-person meeting and he is very excited and looking forward to the upcoming ADSA.

At the University of Florida, he served as the treasurer of the Animal Science Graduate Student Association, which was a role that he really appreciated because he could get to know his fellow graduate students and help the association with the fundraising for academic and recreation activities for the graduate students in the department. In addition, he was able to create a great network within the department and believes that networking and teamwork are the basis for the advancement of knowledge and research. This motivated him to become more involved in ADSA-GSD, which, based on some friends’ experience, is a great way to create valuable connections and work in a multidisciplinary environment.

Caitlin Smits is a current master’s in food science student working under the supervision of MaryAnne Drake at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Her focus in graduate school has been on the sensory science and processing of dairy foods. Specifically, her thesis project involves evaluating how mineral salts and acids affect the heat stability and sensory properties of liquid and powder milk protein concentrate (MPC). Heat stability is being measured using an oil bath method; this project is jointly supervised by Dave Barbano.

Prior to returning to her alma mater, NCSU, Smits worked as an application R&D scientist at a protein ingredient company for three years. At this job, she had the opportunity to work on a variety of formulas, from protein bars to gummy bears. The group specialized in high-protein-fortified foods, which ultimately introduced her to dairy ingredients and motivated her to become more specialized in the dairy foods space.

Although Smits is new to ADSA, she has already found the community so welcoming and wants to continue to become more involved and contribute to the officer team. She hopes to continue building her network with other dairy scientists, so they all can learn from each other, share ideas, and contribute to the dairy industry’s future as a whole.

Guilherme Madureira is originally from Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and holds a BS degree in veterinary medicine from the Federal University of Lavras (Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil) and an MS degree in animal science and pastures from the University of Sao Paulo (Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil). Currently, he is in the second year of his PhD program at the University of Guelph (Guelph, Ontario, Canada).

Since his early days growing up in Brazil, Madureira envisioned himself working with livestock animals. Fortunately, in 2011, he started his studies in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the Federal University of Lavras, and during the five years of his veterinary studies, he was actively involved in research and extension activities related to dairy cattle production. For three years, he was a member of the Animal Reproduction Biotechnologies group, which belongs to the Department of Animal Science of the same institution. During this period, he was involved with the development of professional courses and organization of meetings with food animal producers to solve real problems related to management of their herds and training of farm personnel. During the last year of his program, he served as president of this group, leading and coordinating all activities of the extension team. By the end of his veterinary program, he was convinced that he wanted to pursue a career in research development of cattle production systems and further expand his scientific knowledge. He then decided to pursue a master’s degree in animal science and pastures at the University of Sao Paulo. His MS thesis was focused on development of novel strategies to synchronize the reproductive cycles of cattle, aiming to maximize their fertility outcomes. After completion of his master’s degree, he was invited to work as a research assistant at the University of Wisconsin (Madison). During this period, he performed research projects in reproductive physiology of high-producing dairy cows, with a focus on pregnancy losses. Finally, he started his PhD at the University of Guelph in September of 2020, and his overall goal for the PhD program is to translate basic science in reproductive biology to practical applications that can improve cattle production efficiency and sustainability.

His career goal is to work on research development in the livestock industry, using basic science and applied research to solve problems faced by food animal producers. Ultimately, his target is to contribute to the agriculture sector to overcome the challenge of feeding 9 billion people.