Poultry Science Department Students Receive Awards During Annual IPSF and IPPE Meetings

AWARDED — Makenly Coles (left) and Jared Ruff (right), Poultry Science students, received an award for research. (Photo submitted)

Media Contact

Sara Landis

U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 575-3192  |  slandis@uark.edu

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two students of the University of Arkansas poultry science department received prestigious awards at the 2021 International Poultry Scientific Forum and the International Production and Processing Expo held virtually, January 26-28, in Atlanta, Ga.

IPSF, held in conjunction with IPPE, had 600 attendees. IPSF is sponsored by the Southern Poultry Science Society, the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases, and U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. The forum presents information on industry topics such as environmental management, nutrition, physiology, pathology, processing and products, and avian diseases. Graduate student presentations totaled 47 and 7 undergraduate students gave oral or poster presentations.

IPPE is hailed as the largest annual trade show for the poultry, meat and feed industries.

Oral presentation winner

Jared Ruff received the Don R. Sloan Undergraduate Award. He conducted his research under the direction of Billy Hargis, professor of poultry science and director of the John Kirkpatrick Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory.

“The majority of my research has been in heat stress and studying ways to mitigate the negative effects of heat stress in poultry,” Ruff said. His project was titled, “An evaluation of essential oils products on a heat stress model that induces inflammation and gastrointestinal leakage in broiler chickens.”

Poster presentation winner

Graduate student Makenly Coles received the C.S. Eidson Student Award for Research Excellence. For her master’s degree research, she conducts Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station research with Hargis.

“My M.S. research is looking at the effects of different essential oil combinations in the feed on necrotic enteritis in broilers; specifically, essential oils from the plant Lippa organoides and clove bud oil,” said Coles. The title of her poster was “Assessment of essential oil formulations on growth performance, intestinal barrier integrity, and lesions in broiler chickens using a necrotic enteritis laboratory challenge model.”

Twenty-six students from the poultry science department and other departments of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences participated virtually in the College Student Career Program that is held in conjunction with IPPE. The College Student Career Program allows seniors and graduate students to interview with potential employers and underclass students to interview for internships. In addition to interviews, students had the opportunity to learn about the many career opportunities in the poultry industry and allied industries around the world.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture Research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station  website. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at ArkAgResearch.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.