1. business and industrial
2. agriculture and forestry
3. livestock

Photo by Jo Rae Perkins ©
Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Welcome to the spring department newsletter! Over the years many students, staff and faculty have graced
the halls of Withycombe and more recently the Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility. These individuals have left
a legacy of research and scholarship that has influenced local and global communities beyond the walls of
the classroom. Animal and Rangeland Sciences is a place where friends, colleagues and memories are made.
After reading this issue of our newsletter, I think that you will find that we have continued this legacy with
each new cohort of students and with our current faculty and staff. We hope that you enjoy reading about
the achievements of the many gifted hands and minds of our department this year and the
various activities that have occurred. We send this newsletter in hopes that we can provide
you with our department’s most important news, events, and research. We invite you to
also peruse our website for current department updates, and if you would like to provide a
personal note for our next newsletter, a picture of your time at OSU or an alumni event,
please e-mail [email protected].
Enjoy the upcoming Spring weather and until next time,
John
After 28 years of involvement at OSU Dr. Kelvin Koong is retiring effective June 30, 2015. There is a retirement event planned on June 5th where we will Roast him, then Toast him. An invitation is extended to his
colleagues. Please RSVP via email at [email protected].
Here is a history of Dr. Koong’s time with Oregon State:
Executive Director Agricultural Research Foundation, 2011 - Present
Professor, Department of Animal Sciences: 2002-2011
Faculty Athletics Representative: 2005-2010
Interim Dean and Director, OSU Extension Service 2004-2005
Associate Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences; Associate Director, Agricultural Experiment Station 20012002
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine 1999-2001
Associate Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences; Associate Director, Agricultural Experiment Station;
Agricultural Program Leader, Extension Service. 1994-1999
Professor and Head, Department of Animal Sciences 1991-1994
Associate Director, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. Professor of Animal Science, 1987-1991
Leaders from Oregon State's College of Agricultural Science
met with alumni in Beijing on April 25, 2013
From left: John Killefer, head of the Department of Animal and
Rangeland Sciences,
Dr. Le Sun, post-doctoral fellow in the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing, '90-'92
Kelvin Koong, executive director of the Agricultural Research
Foundation and emeritus faculty in the Department of Animal
& Rangeland Sciences, enjoy some time together.
2 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Sergio Arispe, Assistant
Professor, Malheur County
Extension Office received
a $12,500 grant from the
OSU Agricultural Research
Foundation (ARF) to fund
his research proposal, “Enhancing the Nutritive Value of Dry Forages by Ensiling With Onion Slurry: An
Unconventional Strategy to Create Alternative
Feedstuffs for Beef Cattle.” The ARF grant is in addition to a $25,000 donation acquired from a local
company in the onion industry.
Sergio is loading a mini-silo with rocks before
adding the low quality forage and onion slurry
Ecampus Quality Matters Award
Yvette Gibson, M.S. student in the
Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences was recognized at the
2015 Ecampus forum on April 15th,
for her QM (Quality Matters) course
design accomplishments.
Yvette
completed a rigorous process of
developing RNG 341 Rangeland
Ecology and Management so it could
be QM qualified.
Massimo Bionaz, Assistant
Professor was awarded an
exploratory grant titled
“Milk and Childhood Obesity: effect of microRNAs
in raw cow’s milk on adipose stem cells” with Dr.
Michelle Kutzler and Dr. David Hendrix (from the
Department of Biochemistry and Biophisics). The
project is for 1 year.
Congratulations Yvette!
Agricultural Research Foundation - 2015 – 2016 $12,500 (Co-PI with Reinaldo Cooke)
Title: Impacts of Stocking Density on Welfare & Productivity of Replacement Beef Heifers
Agricultural Research Foundation - 2015 – 2016 $12,500 (Co-PI with Reinaldo Cooke)
Title: Effects of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid Supplementation to Late-Gestation Cows
on Performance & Health Responses of the Subsequent Offspring
Oregon Beef Council - 2015 – 2016 $35,000 (Co-PI with Reinaldo Cooke)
Title: Impacts of wolf predation on stress-related physiological and psychological responses in beef cattle
3 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Dr. Gita Cherian, Associate Professor,
received a $10,000 grant for
Evaluating the hypocholesterolemic effect of herbal
product in laying hens. Grant
awarded by Ayurvet Ltd.
India
University Outreach & Engagement Vice Provost
Award for Excellence, Strategic Impact Award
Agricultural Research Foundation - 2015 – 2016
$12,500 (Co-PI with Dave Bohnert)
Title: Impacts of Stocking Density on Welfare &
Productivity of Replacement Beef Heifers
Dr. Dustin Johnson, Associate Professor, Harney
County Extension, received The Vice Provost
Award for Excellence. This award recognizes outstanding contributions by faculty and staff that
significantly advance the mission of outreach and
engagement. He was nominated by Willie Riggs
and Mike Borman.
Dr. Johnson was recognized at the O&E Awards
for Excellence Luncheon, April 13, at the CH2M
Hill Alumni Center.
Congratulations Dustin Johnson.
Agricultural Research Foundation - 2015 – 2016
$12,500 (Co-PI with Dave Bohnert)
Title: Effects of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid
Supplementation to Late-Gestation Cows on Performance & Health Responses of the Subsequent Offspring
Oregon Beef Council - 2015 – 2016 $35,000 (Co-PI
with Dave Bohnert)
Title: Impacts of wolf predation on stress-related
physiological and psychological responses in beef
cattle
Virtus Nutrition, LLC—2015 $10,220 Title: Effects of
Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid Supplementation
to Late-Gestation Cows on Performance & Health
Responses of the Subsequent Offspring
4 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Scholarships from the Western Poultry Scholarship and Research Foundation were awarded to Heaven
Roberts and Kaitlin Vander Pas, current AnRS students in addition to Andrew Beachy and Laura Tensa
ANS BS degrees ’13 and ’12 respectively and currently College of Veterinary Medicine students.
The Western Poultry Scholarship & Research Foundation Program is designed to interest and encourage
capable young people to enter the poultry industry. The program is funded through generous contributions from members of the poultry and egg industry. It is our belief that everyone benefits from this
program. The students receive assistance toward their chosen goal and the industry receives the new
talent needed to remain competitive in today's food marketplace.
Undergrad student (Rangeland Science) Alek
Mendoza received the Undergraduate Research,
Innovation, Scholarship, and Creativity (URISC)
award for 2015 with the proposal entitled
“assessing western juniper water uptake”.
Congratulations Alek.
Undergrad student (Ecologic Engineering) Julianne Robinson received
the Undergraduate Research,
Scholarship, and the Arts (URSA)
award for 2015 to work on “water
uptake by upland and riparian
vegetation in arid and semiarid
environments”.
Congratulations Julianne
5 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences has a robust connection with Faculty,
Visiting Scholars, Post Docs, Graduate and Under Grad students from around the globe. In
this issue of Animal Tracks and Rangeland Habitats we are highlighting those who are from
India, Central and South America. We hope you enjoy reading what they have shared.
Johan Osorio: I'm originally from Honduras where I did my B.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences at Zamorano University. After getting my B.Sc. I worked at Dairy Consulting Company Services of California, Inc. as a dairy nutritionist. With the aim to expand my knowledge in dairy nutrition
and sciences I joined Dr. Dackley's Lab at the University of Illinois in 2007, where I got
my M.Sc. in Animal Sciences and consequently my Ph.D. program with Dr. Drackley and
Dr. Loor. During this time I was able to establish important collaborations with diary scientists around the world with an additional 8-months internship at Aarhus University in Denmark with Dr. Ingvartsen.
Here at OSU, I am working with Dr. Massimo Bionaz. I'm
working on developing new molecular biology methods to analyze and establish fundamental relationships between nutrients and genes, particularly how nutrients can affect
dairy cows' gene expression and consequently their performance and health. We are collaborating with Dr.
Kolluri and Dr. Bisson in the Env & Molecular Toxicology department.
I'm planning to stay at least one more year. Then, I'm planning to start a faculty position at a respectable university that allow me to further expand my background in dairy science research.
Nallely Carbajal-Moron: Mexico
Nallely came to OSU in February 2015 to
conduct research with Dr. Ricardo MataGonzalez. During her two months at OSU,
Nallely was working on developing a
paper on grazing effects of rangelands of
north-eastern Mexico. When asked what
her upcoming plans are, she replied, “I
am going to stay in Mexico only for 9 days, then I am going to do another research stay in the offices of FAO
in Rome Italy and I am going to stay there for about 2 months. After that I will come back to Mexico to finish
my PhD in December, I hope..” Nallely left us with a gift of wonderful bread from Mexico.
Our best wishes to Nallely—we know she will be successful in her quest for her PhD.
Photos taken at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument during the Western Juniper Field Day
6 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
My name is Jayant Lohakare (DVM, MS, PhD, AvH Fellow Germany). I am native
of India where I completed all my education. I am basically a veterinarian
trained in animal nutrition and working as a full-time Assistant professor in College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University (KNU), Chuncheon,
South Korea since 2009. In August 2014, I joined Department of Animal and
Rangeland Sciences at Oregon State University, Corvallis, as a Visiting Professor/Research Scholar. I will be in OSU for a year until August 2015 on this sabbatical program. I am working in the laboratory of Dr. Massimo Bionaz. We are
working on the nutrigenomics approaches to improve milk production in dairy
animals. My research is mostly focused on peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor beta/delta (PPARβ/δ), which is a nuclear receptor, and its effect on
glucose uptake in mammary epithelial cells. We hypothesize that PPARβ/δ
plays a major role in modulating glucose uptake in bovine mammary epithelial cells affecting synthesis of
lactose. Milk yield greatly depends on mammary lactose synthesis due to its osmolality property that induce
mammary uptake of water. Therefore, the rate of lactose synthesis in the epithelial cells of the mammary
gland serves as a major factor influencing milk volume. Being glucose the main precursor for lactose synthesis, the uptake of glucose by the mammary gland can play a major role in regulating the final milk volume.”
Jayant said, “If lady luck permits, he is hoping to stay in the U.S.
(note from the editor—Jayant has a great smile.)
Dr. Michelle Kutzler has a grad student visiting
from Libya. It has not yet been determined
how long she will be working under Dr. Kutzler.
My name is Mohamed Abdallah from Libya. I got my bachelor's degree in Natural Resources and Environmental
Science at Omar Al-Mukhtar
University, Libya. I received a
scholarship from my government to pursue my MS study in
the United States. I have been In the United States since
January/2010. I did my MS study in Rangeland Ecology and
Management at Oregon State University and under the supervision of Dr. Ricardo Mata-Gonzalez. I also minored in
soil science. Now I am doing PhD dual degree in both soil
science and Rangeland Ecology and Management. My Phd
research will be continuation and expansion of my MS research which studied plant physiology and water relations.
Dr. Massimo Bionaz has a new visiting scholar, Misagh Moridi, from Iran. Misagh will be
here for six months working with Dr. Bionaz
on rangeland projects.
7 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Over the years the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences has built a strong connection with
Brazilian citizens who come here to study and conduct research. We asked the professors, students,
and post docs to tell us a little bit about who they are, what they are studying and their goals.
Fernanda Trindade da Rosa, 24 years old, is from South Brazil. In August 2014,
she obtained a B.S in Animal Sciences from Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil,
getting in her bachelor’s thesis a final average of 10.0 over a maximum of 10.0,
her bachelor’s thesis was titled: Molecular genetics applied to animal production.
Her interest in animal sciences grows every single day, because conditions like
lack of technology, lack of trained professionals, and low livestock productivity
could be prevented by the knowledge of an animal scientist. This could improve
the livestock productivity with the use of animals with genetics merit, adequate
nutrition and management. In order to be able to make a difference in the Animal production Ms. Rosa started last working on nutrigenomics in dairy animals under supervision of Dr. Massimo Bionaz.
She works diligently to be competitive for need and merit-based resources that can further her career. Her
career goal is to become an animal scientist leader in the area of animal breeding and production, specialty
in genomics assays and research in nutrigenomics whereas it is possible to prevent human diseases through
the meat and milk consumed.
Her academic interest in nutrigenomics matured when at the undergraduate training she was part of at the
Center for research, Teaching and Extension in Animal Science (NUPEEC) in Brazil. There she worked in several projects about ruminant metabolism and nutrigenomics in cattle. During this training she was able to
write and published in a Brazilian journal a manuscript entitled: “Economic viability of a confinement system
for final beef cattle production”.
Through guidance of Prof. Dr. Correa (advisor of NUPEEC) she won a scholarship via a Brazilian program for
fellowships (CNPq) for study abroad at the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois in
Champaign-Urbana/USA. There, (from March 2012 to March 2013) she worked with Dr. Juan J. Loor resulting
in 1 peer-reviewed publication as co-author.
In 2013 she was accepted into the Brazilian undergraduate initiation Scientific’s scholarship, where she
worked to characterize the MUC1 gene in water buffaloes. In 2014 she worked as assistant researcher at Sao
Paulo University, Brazil, where she performed proteomics analysis of beef
muscle.
Her main reason is to serve society by using her professional skills in an exciting, challenging and pleasurable way. Working towards improves the livestock productivity of the world by nutrigenomics is one of her life objectives.
Ms. Rosa plans to achieve her Master degree in December of 2016. Afterwards, her plan is to work with research focused on nutrigenomics in dairy
animals.
8 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
My name is Rodrigo Marques, I am currently an international Ph.D.
student at Oregon State University in the Department of Animal and
Rangeland Sciences at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center
located in Burns, Oregon. My experience at OSU began back in 2011,
when Dr. Reinaldo Cooke gave me the opportunity to come as an international visiting scholar to conduct research under his supervision for
12 months. During this period Dr. Cooke provided me new knowledge
about beef cattle production in US and taught me several new techniques used in his laboratory, all of which can be used to further the
scientific development of my country. After this intense training, which
was essential for my education, I returned to Brazil was awarded with a full scholarship from the Brazilian
government to return to Oregon State University and pursue a Ph.D. degree in Animal Sciences. So, in the
spring of 2013 I moved to Oregon to start my Ph.D. program with Dr. Cooke. Since then, my main research
focus has been to understand nutritional strategies on cattle fetal programming.
The responsibilities have become more than I could imagine as an international Ph. D student. The biggest
challenge was not only learning a new language, but also beginning a whole new life in US. However, the educational enrichment exceeded all the challenges I have faced. In fact, I am honored to be part of the OSU
community, or better, family. Now, I really understand the significance of studying abroad and I am glad this
opportunity came from Oregon State University. I am certain that OSU will give me the best educational experience of my life and I hope that the new international or even native students have same feeling that I
do.
Francine Vercese is a post-doctorate student in the Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department. In 2007 graduated from UNESP- University
of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, in Animal Sciences. Three years later achieved
Master’s degree from the same University in Animal Production. In
2010 started her Ph.D. at UNESP University with the project entitled
“Effect of environmental temperature and broiler age on energy value of alternative feedstuffs” where she
had an opportunity to work at Dr. Gita’s laboratory at Oregon State University as an exchange student from
July to November, 2013. This international collaborative experience resulted in authorship and coauthorship of two abstracts, which were presented at the 2014 Annual Poultry Science Meetings. After
completing the Ph.D., Francine worked as a professor for one year at UNEMAT- Mato Grosso State University, in Nova Mutum-MT, Brazil. Currently Francine is at Dr. Gita Cherian’s laboratory at Animal and Rangeland
Sciences at Oregon State University and is involved in a project evaluating oxidative stress and lipid metabolism during avian embryogenesis. She believes that working one year at Gita’s lab is a great opportunity to
exchange ideas and contributes to internationalizing and globalizing of Oregon State University. Francine
enjoys traveling, music, watching movies, running, reading, to be in contact with the nature and spending
times with her family and friends.
9 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Murilo Chuba Rodrigues: My
name is Murilo Chuba Rodrigues, I
am a MSc student in Animal Science with the São Paulo State University (UNESP) Botucatu campus,
in Brazil. I started my master program on July 2014 under advisory
of Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, and came
to the EOARC-Burns to complete
my MSc research. At the EOARC I
had the opportunity, structure,
facilities, animals, conditions and
support to work in researches that
are important part of my graduate
study and academic formation. I'll
be back to Brazil in few months
where I hope to finish my MSc
classes and then I hope to apply
my knowledge in a great job,
whether in Brazil or in the United
States, to improve beef cattle production. I'll be forever grateful to
Dr. Reinaldo Cooke and OSU for
the opportunity that certainly will
make all the difference in to professional development.
Lucas: holding camera,
Murilo: brown shirt,
Matheus: gray sweatshirt.
Not in photo: João Victor
Calasans
Matheus Coura: My name is Matheus Coura Vieira, I'm
Medicine Veterinary student at Mato Grosso do Sul Federal
University in Campo Grande city, Brazil. During my internship program at EOARC-Burns with Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, I
participated in two researches that provided different supplements and additives for beef cows on late-gestation. We
weighed, prepared, and fed the supplements for the cows
every week after sorting them in groups to receive treatments. We also worked with cannulated steers, collecting
different samples for lab analysis. After returning to Brazil, I
hope to use the experience I acquired at the EOARC to apply in brazilians cow-calf production system, and help our
livestock to become as efficient as in the US.
Lucas Cabarite: My name is Lucas
Cabarite, I'm from Brazil and I’m
doing my undergrad in Animal Science at São Paulo State University
(UNESP) Dracena Campus. Now
I'm participating on an internship
program at EOARC-Burns with Dr.
Reinaldo Cooke, where I can work
with beef cattle on feedlot and
pasture, and different categories,
such as cows, bulls, heifers, calves
and also cannulated steers. In addition, I learned a lot about beef
cattle management, feed and nutrition, animal welfare, sampling
activities, weigh, body condition
score and lots of day-to-day practices common in a commercial
beef ranch. When I return to Brazil, I will finish my undergrad and
hope to find a job with beef cattle,
hopefully in a large multinational
company.
João Victor Calasans: My name is João
Victor, and I am also a student at São
Paulo State University (UNESP) Botucatu
campus. I'm finishing my bachelor in
Animal Science so this is my last year at
the college. I've been at the EOARC-Burns
for
two
months
(01/20/2015
03/19/2015) in an internship program with
Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, helping with research
studies. During the internship, I had a
great experience and learned a lot about
beef cattle nutrition, reproduction and
physiology. My goal in Brazil is finish my
undergrad school and start working with
beef cattle management and nutrition.
10 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Thomaz Guarnieri, M.Sc. student through the Universidade Estadual
Paulista – Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia; Botucatu/SP,
Brazil program, under the direction of Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, defended his
MSc in March, 2015. His thesis was “Use of Meloxicam to alleviate inflammatory responses in transported beef cattle”. All of Thomaz’
research was conducted at the EOARC Burns. Thomaz was hired by
Cargill in Brazil. Thomaz began his time at EOARC as an intern.
This photo of Thomaz, provided by Dr. Dave Bohnert was taken during
Thomaz’ defense. Dr. Bohnert was a committee member and traveled
to Brazil to hear Thomaz’ defense in person.
February 26, 2015 Bruno Cappelloza, returned from Brazil to successfully defend
his doctorate thesis, “Nutritional strategies to improve reproductive performance of
beef females”
BIOGRAPHY: Originally from Brazil, Bruno graduated in 2009 in Animal Sciences
from Sao Paulo State University, and moved in summer of 2010 to start his M.S. program with Dr. Reinaldo Cooke in Burns, Oregon. Bruno finished his M.S. in winter
2012 and started his Ph. D. program right after that while still under the supervision
of Dr. Cooke. During his Ph.D. program, Bruno worked with nutritional alternatives to
improve growth and reproductive performance of beef females consuming lowquality cool-season forages.
Bruno is employed by Elanco in the R&D department in Brazil
Teaching: Programming SAS® for
Analysis of Animal-Related Research
Studies at the Universidade Estadual
Paulista – Faculdade de Medicina
Veterinaria e Zootecnia; Botucatu/SP,
Brazil – 20-hour class that I teach
twice/year. March 2015 there were 25
students.
Invited Presentations: March 19 20, 2015 International Conference
held in Uberlandia-Minas Gerais, Brazil. Curso Novos Enfoques na
Producao e Reproducao de Bovinos (New Approaches in Production
and Cattle Breeding) 2,000 participants and speakers from 3
different countries. I had 3 talks.
Nutritional and management strategies for developing beef heifers:
pre-weaning phase.
Nutritional and management strategies for developing beef heifers: post-weaning phase.
Nutritional and management strategies to optimize productivity
of beef cows.
11 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Winter Term 2015 was eventful for the OSU Goat Club. Membership
grew and the club welcomed a new Historian, Jessica Randall. Members
received their new Goat Club t-shirts and our web site has been created. ARF grant funds helped the club attend the Northwest Oregon Dairy Goat Association Conference in Clackamas as well as Fern's
Edge Goat Dairy in Lowell; both entertaining and educational experiences. Additionally, two presentations about the top 10 goat breeds in the
US and the basics of goat handling & hoof trimming were delivered by
club officers. The club also maintained the hooves of the OSU goat
research herd with an ACUP-approved staff member supervising. The
term ended with an ANS 410 internship presentation about the Culver
Family Farm (which the club visited during Fall Term), and a party
where chevon (goat meat) was enjoyed as the main dish while the club
put their knowledge to the test via a goat trivia version of Jenga. New
members are always welcome. Submitted by Alex Mejia, President
The Oregon State Meat Science Club attended the 2015 Northwest Meat Processors Association (NWMPA) convention in Seaside, OR over spring break. Club members Matthew Cugley,
Claire Logue, and Scott DelCurto had the opportunity to network with many meat processors from all over
Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, as well as a multitude of meat processing vendors.
While there, club members participated in seminars predicated around proper smokehouse use and ensuring microbiological safety in meat products, as well as assisting in the judging of various cooked and fresh
meat products, ranging from bacon, cooked and fresh sausages, snack sticks, jerky, hams, turkeys, and a specialty/restructured category. They also created and entered three of their very own products for evaluation,
earning Claire Logue and her Chicken Bacon Ranch sausage a Reserve Grand Champion Honor in the specialty/restructured category! Congratulations Claire Logue.
Members of the Poultry Science Club, Gregory Christensen, Taylor Gowan,
Nicole Jones, Elaine Jordan, Heaven Roberts, Arthur Shattan and Kaitlin Vander Pas, along with Club Advisor Dr. James Hermes, attended the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association (PEPA) Annual Convention held at
the Disney Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim California on Feb 22-24 2015. Each student presented posters
on various topics of interest to poultry producers and the club’s scrapbook won first place in competition
with those of Poultry Science Clubs at other Colleges and Universities in the western region.
Photo caption: Poultry Science Club attendees at Disneyland during
the 2015 PEPA Annual Convention: from left: Heaven Roberts,
Elaine Jordan, Gregory Christensen, “Russell”, Nicole Jones, Dr. Jim
Hermes, Taylor Gowan, Arthur Shattan, Kaitlin Vander Pas
12 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The stock horse club is the newest equestrian club
offered at Oregon State. This is our 3rd official year as a
club. Our founding members worked very hard to bring
this opportunity to the students at Oregon State as there
is no other equestrian club that competes in the type of
discipline that our club competes in. A stock horse is
technically a versatile ranch type horse or a horse who
works stock. A good example would be the horses cowboys ride to round up horses or cattle. All the classes at
the show are to show the judges how versatile your
horse is and how well it could work stock. For these associations a stock horse is not breed specific meaning
you can ride whatever breed of horse you wish.
From top left to right: Matt Dowless, Hannah
Eichler, Brenna Storey, Lea Hudson, Kalli
Scherer,
Angie
Hayley Hoefer,
Molly
In
addition
to Eichler,
being affiliated
with Oregon
State the members of the stock horse club are also
Coehlo, Miranda Smith, Rachael Brickson, Lois
ASHA
(American
Stock
Horse
Association)
and
WSSH (Western Stock Horse Association). This
Valentine, Darian Taylor, Kaitlin Brouhard.
members of
allows us to
compete at the shows that our club is based around. There are 4 shows each year that the members of our
Not pictured: Megan Paulisson, Emma Scalise,
club
participate in. These shows are held all over Oregon and offer 4 different classes: Stock Horse Pleasure,
Dani Heur, Sara Ham, and Olivia Cameron.
Stock Horse Trail, Stock Horse Reining, and Working Cowhorse. These shows are not like most other horse
shows, not only are they beginner friendly, but they also have a different type of judging which is designed
to be positive and straight forward. This type of judging gives the horse and rider credit when things are
done right rather than disqualifying for small errors.
The Stock Horse Club strives to place our focuses in similar places on WSSH. As a club we are more focused
on our members learning from their experience and becoming better riders than on our members winning
all their classes. We are open to riders of all disciplines and are willing to help those who may be interested
but currently don’t have access to their horse. We are fun and friendly group who meets on the 2 nd Wednesday of each month in the evening. If you think you would be interested in joining our club or just want a little
more information please email our club email at [email protected] or visit our Facebook page,
OSU Stock Horse Club, and send us a message.
SAY Mission: To get all steers/heifers to market weight by the time
they need to go to the meat lab. Get as many steers and as much money donated to keep the program going. To sell all the meat at the end of the year!
History: The Steer-A-Year program was started in 1993 by Dr. Koong, Dr. Weber and Dr. Zollinger. It was
originally taught as a class and helped teach students about responsibilities of health, nutrition, carcass grading and marketing. Today it is successfully operating under the leadership of advisor Matt Kennedy, along
with project manager Aly Pemberton.
Please follow us on our Face Book page: Oregon State University Steer-A-Year
THANKS!!!
We would like to give a big thanks to Mountain View Ranch, the Collin Kaseberg Family, for serving for numerous years hauling cattle from the Baker area along the I 84 corridor with their final stop being the barn
here in Corvallis. Their generous donation of time and fuel is greatly appreciated by all of us here with the
Steer-A-Year program. Once again thank you for your support of the program !!
13 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Under the guidance of our advisor, Matt Kennedy, Steer-A-Year has
been allowed the chance to give students even greater learning opportunities. Not only do we have a club
that is open to everyone and anyone, we also have the option to take it as a class and receive 2 college credits. Requirements for winter term included feeding the cows or doing a health check an average of once a
week. For health checks, students walk through each pen of cattle looking for signs of unhealthy cattle. They
are also required to go to our weekly meetings. Lastly, they had two choices 1. Attend the Young Cattlemen's’ Industry tour that occurred in January and write a paper about their experience or 2. Help our marketing co-supervisors, Matt Cugley and Eduardo Santa Cruz, contact prospective buyers for beef going to
harvested this coming spring term through the Clark Meat Lab.
Feed Board: Amount to feed, diet ration, head of
cattle in each pen, feed per head
Ultrasounding for backfat and marbling
I took SAY for credit this term to be able to get the experience with dealing with cattle. I
have always dreamed of working with cattle and SAY has given me the opportunity to. One of my favorite
experiences this term would be going on the industry tour and being able to tour the El Oro feedlot as well
as the Rathbun Angus ranch, I love being able to see all the different operations that are going on. When we
were able to ultrasound for the grade and back fat of each steer was probably the most interesting thing I
have done at Oregon State so far. I will definitely take SAY for credit next term to be able to work in the
meat center, although I was able to experience breaking down pig carcasses in high school. In spring term, I
cannot wait to experience the process of breaking down and being able to see the beef that we have raised
these past months Being in SAY really lets you see every part of the process and that is what I enjoy most
about this club.
I took SAY so that I could earn credits and also so I could continue to work with cattle when I am at school. My
favorite experience of the term was going to Eastern Washington
and northeastern Oregon on the industry tour visiting different
places that are involved in the cattle industry. It was neat to see
how different operations run their businesses. The requirements
for SAY was to feed on average once a week, go on the industry
tour and write a paper on your experience, and attend the club
meetings. I met a lot of great people through the class and have
made some good friends. I also have learned more about cattle and
the cattle industry itself. I may take it for credit next term depending on my class schedule load for next term.
14 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
THANKS!!! 2014-2015 Cattle Donors
Anderson Land & Livestock, Bacchi Ranch, Beef NW, BK Ranch, C & D Ranchers, Coleman
Corral, Dement Ranch, Eagle Valley Ranch, Flying J Enterprises, King Farms, King Land & Cattle
LLC, Lindquist Family, McCormack Ranch LLC, Roaring Springs Inc., Roelle Cattle & Hay,
Rohner Farms, Rolfe's Angus Acres, Soap Creek, Straus Ranches LLC, Treetop Ranches, WMI
This last term, I took Steer-A-Year for credit and this is the 4th time I’ve done
so. Besides earning 2 upper division animal science credits towards my degree,
this program taught me what raising an animal for market requires. Some of these requirements are: monitoring the cows for any sign of sickness, checking to make sure the feed rations are correct and when to increase them, vaccinating the cattle, and setting a price which will allow us to earn some money for next year
while still making it affordable to our consumers. This was a great term and the club got the opportunity to
go on several tours of cattle operations in Washington which were very informal and gave me a chance to
see other aspects of this industry.
Chute
And
Feed Pile
I took steer-a-year for credit at OSU because I wanted to have a hands-on experience
with the feedlot process while earning valuable credits towards my Agricultural Science degree. My favorite
aspect of the program this term was being part of the steer-to-market cycle and seeing the growth and gains
in the cattle was rewarding. As a member of the steer-a-year program, I gained important knowledge and
experience needed for my future in the cattle industry.
15 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The Academic Quadrathalon was held March 6th and 7th, and many of those that
were involved and participated enjoyed the time spent together applying all the knowledge they’ve gained.
This event consisted of four sections: written exam, oral presentation on a controversial issue, lab practicum
(10 labs ranging from meats to dairy to range), and a quiz bowl.
The success of this contest was made possible by the efforts of faculty, staff, and grad students. A special
thanks goes to Dr. Jim Males for helping coordinate the quiz bowl, the graduate students who graded
exams, and to the judges of the oral presentations; Kris Kizer, Janell Rice, Denise Apperson, and Kirby Flynn
(a past winning team member from 2009). Also a big thanks and to those who organized and proctored lab
sections: Companion Animal (Dr. Tim Hazzard and Dr. Giovanna Rosenlicht), Poultry (Dr. Jim Hermes),
Swine (Dr. Dale Weber and Lauren Robertson), Dairy (Adrienne Lulay, Alex Snider, and Kristine Gomez),
Equine (Dee O’Connell), Sheep (Mary Meaker), Beef (Kelsey Schubach and Mellissa Millhollin), Range (Dr.
Ricardo Mata-Gonzalez and Danielle Lorenz), Anatomy (Dr. Elisa Monaco) and Meats (Nathan Parker). New
labs this that students enjoyed are Anatomy, Companion Animal, and Range.
For those who missed the oral presentations the topic was “Animal welfare: how much do we allow the
public to see and government control?” Students put together some very interesting discussions and skits to
cover this topic. After all the scores calculated for all 8 teams that competed, it was a very close contest
between the top 4 teams with only 4 points separating 1 st through 4th The members of the winning team
were Rebecca Walker, Alexandra Wilson, Matt Cugley and Alec Pacheco. Unfortunately Alexandra cannot
travel with the team to represent OSU but Sidney Horton as agreed to take her place. The team will be traveling to New Mexico to compete at the Western Region ASAS meeting on the dates of June 21 st - 24th.
Was held in Syracuse, NY from April 9 to 11. This was the 14th Dairy
Challenge contest which included 32 universities. Each university was represented by four students. The
Oregon State University team members of Danielle Bull, Mieke DeJong, Andrea Smaciarz and Rebecca
Thomas with coach Jim Krahn, took SECOND place.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE OSU TEAM FOR THIS EXCELLENT EFFORT!
For more information on this event please
click on this link: Dairy Herd.com
16 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Dr. Udell served as the invited guest
editor of a Special Issue entitled
New Directions in Canine Behavior
for the scientific journal Behavioral
Processes. This issue has been
selected as the journal’s promotional issue, allowing for open/free
access to all articles until January
2016.
Really, canine science is open access (Scientific American)
“I recently checked in with Monique Udell, guest editor of the special issue ‘New Directions in Canine Behavior’ and head of
the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University to
learn more about the issue and her thoughts on the future of canine
science. As an added bonus, she also shared how studying dogs has
affected her.” From OSU Today, April 29, 2015.
Dr. Udell was invited to speak
at a two-day seminar at the
Asociación
ImpliCAN, in
Madrid, Spain, December 2021, 2014.
In November, she was a
presenter at the Society of
Animal Welfare Administrators
in Dallas, TX. Her topic was
Evaluating and understanding
the social cognition of dogs
living in shelters.
August 2014, at the Animal
Behavior Society Conference,
Princeton, NJ; Paper Talk:
When Social Deference Goes
Too Far: A Comparative Study
of Canine Problem Solving
Behavior.
Dr. Monique Udell gave an invited talk as part of a College of
Public Health and Human Sciences Research Seminar, entitled
Animal Assisted Physiotherapy for Children with Cerebral Palsy,
along with Wendy Baltzer, Craig Ruaux (Veterinary Medicine)
and Megan MacDonald (College of Public Health and Human
Sciences) to share progress on research investigating the use of
pet dogs in therapeutic settings. Monique and her students –
including two undergraduate students Shelby Wanser and
Courtney Kutzler- are especially interested in what behavioral
traits of dogs predict success in this working role and how participation in animal assisted therapy impacts the human-dog
bond.
Congratulations to Dr. Monique Udell and her husband Chet on
the birth of their first child Ava Marie. She was born at 4:42 a.m.
on April 24th, weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
17 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
This past winter Yvette Gibson taught RNG442 Rangeland – Animal Relations
online for the first time to 20 students from a variety of backgrounds. This
quarter she is teaching RNG352 Shrubland Ecology online to over 20 students,
many of whom developed an interest in rangelands after taking RNG341. In
the Fall Yvette will teach RNG421 Wildland Restoration online for the first time,
and by next Spring bring RNG441 Rangeland Monitoring and Assessment
online.
After Yvette finishes her Master’s program this Spring she will continue working
on building an online Rangeland Science program, as well as working on other
program growth and student enrichment initiatives.
I would like to highlight K.
Denise Apperson. Denise is being nominated for the
Savery Outstanding MS Student award. Denise is not a
typical animal sciences student. She joined our Dept
after a PhD in Geological Scs (U Texas) and working
several for years as scientist in petroleum industry
(Saudi Arabia). Her love of companion animal relationships and nutrition has motivated her to return to academia and seek out further educational training. She
started in Spring 2014 as MS student. During this short
time, she has completed two experiments with broiler
chickens and is scheduled for MS thesis defense in
May. She will also be presenting two papers related to
her MS research at the upcoming Poultry Science Annual meeting Louisville, KY. With admission offering
from vet schools for Fall 2015, Denise is now poised to
lead another successful career in Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Gita Cherian
In January, I began a
new journey as a graduate student in Dr.
Stormshak’s laboratory.
Previously, I had been working as his research
associate and aiming toward my master’s degree
simultaneously.
My desire to complete my own research is largely due to Dr. Stormshak and his passion for good
science, research, and his love for mentoring
students. He has taught me many valuable lessons that I will use as I work toward presenting
my own research and defending my thesis in the
summer of 2016. My current research focuses
on the progesterone receptor in the corpus luteum and its response to the progesterone receptor antagonist mifepristone.
Photo by Jo Rae Perkins © 2015
18 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
I am a graduate student and I am working on my Masters in the Rangeland Ecology and
Management Department. I am working with Dr. Ochoa on a Ecohydrology research
project in the semi-arid region east of the Cascades. I am also looking for botany volunteers. Please see the information on this page. Thank you.
Botany Research Opportunity!
Title: Botany Research Volunteers
Purpose: Aid with riparian plant identification and Alnus rubra transpiration research
Duties and Responsibilities: Survey riparian plant communities along fifteen mile creek in Wasco,
county. Assist with line point intercept- composition, density, frequency and cover.
Time Requirements: Flexible schedule based on volunteer availability. Surveying begins in May- will be
on Friday, Saturday, and or Sunday’s. Most of the time it will be just a day trip. If you can only come for one
day trip, that is fine. I will put your name on an e-mail list and then let you know when a survey is going to
take place- if you are free- you would be welcome to come along.
Qualifications: Comfortable working in riparian type habitat, plant identification skills.
Experience: Spend time outdoors in beautiful Wasco County in the shadow of Mt. Hood- gaining proficiency
in performing a variety of plant surveys based on Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National
Riparian Team monitoring technics. Encounter new plant species from the eastside of the Cascades.
Volunteers will be credited in aiding with published research project- great to put on a resume! Research is
based on Ecohydrology project- see website for more information http://ecohydrology.oregonstate.edu/
project/water-quality-ecohydrologic-interactions
Contact: Please feel free with any questions, ideas and concerns email or phone. If you are interested in
volunteering please contact Jaycee Leonard at [email protected], 253-312-4199.
19 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Over spring break,
there was quite a bit of
activity with faculty
moving from one
building location to
another.
Dr. Mike Borman
served as the Interim Agriculture Extension Program Lead from
August 2012 through February 2015. He relocated
to the College of Ag Science office in 2014 . Mike
has returned to Animal and Rangeland Sciences in
Withycombe in his regular position of Associate
Department Head, Rangeland Sciences Program
Lead, and Rangeland Sciences Extension Specialist.
Welcome back to Withycombe Hall.
Drs. Massimo Bionaz and Michelle Kutzler
moved their offices and labs from the third
floor of Withycombe Hall to the fifth floor of
Wenigar. With this move,
they have brand new labs
to conduct research as
well as remodeled offices.
Their offices are 561 and 561A respectively.
We hear they are enjoying their new digs.
Special Thanks to Bertsch - Allied
Moving. They did a great job moving furniture and equipment from
Withycombe Hall to Wenigar then
from Wenigar to Withycombe Hall
and from Oldfield to Wenigar.
Their staff were very friendly and
went out of their way to make
sure they had met or exceeded
our expectations.
I joined Dr. Fred Stormshak's lab as Faculty Research Assistant in January, where I
am currently managing the lab and Campus Way sheep facilities and working on
two research projects investigating endocrine and neuroendocrine regulation of
ovine reproduction and sexual preference. Before coming to Oregon State, I
received a Master's degree in zoology from Miami University (Ohio) in 2014,
where my research focused on the molecular regulation of adiposity across the
annual cycle of migratory birds. I received a Bachelor's degree in biology from
George Fox University in Newberg in 2011, where I investigated changes in hovering metabolic rate in hummingbirds when exposed to a crosswind. I am still a 'bird
nerd' through and through, but am really enjoying learning and working with a
new taxa. I feel very fortunate to be back in the great state of Oregon and to be a
part of the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences!
Publication:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10336-015-1157-x Summit metabolic rate exhibits
phenotypic flexibility with migration, but not latitude in a neotropical migrant, Parkesia noveboracensis
Keely R. Corder, Paul J. Schaeffer
20 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Dr. Michelle Kutzler has direct links to the advertising world via her two Dachshunds, KFW
Opal in the Sky with Diamonds RN RATI RATN, age 4 and KFW Amber in the Sky with Diamonds
BN RN RATI RATN , age 5. Opal was chosen to be in a Jeep commercial, which has not yet been
released and Amber is on the cover of Nutram dog food. Dr. Kutzler explained she responded
to an open call for small breed dogs in Portland. She submitted the head shots, then they were
called in for live interviews. Clearly, Opal and Amber won over their hearts and landed the gigs.
Congratulations to Opal, Amber and Dr. Kutzler
“The age-old question of which comes first is finally answered in
Chicken and Egg! For the purposes of egg-centric chicken keepers,
it's the egg! A new approach to chicken keeping, Chicken and Egg is
specifically geared toward hobby farmers and casual chicken keepers who wish to produce eggs of a particular color, flavor, and type.
Whether the reader desires the delectable turquoise eggs of the
Araucana or the chocolate brown eggs of the Blue Copper Maran,
learn how it's possible to put the egg before the chicken. Written by
two expert poultry breeders and specialists, Andy Cawthray and
James Hermes, this new colorful handbook offers an edifying overview of the natural history of chickens and the science of egg production so that keepers better understand how to care for egglayers, improve the quality of their eggs through diet and housing,
and maximize their egg production for years to come.”
Authors: Dr. Jim (James) Hermes
and Andy Cawthry
http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Egg-Raising-Chickens-Eggs/
dp/1620081504
ISBN-13: 978-1620081501
21 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The Udell Human-Animal Interaction Lab is
also beginning several new studies that will
provide opportunities for community support
and participation of local companion animals
(including research on the human-animal
bond, problem solving, cat behavior, canine
separation anxiety, and canine aggression/
reactivity) those interested in getting involved
or learning how they can help can visit:
http://www.thehumananimalbond.com
Human-Animal Interaction Lab 2014-2015, pictured from
left: Dr. Giovanna Rosenlicht, Shelby Wanser, Lauren
Brubaker, Lauren Thielke, Kristyn Shreve,
Dr. Monique Udell
not pictured: Courtney Kutzler, Erika Nivens, Rachel
Webber, Max Chang, Veronica Martin, Megan Hughes,
Hadley Schoderbek
Six students are currently collaborating in Dr. Carlos
Ochoa’s Ecohydrology lab research activities
(http://ecohydrology.oregonstate.edu/
Undergrad (Rangeland Science) Alek Mendoza
Undergrad (Ecologic Engineering) Julianne Robinson
Undergrad (Natural Resources) Decker McElroy is
currently assisting with various research activities
including stream flow monitoring and riparian
vegetation evapotranspiration estimates.
M.S. student (Rangeland Ecology and Management)
Grace Ray is studying the ecohydrology of western
juniper. She is expected to defend her thesis work in
August 2015.
M.S. student (Rangeland Ecology and Management)
Jaycee Leonard is studying semiarid riparian vegetation and stream temperature relationships.
M.S. student (Water Resources Science) Phil Caruso
has recently joined the team and he will be working
on the hydrologic connectivity of juniper woodlands.
Ecohydrology lab research team members from left to
right Decker McElroy, Julianne Robinson, Grace Ray,
Jaycee Leonard, and Alek Mendoza during RNG
455/555 field trip to Dufur OR
22 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
On Feb 20, the RNG 355 (Desert Watershed Management) class did a field trip to
Dixie Meadows Ranch near Prineville
where students learned hands-on aspects
of watershed management function. A
group of local experts including ranchers
and agency personnel taught them some
of the field techniques they commonly
use on their day-to-day operations. Affiliations of this group of experts included:
Dixie Meadow Ranch, McCormack Ranch,
Crooked River Watershed Council, US Forest Service, NRCS, BLM, National Riparian
Service Team, ODFW, and OSU-Extension
On Feb 28, the RNG 455/555
(Riparian Ecology and Management) class did a field trip to a
riparian area near Dufur, OR
where students learned handson aspects of riparian ecology
and management. Students
took part on multiple monitoring activities as part of our ongoing research project regarding
water quantity/quality issues in
semiarid riparian ecosystems.
Showing stream temperature sensor installation
during RNG 455/555 Field trip to Dufur OR.
February 28, 2015.
23 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
On April 1st and 2nd, Dr. Sergio Arispe hosted the Western
Juniper Field Day in Malheur County. Dustin Johnson,
Ricardo Mata-Gonzalez, Carlos Ochoa, Tim Deboodt, Jon
Bates, the NRCS in Malheur County, worked with him to
present ranchers and agencies with information about the
impacts of western juniper removal on forage production,
sage-grouse habitat, and hydrology.
Western juniper field day,
Ontario, OR, April 1-2, 2015
Photo provided by Sergio Arispe
Photo provided by Carlos Ochoa
24 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The clinical trial on poison oak
and milk goat titled
“Acquisition of immuneresistance to urushiol
through daily consumption of milk from goats
fed poison oak” is been
hold up by the decision
of FDA (despites having
taken out the most critical factors: raw milk) and likely
will not start this summer if will start at all!
We are completing all the analysis for the project titled
“Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor
gamma on prevention/cure of Mastitis”. Data will be
presented this summer at the Joint Animal and Dairy
Association meeting held in Florida. We will also
present there 4 additional abstracts. Three dealing
with nutrigenomics in vitro works, one dealing with
methods to study nutrigenomics, one with the study of
the nutrigenomics effect of long-chain fatty acids, and
one dealing with the improvement of lactose synthesis
through nutrigenomics means. I will present also the
data from a pilot study we have run last fall to deal
with the FDA requirements for the poison oak project.
The pilot study was performed in collaboration with
Dr. Claudia Ingham and 2 undergraduate students
(Jennifer Belveal, a biology student, and Kristine
Gomez, now a graduate from our department).
is currently leading two
research projects.
The first project focuses on providing cowcalf producers with an
inexpensive alternative
winter feed. Corn stover, teff straw, wheat
straw, and onion hulls are being ensiled with
onion slurry produced in Ontario to improve
the nutritional value and digestibility of all
four low quality forages.
The second research project is a collaborative
endeavor consisting of seven eastern Oregon
Soil & Water Conservation Districts, the
Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, USDA-ARS,
NRCS, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The
project focuses on greater sage-grouse
conservation efforts in eastern Oregon
Specifically, the study will assess private landowners’ knowledge of and attitudes about
the Greater Sage-Grouse Programmatic
Candidate Conservation Agreement with
Assurances in eastern Oregon.
Both research projects are expected to be
completed before the fall of 2015.
We will start this summer two projects with animals:
the one for the AFRI grant above and one with goats
very similar to the one we have run 2 years ago titled
“Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor
gamma on prevention/cure of Mastitis” with some
modifications to improve the response.
Drs. Bionaz and Ingham attended the annual
Northwest Oregon Dairy Goat Association
Conference on February 21st un Clackamas,
Oregon. They presented past and current
research including work which examined the
efficacy of a potential mastitis treatment and
composition of milk from goats fed poison oak.
Several undergraduates have been involved in
this research.
25 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) – Rangeland Applications
The use of low-altitude UAVs can be of great advantage for enhancing the state of the science in rangeland
and other natural resource applications. There is an
important gap of information between satellite
imagery and point measurements on the ground that
can be reduced by having a more detailed understanding on the vertical dimension of air-vegetationsoil-water relationships at the watershed or larger
spatial scales. The opportunity of having UAVs carrying scientific equipment (e.g., multi-spectral camera)
at relatively low altitude adds essential detail to this
vertical dimension.
Here are some examples of potential applications
that for the most part include pairing UAV equipment
measurements with point observations on the
ground and that can help improving the understanding of multiple biophysical parameters (e.g., soil
moisture, evapotranspiration, biomass) in rangeland
ecosystems.
Conduct rangeland inventory, assessment, and monitoring of vegetation, soil, and water features.
Assess current condition and trend regarding vegetation composition and structure (trees, shrubs, grasses)
Monitor and assess treatment effectiveness (e.g., vegetation response to prescribed fire).
Calculate resource inventory to estimate biomass of selected species (e.g., juniper).
Assess ecologic and hydrologic conditions of watersheds and riparian corridors
26 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
ANS 290. INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL ANATOMY is a new course offering which began
Spring Term 2015 at the Corvallis campus. The course, taught by Dr. Elisa Monaco, is
an introductory course in animal anatomy designed to provide a foundation for
advanced courses in the animal sciences curriculum. The emphasis is on gaining a basic
knowledge of mammalian anatomy. Lectures will cover the anatomical nomenclature,
structure, operation, and integration of major organ systems. The dog is the general
model while some comparative domestic animal anatomy will also be covered. The
maximum class size is 36; this first term offering there are 34 students enrolled. This
class will also be offered Fall Term 2015.
All Range Courses On Deck… I Mean Online
5 Currently Offered
Over the last year we have been expanding our RNG341 Rangeland Ecology & Management
online Rangeland Science course offerings to meet a RNG353 Plant ID
growing interest among students from a number of RNG355 Desert Watershed
sister disciplines (NR, FW, Ag Sci, Env Sci). We now RNG455 Riparian & Stream
offer online 8 out of 11 department taught Range- RNG490 Rangeland Management
land Science courses. Within the next academic 3 Newly Offered
year more RNG courses will be offered online, which RNG352 Shrubland Ecology
RNG351 Grasslands Ecology (summer)
will position the department to be able to offer RNG442 Range-Animal Relations
online Rangeland Science degrees and certificates in
the future, as well as enable sister programs to offer 2 Offered Online
RNG421 Wildland Restoration (Fall)
rangeland focused specialty options to their online RNG441 Monitoring & Assessment (Spring)
students. This summer Ricardo Mata-Gonzalez will RNG101 Introduction to Rangeland Sciences
teach RNG351 Grassland Ecology. To fill up these (will be taught both online & on campus)
courses and engage students in rangeland science
we have emphasized that although livestock grazing
is a primary rangeland use, rangeland is the largest terrestrial biome, providing habitat to
thousands of wildlife species and plays a critical role in providing many ecosystem services. We
are finding that as we illuminate the role and value of rangelands more and more students from
a variety of disciplines are becoming interested rangeland science.
To broaden our reach we are resurrecting RNG101 Introduction to Rangeland Science. This
course will be designed to engage and inform students from any discipline about the values
rangelands provide worldwide, the challenges these landscapes face, and how rangeland ecology and management knowledge can enhance one’s academic learning and career opportunities.
Yvette Gibson will teach this course online and on-campus.
27 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
The Hydrophiles' Water Research Symposium at Oregon
State University is a three-day student-centric event that
builds connections between students, professionals, and
citizens of the Northwest with interests in freshwater
resources. We seek to inspire enthusiasm, creativity, and
collaboration through shared ideas and experiences. Our
topics of interest span science, engineering, and policy as they pertain to freshwater
resources. This year the event was held on April 26-28.
Along with Dr. Carlos Ochoa, the following OSU AnRS students were scheduled presenters:
Jaycee Leonard - Research on stream water temperature in semiarid riparian systems;
Grace Ray - A landscape-scale characterization of vegetation-soil water interactions in semi
-arid juniper woodlands of Central Oregon;
Alek Mendoza and Julianne Robinson - Monitoring evapotranspiration in semiarid riparian
ecosystems.
Ecohydrologic connectivity of semiarid watersheds in central Oregon. Society for Range Management – Annual Meeting. January 31 to February 6, 2015 Sacramento, CA, with
Drs. Mike Borman, John Buckhouse, Tim Deboodt, former student, Michael Fisher and Master’s student, Grace Ray.
Hydrology of juniper woodlands: surface water and
groundwater connections. Western Juniper Field
Day in Malheur County. April 1 -2, 2015 Ontario, OR
Supplementation of Beef Cattle on Pasture Guest
Speaker. Oregon Forage and Grasslands Council
Spring Conference, Corvallis, OR March 14, 2015
Use of EPDs and the Across-Breed EPD Calculator:
Guest Speaker. Grant County Stockgrower’s Association, John Day, OR February 12, 2015
A systems approach to assess water quantity/
quality issues in semiarid riparian systems. Presentation to the fifteen mile watershed-monitoring
group. March 16, 2015, Dufur, OR
Nutritional Management Strategies for Efficient
Beef Production in Rangeland Environments
Guest Speaker. Malheur County Cattlemen’s
Meeting, Ontario, OR February 11, 2015
Ecohydrologic interactions in rangeland riparian
systems. Society for Range Management – Annual
Meeting. January 31 to February 6, 2015. Sacramento, CA, with Dr. Mike Borman and M.S. Grace
Ray.
Use of EPDs and the Across-Breed EPD Calculator
Guest Speaker. Klamath Falls Bull and Horse Sale,
Klamath Falls, OR February 6, 2015
28 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
“Are all Fats Created Equal?
Time for an “Oil” Check”, at
Academy of Lifelong Learning, Corvallis, March 31.
Fats in the diet are essential for normal physiological
functioning and for the health of humans and animals.
However, fats have received a negative image from
the medical community, media and public due to their
role in certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease,
obesity, and cancer. However, all fats are not created
or metabolized equally by humans and animals. Dr.
Cherian discussed different types of dietary fats and
their functional effects. The role of animal food products in meeting the human intake of certain health
promoting fats was emphasized.
On Saturday, March 14, the Oregon
Forage and Grasslands Council Spring
Conference was held at OSU. Dr. John
Killefer, welcomed the attendees.
Presentations by two Animal and
Rangeland Sciences faculty were given
by Dr. Dave Bohnert. His topic was
“Supplementation of beef cattle on
pasture. And by Dr. Claudia Ingham
who spoke on Target grazing.
The conference organized by Tillamook
County Extension Professor Troy
Downing.
Gave two
guest lectures in Dr. Matthew Kennedy
‘s ANS313, Applied Animal Nutrition:
Feeds and Ration Formulation Class.
The topic: dairy cow management and
nutrition
Gave a guest lecture in Dr. Urszula
Iwaniec (School of Biological and
Population Health Sciences) NUTR507/607 titled “Systems
Biology and Nutrigenomics in Livestock:
Disclosing Complexity and Guiding
Adaptations”.
In February, Dr. Arispe was invited to speak
at the Malheur County Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting. His presentation highlighted the extension and research efforts targeting critical issues facing cattle producers in
Malheur County. The five critical issues include drought, endangered species, winter
feed costs, invasive annual weeds, wildfire,
and juniper encroachment.
During Spring Term, Dr. Jim
Hermes presented various poultry production and
management information to audiences at the following venues:
February 7: Clotsop Community College, Astoria, OR
March 3: South 40 Farms Store, Grants Pass, OR
March 14: Living on a Few Acres, Redmond, OR
29 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Dr. Massimo Bionaz:
Xu, H., M. Bionaz, D. B. Sloboda, L. Ehrlich, S. Li, J. P. Newnham, J. W. Dedenhausen, W. Henrich, A.
Plagemann, J. R. G. Challis, T. Braun. 2015. The dilution effect and the importance of selecting the
right internal control genes for RT-qPCR: a paradigmatic approach in fetal sheep. BMC Research
Notes, 8:58
Dr. Dave Bohnert:
Cappellozza, B. I., R. F. Cooke, M. M. reis, R. S. Marques, T. A. Guarnieri Filho, G. A. Perry, D. B. Jump.
K A. Lytle, and D. W. Bohnert. 2015. Effects of protein supplementation frequency on physiological
responses associated with reproduction in beef cows. J. Anim. Sci. 93:386-394
Bohnert, D. W. 2015. Ration Balancing. Oregon Beef Producer. February. pp. 34, 36, 38, 40-41.
Dr. Gita Cherian:
Publications: Cherian, G. 2015. Conjugated linoleic acids from eggs in health: lessons from animal
models. Ch 5 in: ‘Handbook of eggs in human function’, R.R. Watson F.De Meester (ed). Wageningen
Academic Publishers. pp. 79-92.
Dr. Reinaldo Cooke:
Leiva, T., R. F. Cooke, A. P. Brandao, R. S. Marques, and J. L. M. Vasconcelos. 2014. Effects of rumen
-protected choline supplementation on metabolic and performance responses of transition dairy
cows. J. Anim. Sci. doi:10.2527/jas2014-8606.
Cappellozza, B. I., R. F. Cooke, M. M. Reis, R. S. Marques, T. A. Guarnieri Filho, G. A. Perry, D. B.
Jump, K. A. Lytle, and D. W. Bohnert. 2015. Effects of protein supplementation frequency on physiological responses associated with reproduction in beef cows. J. Anim. Sci. 93:386-394.
Dr. Monique Udell:
Udell, M. A. R. (2015). Editorial: New directions in animal behavior. Behavioural Processes, 110, 1-2.
Hall, N. J., Lord, K., Arnold, A. M. K., Wynne, C. D. L, Udell, M. A. R. (2015). Assessment of attachment behaviour to human caregivers in wolf pups (Canis lupus lupus). Behavioural Processes, 110, 15-21.
Dorey, N. R., **Conover, A. M., Udell, M. A. R. (2014). Interspecific Communication From People to Horses
(Equus ferus caballus) Is Influenced by Different Horsemanship Training Styles. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 128, 337-342.
30 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
Teaching: Special Topic – Protein Nutrition and Methodologies to Investigate Ruminant Nutrition (Universidade Estadual Paulista – Faculdade
de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia; Botucatu/SP, Brazil) – This was a 20
-hour course that I was invited to present in the Animal Science Graduate Program. March 2015; 22 students.
Intern: Dustin Johnson and I have an intern, Caroline H. Yearian, that
will be working on a project titled "Cow Performance and Cattle Record
Keeping Software Development" at EOARC – Burns this summer.
Travel: Traveled to Botucatu, Brazil in March of 2015 to participate as a
member of the graduate committee for Thomaz A. Guarnieri Filho
(Master’s Student; Universidade Estadual Paulista – Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia; Botucatu/SP, Brazil)
Project Title: “Utilização do Meloxicam para Reduzir Respostas
Inflamatórias em Bovinos de Corte Transportados”
Impending Retirements of any faculty or staff in the department
of Animal and Rangeland Sciences have not been confirmed nor
denied. Furthermore, no anonymous spokesperson has come forth
to speak off the record. Stay tuned for future developments on
this issue
.
31 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
We emailed the Emeritus for the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences asking them
what are they up to now that they are ‘retired’. Following are their responses. We would love to
hear from all of our Emeritus and Alumni, let us know what you are doing since you left OSU.
I am emeritus...having retired 7 years ago. I
keep busy with travels to see grandkids,
providing the occasional guest lecture at the
department, and leading eco-tours as fundraisers for various good causes (Public
Schools, the Albany City Library, and Women
of Vision). The eco-tours bring in several hundred dollars for the cause in question
and provide me with an opportunity to lead a
group of interested people into one of Oregon's spectacular wild places. I see it as winwin!
John Buckhouse
Dr. Rick Miller has been very
quiet as he works on research in
the Emeritus office on the 2nd
floor in Withycombe Hall. He
has promised to divulge what he
is working on upon returning
from a trip he and his wife have
taken in South America, traveling down part of the Amazon
River. We hope he provides some photos as well.
Dr. Dale Weber has been officially retired for 16 years. While he is no longer teaching Animal
Sciences classes, he still remains active on Campus. For a number of years he has taught the
freshman orientation class entitled ALS 199 “U-Engage”. This is a 2 credit university-wide
class, and there are usually 25-28 students enrolled. There is always an upper classman who
serves as a peer leader. These classes have an academic theme, and his has been “What Are
You Eating?” We stress good nutrition and talk about how food gets from the farm to the table. The majority of the class usually have little or no agricultural background. A highlight of
the class is usually a visit to a local pig farm!
Dale also serves as chairman of the E.R. Jackman Internship Support program. The objective of
the program is to give College of Agricultural Science students financial support for low-paying
or non-paying internships.
He also volunteers at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.
At home, he spends quite a bit of time in the lawn and garden.
Dale also likes to workout at Dixon Rec Center and have coffee drinks at Dutch Brothers or
Starbucks with Mary Jane or friends.
32 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
If you are interested in a charitable donation to support the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences
at Oregon State University, there are many opportunities. For Rangeland students the following scholarships are in place; Tom Bunch, Dillard Gates, and McClintock Scholarships. In addition there is the Tom
Bedell scholarship/internship fund honoring those individuals.
For Animal Sciences students, there is a scholarship fund in Dr. Dale Weber’s honor and a graduate fellowship in Reproductive Biology in Fred Stromshak’s honor. Income to our Facilities Improvement Fund is used
for the new Teaching and Research Complex. The Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department Head Fund
supports sophomore, junior and senior students. We also have an Animal Bioethics Fund that we hope will
develop into an endowed chair in Animal Bioethics. Non-directed funds, or funds simply designated for the
Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences is used to support teaching, research and extension activities of the department. Any time you give to Oregon State University, you can specify that funds go to the
Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences.
Gifts and donations can be made either online through the OSU Foundation’s website at osufoundation.org, or by mailing a check to OSU Foundation, P.O. Box 1438, Corvallis, OR 97331. Be sure to note the
funds are for the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences. Thank you in advances for your generous
gifts, and thank you to all whom have given in the past.
Photo from 2015 Beaver Classic
33 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015
________________________________________________________ ___________________ _____________________
Name
Year of Graduation
Major
________________________________________________________________________________________
Address (city, state, zip)
____________________________________ __________________________________________________
Phone number(s)
Email Address
________________________________________________________________________________________
Employer
Please give us an update on where you are in life today. Do you have a story and perhaps picture that we could publish in a
future newsletter? If so, please email as Word document with JPEG photo to [email protected], or mail hard
copies to Newsletter, Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, OSU, 112 Withycombe Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331.
_____
Yes, I would like to share my update in a future issue of the AnRS Newsletter.
_____
No, I prefer not to share my update in a future issue of the AnRS Newsletter.
34 Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences Spring 2015