Message from the Chair
Greetings to our ANFS alumni and friends!
We have many positive and exciting developments from the ANFS department from the past year that we are proud to share in this issue of ANFScratchings. None of these would have been possible without the outstanding efforts of all members of the Department of Animal and Food Sciences and the generous gifts of time and financial support of our alumni and friends. A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all of you.
For starters, Dr. Dallas Hoover was named as a Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in the summer of 2021 for his distinguished service during his 37 years at UD! In particular, Dr. Hoover conducted pioneering work to improve the quality and safety of food products through the use of high hydrostatic pressure. We are pleased to share a personal update from him on how he has been enjoying his extra time.
We are happy to report several new courses that have been added to our curriculum and a new One Health certificate program. This certificate provides multidisciplinary course work to enable students to navigate and communicate the complex interactions of humans, animals and the environment, ultimately affecting the health of each sector. In addition, we will offer a new minor in animal nutrition starting this fall! We will continue to develop our programs as we will be welcoming two new permanent faculty in the coming year with teaching appointments for both the animal and food science majors. Stay tuned as we complete those faculty searches this summer.
Lastly, we ask that you join us in celebrating the research accomplishments of our faculty and students, and the members of our Animal and Food Science Clubs who were recognized this year for a number of achievements highlighted in this issue of the newsletter. I am proud to be a member of this outstanding community.
Please contact Maggie Brink at [email protected] or 302-831-2522 to provide any updates or news that you wish to share.
Wishing you all the best in the coming year! We look forward to your next visit to campus.
With gratitude,
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Dr. Dallas Hoover retired at the end of June 2021. His wife, Pat Walsh, who was a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences, retired at the same time and both now spend most of their time in Littleton, Colorado. Their two children also ended up living in that state. Both are married and each has given Dallas and Pat two grandchildren. As Pat Walsh says, “We followed the grandchildren.” Dallas finds living in Colorado an adjustment and he misses Delaware. He doesn’t own a large pickup yet but he has already bought a pair of cowboy boots. Dallas still serves as an editor for Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies and the Journal of Food Science, but otherwise he is retired and has found that the skiing is much better in Colorado than in the Poconos. Dallas’ one regret is that our UD Brewery in the Newton Building couldn’t remain active during the pandemic. He hopes it will start up again and encourages anyone with interests in craft beer to get involved with the brewery.
Sheila Boulden, who was the Business Administrator in ANFS, retired from UD in April after almost 19 years of employment. She’s looking forward to spending a lot more time with her husband, family, and friends, and she’s especially excited to have more time to be with her three young granddaughters!
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Vendetta, born Spring 2006 at Michigan State University, died January 26th, 2022 at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.
Vendetta, a flashy, gray Arabian gelding came to UD’s Webb Farm as a feisty, turning three year old in winter 2009. He quickly proved his athleticism by jumping a fence when spooked by snow sliding on the barn roof.
His initial spookiness faded and he became a very solid school horse. He easily won the hearts of the many students and staff who had the opportunity to work with him. Vendetta could always be counted on to do as asked, whether it be standing for a teaching demo or as a mount for Independent Study students. He definitely was an all-around great horse.
Unfortunately, a strangulating lipoma was the cause of colic early on the 26th of January, 2022. After a disappointing prognosis, Vendetta was humanely euthanized by the surgical team at New Bolton Center. Vendetta will fondly live on in the hearts and memories of the hundreds of people that got to know and work with him at UD’s Webb Farm.
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A few years ago, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources recognized the importance of One Health as a unique strength. Faculty and students in our department are leaders in this area, recognizing the critical importance at the nexus of animal, human, and environmental health. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we realized that, in addition to research projects, our students must gain real-life training in pandemic preparedness and in critical thinking that will prepare us for recognition and action in the next pandemic.
The department has proposed an undergraduate One Health Certificate that will become available in Fall 2022. Students completing the certificate will take three core courses (ANFS 124: Pandemic Preparedness and One Health, AGRI 224: One Health, and ANFS 448: Current Topics in One Health) and three of eight possible elective courses that span colleges. One Health has become an increasing focus of veterinary colleges across the US and the world. It also provides a research and teaching perspective that addresses complex health related problems in an inherently interdisciplinary way, something that has historically been a strength of ANFS and CANR. The undergraduate certificate is open to students across the University who complete this coursework in the area of One Health. The certificate program is bookended, so to speak, by new courses co-taught by Drs. Ryan Arsenault and Kali Kniel. There is a great deal of enthusiasm by the faculty and the students for this ANFS lead program and more is developing within the college and the University around the topic of One Health. We welcome feedback and interest from our alumni. Please feel free to reach out if you are interested in learning more about One Health in ANFS.
Starting in Fall 2022, students will be able to add a Minor in Animal Nutrition. The animal nutrition industry represents a valuable career space for our graduates, and this minor will enhance student career and postgraduate educational opportunities. In addition, understanding the implications of animal nutrition on animal health is critical to our understanding of One Health, especially for our majors. The minor requires 16 credits to be selected from ANFS 241: Introduction to Equine Nutrition, ANFS 251: Animal Nutrition, ANFS 252: Animal Nutrition Applications, ANFS 261: Pet Nutrition, ANFS 424: Monogastric Nutrition, ANFS 454: Ruminant Nutrition, and NTDT 200: Nutrition Concepts.
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ANFS 124: Pandemic Preparedness and One Health: The global COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus was a wakeup call for the world. This class attempts to prepare Blue Hens for the next pandemic by providing them with scientific and public health knowledge, and critical literacy skills. Led by course coordinators who are scientists actively researching aspects of One Health, this course aims to provide all students, regardless of background, with the critical tools to understand, critically evaluate, survive and lead during the next global pandemic.
ANFS/PLSC 218: Fermentation Sciences: This cross-listed course is taught by Drs. Nicole Donofrio and Adrienne Shearer and hosts up to 50 students from varied disciplines in agriculture, business and economics, engineering, and environmental sciences. The course addresses the microbiology and processes used for manufacture of globally-important foods and beverages fermented from dairy, meat, vegetables and grains. Beyond the lectures on fermentation biochemical pathways and food processing, students benefit from experiences shared by guest speakers from the fermented food and beverage industries. This year's guests feature Flying Plow Farm, 902 Brewing Company and Painted Stave, as well as a lecture by Dr. Pam Green who teaches The Science of Wine, and a class trip to Iron Hill Brewery. The course culminates with students rendering a vision of their own fermented food product including their choice of microorganism(s) and proposed procedures for safe and sustainable commercial production of their product.
ANFS267: Basic Cheesemaking: This course had 8 students and was taught by Dr. Kali Kniel, Melinda Shaw and Jennifer Rodammer. All students were part of CANR with a variety of majors. They spent the semester split between lectures and hands-on activities, and were able to participate in making ricotta, mozzarella, gouda and cheddar cheeses. The course broke down the cheesemaking process step by step to better explain the science and also touched on the Code of Federal Regulations, food safety, and a general introduction to writing a Food Safety Plan, GMPs, SOPs and SSOPs. Pending approval and completion of some necessary facility modifications, the course will be offered next in the Spring of 2023.
ANFS 448/648: Current Topics in One Health: One Health is a modern health concept which recognizes that human, animal and environmental health are an integrated whole. This course covers topics currently relevant to the field of One Health. These topics will change each year, but particularly relevant will be a discussion of the ongoing global pandemic COVID-19, an emerging, viral, zoonotic outbreak as well as disease and environmental challenges in agriculture.
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Preventing Wooden Breast Disease |
Dr. Behnam Abasht (pictured above, center, with his lab group) has recently received funding support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant; award no. 2021-67015-34543) for his research on the genetic basis of Wooden Breast Disease (WB) in commercial broiler chickens.
Characterized by extreme hardness of the breast muscle, WB causes a substantial economic issue for poultry producers on a global scale. Despite its prevalence and the fact that broiler producers and primary breeding companies have expressed immense interest in a timely and economic solution, there is currently no approach available to effectively prevent this disease.
Through a genome-wide association study, the research team has recently identified genomic regions significantly associated with WB. The purpose of the current project is to identify and characterize candidate causal variants in these regions. A new approach of (targeted) Circular Consensus Sequencing (CCS) will be conducted using PacBio's Sequel system. The application of the CCS technology is revolutionary in that it will enable detecting all DNA variant types [single nucleotide (1bp), insertion/deletion (<50bp) and structural (>=50bp) variants] that exist in these target genomic regions, allowing identification of top significant variants to reduce incidence of WB. Additionally, association analysis using top significant variants in each target region and molecular phenotypes (gene expression and metabolites) will allow studying the cause of WB.
Further, the research team is currently applying a novel technology named spatial transcriptomics to determine cellular localization of mRNA molecules in unaffected and diseased tissues to gain mechanistic explanation for the cause of WB.
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Students in the department did very well in the sixth annual CANR Unique Strengths Research Symposium. Senior Kasey Hobert (Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘22) from Dr. Amy Biddle’s lab scored first place in the category of Genetics and Genomics for Plant, Animal and Ecosystem Improvement with her presentation on “Comparing the equine protozoa community based on keeper status.” Sophomore Nick Farro (Animal Biosciences, ‘24) from Dr. Hong Li’s lab won first place among undergraduate presenters and also first place in the category of Sustainable Food Systems, Landscapes and Ecosystems with his presentation on “Evaluation of different litter amendments to control ammonia emission from poultry.” In the One Health Intersections among Animal, Plant, Human and Ecosystem Health category, Ph.D. students Liang-en Yu from Dr. Yihang Li’s lab won first place and Xiaojing Liu from Dr. Limin Kung, Jr.’s lab won second place. Liang-en’s presentation was entitled “Delayed post-hatch feeding alters intestinal epithelial stem cell activities, intestinal epithelial population and permeability in broiler chickens” and Xiaojing’s presentation was entitled “Effects of delayed sealing and chemical additives on fermentation of alfalfa silage.” In addition, Liang-en Yu and Xiaojing Liu won second and third places, respectively, among all Ph.D. student presenters.
Members of the University of Delaware’s Animal Science Club ranked 3rd school overall at the 2022 Northeast Student Affiliate (NESA) meeting at Delaware Valley University. University of Delaware Team A won 8th place in livestock judging and 10th place in Quizbowl, and Team B won 2nd place in livestock judging and 6th place overall. In addition, individual team members Taylor Colby (Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘23), Kassy Donohoe (Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘24), and Seline Stoop (Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘23) won 1st, 5th, and 8th place, respectively, in livestock judging.
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Four students from Dr. Amy Biddle’s lab were each awarded scholarships at the Delaware Equine Council Foundation Banquet on March 12, 2022. As the Linda Chick Memorial Scholarship recipient, David Vega (Left; Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘22) was awarded $4,000. From left to right, Alexa Johnson (Ph.D. candidate), Emma Rigaud (Pre-Veterinary Medicine, ‘22), and Seline Stoop were each awarded $1,500 with the George Parris Memorial Scholarship, American Mustang & Burro Association Scholarship, and M & T Scholarship, respectively.
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Juniper Lake, who completed her Ph.D. in Bioinformatics Data Science in August 2021 with Dr. Behnam Abasht, is the recipient of the Interdisciplinary Dissertation Prize that was presented at the 2022 Ph.D. hooding ceremony.
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Animal Science Club and Food Science Club |
Animal Science Club is officially up and running as normal once more. Spring of 2021 still imposed COVID regulations and had us conduct our club virtually. Our club rose to the challenge and came up with creative ways to have our events online and have multiple guest speakers including those from veterinary schools, local animal shelters, emergency medicine and even an emu farm. These online options allowed the club to gain new contacts that we may have not found otherwise and helped build our network.
Fall marked the start of new beginnings since the club was back in person. There was a renewed sense of excitement because members finally could get that hands-on experience for which our club is known. Service, livestock and pre-vet events quickly got underway with some of the highlights including helping with the Rabbit House, assisting UPenn Field Services veterinarians on our livestock on Webb Farm, and attending a suture workshop run by Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. Social events allowed students to get those face-to-face interactions that they missed in the prior years. Fall also brought back many of our annual traditions including Fall Fest, our pumpkin sale, and preparing for NESA at Delaware Valley. This spring, NESA was a huge success for all our members. With hard work and preparation, we were awarded 1st, 5th, 8th in individual livestock judging, 2nd and 8th in team livestock judging, 10th in team Quizbowl, 6th for team overall, and the biggest accolade of 3rd institution overall. Members also received the reward of networking with companies and students from other schools. During the much-anticipated return of in-person Ag Day, we were thrilled to return to our staple events including animal displays and sheep shearing demonstrations.
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In the 2021 Fall semester, the Food Science Club was able to connect with many underclassmen in some engaging and interesting events! We dove into topics such as Food Trends, went on an incredible tour of our Genuardi Food Innovation Lab cheesemaking facility and heard from inspiring UD alumni. As a club, we got to celebrate our success as the registered student organization with the highest cheese box sales with an ice cream social! This Spring we had more guest speakers and fun food-related meetings. We participated in the College Bowl and were excited to attend Ag Day in person this year!
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The Department of Animal and Food Sciences is pleased to recognize alumni, faculty, staff, parents, students, organizations and friends who supported the department and the UDairy Creamery during calendar year 2021. The following listing includes donors who designated gifts to the ANFS Department from January 1 through December 31, 2021. Anyone interested in donating can do so here.
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AAAP
Wayne I. Anderson '73
Elizabeth A. Ashman '11
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
Richard N. Benson and
Deanna Dovre Benson '85M
Amy S. Biddle
Evelyn Lynam Bollman '71
Deborah A. and Daniel L. Carroll
Marylin J. Casey
Boonbungearn B. and Larry A. Cogburn II
Margaret Colaianni
William E. Culp '89 '91M
Mary Rose and Douglas T. DaVia '84
D. Cameron DeHeer '90 '17M and
Heather Cullen DeHeer '89
Amy Demeter
Jane L. Dilley
Suzette Dybiec
John C. Dzik and Theresa Courtney Dzik '90
Carl M. Eissner '79 '86M and
Donna Ascolese Eissner '83
Amy J. Estey '06M
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Penny Hesseltine Fischer '70 and
D. Ross Fischer '69
Michael and Heidi Frego
Joseph J. Giambrone '72 '74M
Gregory S. Goldsmith '03
Tanya F. Gressley
Maureen Hermes-Kane '85
Kim A. Herrman '79 '81M
Alfred L. Pennesi and Candice L. Hoffman
Eric D. Jacobson '78 '81M
Anne and Dennis Johnson
Ronald R. Staib and
Michele M. Karpovich '84 '89M
Calvin L. Keeler Jr. and
Sharon Martin Keeler '98Ph.D.
Michele Koenig '00
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Alice W. Kryszczynski
Katherine E. LaDow '12
Amanda and Dante LaPenta '12M
Kristin Lewis Noon
Amanda Leber Macasevich '11 and
Kyle T. Macasevich '10 '11M
Christy L. Mannering '15 '20M
Jennifer Cleveland McEntire '99
Susan L. McMullen '72
Sharon B. and Rex L. Mears '63
Adrienne and Paul Meckley
Ashley and Todd A. Mittelmeier
Bruce A. Moore '63
Veda J. and Daniel P. Moore '84
Sarah M. Morrissey '16
Sudarshan R. Nadathur '91M
Cynthia K. Newth '82
Kathleen Adams Pedersen '53 and
John G. Pedersen Sr. '54
Gloria I. Prettyman
Milman E. Prettyman Jr. '50*
Christopher M. Sammelwitz '84
Linda D. Santomenna '81 '84M and
Robert L. Alphin Jr. '75 '78M
Chip G. Schussler '79
Sandra McLamb Selzer '94
Amy J. Smagala '05
Melissa Eissner Stabler '85 '91M and
R. Craig Stabler '88M
Maureen T. and Raymond R. Stankiewicz
Natalie S. Sullivan
Stephen F. Sylvia '90
Jeffrey J. Tessmer '84
Saralee Webb Towers '65 and
H. Wesley Towers Jr. '64
Kathleen Devenney Troutman '72
Karen V. Washburn
Jean S. and Harold B. White III
Debra Wiegand
Man Yi '92M
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