Hello everyone! If you check out some of the other pages on this website, you’ll notice that it’s basically an advertisement for ME. This is because I will be graduating in May 2019 with a master’s and I am looking for a PhD position to follow. But, let me go back and tell you how I got to where I am today. I grew up loving ALL animals and decided that I wanted to go to veterinary school. In high school, I got a job working at a veterinary clinic and LOVED it! I knew that I absolutely loved medicine and working animals, so living in Georgia, the only place for me to go was The University of Georgia.
I came to Georgia with the plan to graduate from undergrad and then attend veterinary school at UGA. During my freshman year, I took a class called “Animal Practicum” which involved hands on animal labs. We were required to sign up for one milking shift at the University Teaching Dairy, where we basically trained how to milk cows and learned about milk quality and milk production. This is exactly where my life took a turn. I fell in love with the cows on this small, 100 cow dairy farm who all had names, distinct personalities, and were spoiled rotten for the most part. I put in an application to start a job at the dairy at the end of the shift and was hired 2 weeks later and never looked back!
I worked at the UGA Dairy for 3.5 years, learning as much as I could about everything dairy. I soon became Calf Manager at the farm and was responsible for the calves from the time they were born until they were breeding age. I helped cows deliver calves, determined the feeding/treatment schedule for the calves, managed a crew of about 15 calf feeders, registered calves, kept track of farm records and scheduled vaccinations with the veterinarians. I also learned more about cattle reproduction and decided reproductive physiology was the field for me. I learned so much from the farm managers and from dairy science professors at the university. They helped me change my career path from veterinary medicine to dairy science.
I became involved in the Dairy Science Club which opened so many doors for me and allowed me opportunities I never would have had otherwise. Through the DSC, I competed and gained experience in the dairy industry through Dairy Challenge and meetings with the American Dairy Science Association. I traveled to 8 states across the country learning about different dairy practices, current research in the industry as well as meeting and networking with dairy professionals, other students and professors.
Through my networking, I gained 2 internships in the dairy industry. The first was with Alta Genetics, a reproductive company for cows in the U.S. I was based in Michigan and worked on dairies breeding and ultrasounding cows, analyzing farms’ reproductive programs and attended sales training. It was an invaluable experience that I am so thankful to have! It introduced me to more producers and gave me a taste of what a job in the field of reproductive physiology would look like. My second internship was working on Mason Dixon Dairy Farm in Gettysburg, PA as a herd health and reproduction intern. We took care of all the sick cows in the herd, developed treatment protocols and monitored sick animals to ensure the treatment was effective.
After graduating, I stayed right at UGA for a master’s degree. I thought I wanted to go on to higher education and potentially get a PhD, especially since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in industry yet. I had an opportunity to stay and learn from one of the best reproductive physiologists in the country and I couldn’t pass it up! We developed a research project together looking at AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) as a fertility tool in dairy cows (you can read more about it under the “Research” tab).
My plan is to go on for a PhD and enter academia as a professor of dairy science. I’ve been able to experience research, extension and teaching as a grad student and love them all! My biggest passion is educating others about agriculture and specifically the dairy industry. I want to get better at advocating and hope to do that through this College Aggies Online challenge. By competing in this process, I hope to also make lifelong connections with fellow advocates. I know that was a lot, so I’m going to wrap it up with this quote, which I feel truly explains my feelings about why I advocate for agriculture “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” - Thomas Jefferson