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Alicia Bohren, Longmont, Colorado, has been selected as the 2024 Don & Jane Good Outstanding Senior.
While an undergraduate student in Kansas State University Animal Sciences and Industry (ASI), Bohren served as president of the K-State Little American Royal and the K-State Dairy Science Club. She was also a member of the dairy judging team, poultry evaluation team, the dairy challenge team and competed in the academic quadrathlon. Additionally, Bohren was selected to serve as an ASI Mentor. In this role she met with prospective students and their families and assisted with departmental events.
In addition to being a member of competition teams and a leader within departmental organizations, Bohren was involved in a variety of research projects. She served as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Victor Gomez’s research lab, aiding with pregnancy diagnostics and identifying pregnancy through transrectal ultrasound and administering heat synchronizing hormones. She also worked in Dr. Billy Brown’s research lab, with this role she cared for the research cattle, collected blood samples, and properly weighed feed treatment for individual cattle. As part of the Undergraduate Research Program, her project was in sheep nutrition and focused on the “Effects of Sorghum Inclusion in Lamb Diets on Apparent Total Tract Digestibility.”
“It is obvious that in addition to being an excellent student academically, Alicia took the opportunity to pursue a myriad of the many non-coursework opportunities that are available to ASI students,” says Mike Day, KSU ASI department head. “The breadth of this pursuit, from competition teams through multiple undergraduate research experiences, leadership in panhellenic and program opportunities, and internships and professional organization activities, is admirable, and reflects her commitment to learn and explore. We look forward to her future contributions in science and technology to the discipline of reproductive physiology and the dairy industry.”
Bohren took advantage of experiences preparing her for a career in the industry. During the summer of 2022, she was hired as an intern for Grande Ronde Dairy in La Grande, Oregon. During this internship she performed all tasks associated with milking, feeding and managing more than 1,000 milking goats at a commercial dairy. She also had the opportunity to participate in the US Dairy Education and Training Consortium in the summer of 2023. This is a six-week program that provides modern dairy herd management practices and procedures to university students, with classroom learning, and hands-on application. This upcoming summer she will be interning at Trans Ova Genetics in Madison, Wisconsin, serving in their embryology and sire services department, gaining valuable hands-on experience and refining her skills in this specialized area.
Bohren plans to pursue a master’s degree in dairy cattle reproductive physiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, studying under the guidance of Dr. Eduardo Ribeiro. Her research will focus on transition cow management and diseases, specifically exploring their impact on subsequent reproduction in lactating dairy cows.
“My long-term career goal is to work in academia,” Bohren says. “I would like to conduct research in dairy cattle reproductive physiology. I have a passion for research and the continual learning that comes along with it. I also hope to work in academia because it would allow me to teach. Not only would it give me the opportunity to educate the next generation of scientists, but also producers in the dairy industry. This would allow me to apply my research to their operations, helping improve them.”
The Don and Jane Good Outstanding Senior Award was developed in 2010 to recognize those that exceed expectations of involvement in the animal science department. These criteria were developed to match the legendary example set by Good: moral character, scholarly achievement, leadership skills, participation on judging teams, foreign and domestic travel, potential of contributing to humankind in the future and written and oral communication skills.
The Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry serves students, livestock producers and the animal and food industries through teaching, research and education. The K-State ASI department prepares students for careers in the animal and food industries. The curriculum includes the study of nutrition, reproduction, genetics, behavior, meat science and food science with production, management, and agribusiness skills. For more about the K-State’s ASI department visit asi.ksu.edu.
