The Animal Science Society

I have not posted very much recently because we are still waiting on the bull calves to be born.  In terms of the study I am conducting and the study I am helping with we have not started.  Next weekend there are supposed to be some calves born, I really hope at least one is a bull calf.

Other than this slight disappointment, I did get such great exposure to the Animal Science community.  On March 17th I was able to go the the Midwest Animal Science Meeting to present my past study.  Because there were some graduate students presenting, we had the road trip to Iowa two days before my actual presentation.  I believe this event would be small and I could only watch a couple of the professor's presentations, which would be similar to in class lectures.

To my surprise this event was spectacular! It was a large event where they allowed both graduate and undergraduate students as well as professors from other colleges to watch any presentation.  There were numerous presentations given at any time so I was able to pick which I wanted to go to.  I met both professors and students from different colleges and countries.

Watching how much enthusiasm each one had when they would discuss their area of interest within animal science made me realize just how diverse this field is.  Throughout college I have learned that animal science is not only this stepping stone towards veterinary school (my goal and what most students in this field at the University of Illinois want), but there is so much more that you can head towards and do as a career.

Caring for Baby Animals

This study will be a very welcomed change from the hard labor it took to care for 23 beef bulls.  Needless to say I am very excited for the day the calves for this study are born. Unfortunately the calf that we were waiting for turned out to be a heifer (these will not be used for the study).  This means we will have to wait until this weekend to see if we can start this study.  I was initially a little disappointed, but we still have plenty of time to conduct this research.

The study I will be working on  is measuring bovine interleukin-1 (IL-1 beta) beta levels in neonatal dairy  calves during their first day of life. The IL-1 beta is important as a mediator for inflammatory response.  I believe this project will be extremely interesting, it is a field that does not have very many publications.  My role for this research will be a little of everything, since it is my own little research I will be (hopefully) taking a part of every aspect of it.  I am sure I will also be obtaining help from veterinarians and other animal science students.  This research will be a great way for me to really continue practicing my skills in animal handling, blood drawing, and ELISA immunoassay (used to determine the IL-1 beta levels).