1 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Greetings! March was busy in the College after the setbacks of February’s Winter Storm Uri. In this edition of our newsletter, you can find information about our very successful COAES Alumni Breakfast. We had six members of the Class of 1970 join us for special 50-year anniversary recognition. It was great to see them! It was also a good opportunity to be reminded of the successes of our alumni.

We continue our Alumni Spotlight series with another of our outstanding alumna. If you would like to nominate someone for recognition, instructions are included.

We are quite gratified that we were able to hold the Tarleton CDE Invitational. We had 5600 student partici-pants and over 1200 advisors attend. It was a COVID-challenge but Dr. Ford, Ms. Damerau and graduate stu-dent Bryce Cline pulled it off in style! Thanks to the many other hands in the college who contributed to the Invitational’s success.

Meet our Outstanding Graduates for Spring, both graduate students and undergraduate students. We are very proud of them and their accomplishments while in college. We wish them well in their careers! We also show-case some of our many interns out gaining real world experience this semester. This is such an important part of our student’s education.

There are several interesting stories about students and classes, including some study away courses that will take place this summer. This further highlights the varied nature of our programs and the opportunities availa-ble to our students.

Also, please don’t skip our advertisements. We aren’t trying to sell anything except educational opportunities. Texan Tour dates are listed, information about how to participate in Meats Judging, an announcement of our open Instructor and Meats Lab manager position, and infor-mation about how to join us on social media. There is also a great article on faculty/student research we are doing on CBD supplement use in horses.

On a sad note, I am sorry to report that Dr. Don Cawthon, former Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Director of AgriLife Research in Ste-phenville passed away on March 29 after a long battle with cancer. Please keep his family in your prayers. Dr. Cawthon was a good friend to many in this college. We mourn his passing.

Becky and I hope your spring continues to get better and better. Hold on to your hats! The best is yet to come!

WSD DEAN’S CORNER

Save The Date

●4/9 Texan Tour

●4/10 Texan Tour

●4/13 Giving Day 2021

●4/14 FFA CDE Area Contest

Monthly Newsletter College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

April 2021

●4/24 Pursuit of Purple Steer Show

●4/29 FFA CDE State Contest

●5/4 Spring 2021 Last Class Day

●5/6-12 Spring 2021 Final Exams

2 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Alumni

Do you know an outstanding College of

Agricultural and Environmental Science

Alumni? Nominate them today.

The annual event celebrated our 50

Year graduates from the Class of 1970

COAES Alumni Breakfast

Although celebrating Homecoming in the

Spring was a bit unusual it was a grand

time. Thank you to all that were able to

attend, we’re looking forward to the next

one, scheduled for Saturday, October 23,

2021! If you’d like to browse the gallery

from this year’s event, join the COAES

Alumni Group on Facebook.

3 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Tarleton CDE Invitational

Tarleton CDE Invitational The annual Tarleton FFA CDE Invitational was held on March 25th at the Tarleton Agriculture Center, Lonestar Arena, Hunewell Ranch, and other locations throughout Stephenville, with over 5,600 participants. CDE’s (Career Development Event) are open to FFA members across the state of Texas. Students ranging from 7th to 12th grade are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and effective decision-making skills, foster teamwork, and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. CDE and LDE events occur at the lo-cal, state, and national levels. This year’s events included: Agricultural Sales, Dairy Cattle, Entomology, Environmental and Natural Resources, Farm Business Manage-ment, Floriculture, Homesite, Horse, Land, Livestock, Marketing Plan, Meats, Milk Quality and Products, Nursery/Landscape, Poultry, Range, Veterinary Science, Wildlife, and Wool. Job well done to the event coordinators Dr. Ted Ford, Mrs. Michelle Damerau, and Graduate Assistant Bryce Cline! Thank you to all who volunteered and participated. Event Results To learn more about FFA CDE and LDE events, visit https://www.ffa.org/participate/cde-lde/.

4 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Outstanding Students

Molly Koeck Wildlife, Sustainability, and

Ecosystem Sciences Outstanding Undergraduate

Student

Ryon Springer Animal Science and

Veterinary Technology Outstanding Undergraduate

Erica Edwards Agricultural and Consumer Sciences Undergraduate

Speak Off Candidate

Jadie Hargrove Agricultural and Consumer

Sciences Outstanding Undergraduate Student

John Palarski Wildlife, Sustainability,

and Ecosystem Sciences Outstanding Graduate Student

Peyton Thomas Agricultural and Consumer

Sciences Outstanding Graduate Student

Spring 2021

College of Agricultural and Environmental

Sciences Outstanding Students

5 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

The Pursuit of Purple

For Additional Information, Follow Pursuit of Purple on Facebook

6 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

In The Classroom

Ashlyn Terpstra is an Animal Science senior with a concentration in Animal Production. She is currently interning at COBA Select Sires.

Jessica Schroeder is an Animal Science senior with a Science concen-tration and a minor in Chemistry. She is cur-rently interning at Na-tional Roper Supply.

Brittany Vasquez is an Animal Science senior with a concentration in Animal Production. She is currently interning at Stephenville Equine Sports Medicine.

Zane Bearden is a Agri-cultural Services and Development senior with a concentration in Agri-Industries and Agencies. He is currently interning at Upper Trinity Ground Water Conservation Dis-trict.

Agricultural Mechanics Trailer Build Out By: McKenna Skidmore, AGCS Graduate Assistant The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) trailer is a mobile learning center. This trailer will be taken to local schools as a tool to prepare teachers on how to facilitate STEM curriculum in their classrooms. As the trailer is at schools, the stu-dents will also get to learn STEM curriculum through experiential learning. I have been tasked with constructing the inside of the

trailer. To date I have painted the inside, built movable lab tables and an augmented reality sand-box, along with laptop storage. This mobile learning center is im-portant because starting students on a STEM pathway at a younger age has shown to promote inter-est in STEM related careers. America is known for innovation, but currently, we are lagging be-hind other countries. By teaching our students the STEM curricu-lum, we help promote a better workforce here in the states.

Spring 2021 Interns - In The Field

7 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

In The Classroom

Amy Wallen Continuing To Make An Impact As State FFA Officer By: Dr. David Frazier, AGCS Associate Professor

Amy Wallen, an Agricultural Education freshman from Cleburne, is currently serving as a Texas State FFA Officer. Throughout her year of service, she has represented Texas FFA throughout the state. She has hosted a large number of virtual workshops and has had the opportunity to visit multiple high schools to present face-to-face workshops. This month, Amy and the rest of the state FFA officers were in Austin visiting with various legislatures and advocating for agriculture, FFA, and agricul-tural education. Image right: Tarleton State University student, Amy Wallen (front row, third from the right) and the rest of the state FFA officer team met with

Commissioner Sid Miller with the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Edwards and Spikes Awarded National Farm Life Insurance Scholarship By: Dr. David Frazier, AGCS Associate Professor Tarleton’s Erica Edwards was recently awarded a National Farm Life Insurance scholarship recognizing her incredible academic performance and involvement at Tarleton State University. Edwards is an Agricultural Education (WSTC) major and is student teaching at Weimar High School this spring. Under the guidance of Dr. Kyle McGregor, the National Farm Life Insurance scholarship program has been re-instated. Two scholarships are presented each semester recognizing one AGSD With State Teaching Certification major and one AGSD Agri-Industries and Agencies major. Maci Spikes is the AGSD – Agri-Industries and Agencies recipient. Both young ladies will be graduating in May of this year.

Sustainable Food Systems By: Dr. Stuart Weiss, WSES Assistant Professor

Students in Dr. Stuart Weiss’s Sustainable Food Systems (WSES 4408) class learned all about preserving and fermenting healthy foods. Mrs. Crissa Nugen assisted in instructing the experiential laboratory, that taught students the science behind and the processes required to make their own homemade kombucha, jelly, and pickles. Kombucha is a fermented tea that has probiotic properties. Prickly pear jelly was made from prickly pear tunas harvested locally. Carrots and turnips were harvested from the Horticulture vegetable gardens and pre-served by pickling.

8 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Study Away: Stewardship of Public Lands Class Explore The Big Bend Region By: Dr. Dominic Dottavio, WSES Professor Students from the Stewardship of Public Lands course participat-ed in one of the first Study Texas field trips prompted by COVID re-strictions on out-of-state travel. They met at various sites with the man-agers of Big Bend National Park, Elephant Mountain Wildlife Manage-ment Area, Museum of the Big Bend, and Monahan’s Sandhills State Park. In April, other students from the class will travel to East Texas for discussions with representatives from the National Park Service, the U.S. and Texas Forest Services, Big Thicket Association, Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, and Big Thicket Natural Heritage Trust. The Stewardship of Public Lands course provides students an understanding of the scope and variety of missions of significant public land management agencies in the United States, the broad range of natural resource controversies they face, and tools used to make in-formed decisions about their use and management. The field trips pro-vide a first-hand look at several significant resource management is-sues and highlight the mission of major land management agencies.

Image right: Students at Santa Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande Riv-er with Bob Krumenaker, Superinten-dent of Big Bend National Park, dis-cussing international land protection partnerships with Mexico, border crossing issues, exotic animal and plant control, and river management issues. Image left: Students at Castolon Historic Site in Big Bend National Park, discussing options for restoring or reusing La Hermonia Store, the most significant cultural resource in Big Bend National Park, following a wild-fire that gutted the structure. Discussions also included management chal-lenges of protecting cultural resources in a large natural area, the National Environmental Policy Act, and visitor management.

Study Away

Pictured left to right: Mollee Herrmann, Katelyn Board, Rion Conley, John Cruz, Adan Marcias-Hurtado, Collie Bowman. Far right, Superintendent Bob Kru-menaker.

Pictured left to right: John Cruz, Rion Conley, Katelyn Board, Mol-lee Herrmann, Hunter Baldridge, Adan Marcias-Hurtado, Collie Bowman.

Study Away: Ecology and Conservation of South Texas By: Dr. Darrel Murray, WSES Assistant Professor

This summer, the WSES Department will be

offering a new study away-Texas option: Ecology and Conservation of South Texas (WSES 4090 Special Topics, CRN: 65389). South Texas is a unique ecological region within the state due to the convergence of temperate, subtropical, coastal, and Chihua-huan desert habitats. This study away will provide a new experience for students accustomed to the prairies and woodlands surrounding Stephen-ville. The class will combine field-based learning, research, excursions, and exposures that enhance the understanding of the ecology, species conservation, environmental issues, biodiversity conservation prob-lems and prospects, and other integrated regional conservation agendas. Sea turtle management, ocelot conservation, and border wall issues are a few of the topics covered. This class will visit different protected areas including Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Las Palo-mas Wildlife Management Area, Audubon’s Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary, & South Padre National Sea-shore (island). The class is during the first summer term and will include one week of travel with accom-modations on South Padre Island.

9 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Campus Life

Click to

Learn

More

Upcoming Texan Orientation Dates

May 22, 29

June 10, 11, 18, 19 July 15, 16

10 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Campus Life

Click to

Learn

More

11 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Research

Figure 1: Plasma CBD concentrations were most prevalent at hour 1 and 4, with the HIGH dose showing a significant increase in concentra-tion from hour 1 to 4.

Pictured Left to Right: Faith Elwonger, Dr. Kimberly Guay, Lori Cohen

Figure 2: Feed intake tended to be higher in horses receiving the HIGH dose compared to the LOW dose on a percent of BW basis.

Figure 3: Heart rates tended to be higher in the LOW dose group, thought standard resting heart rates remained throughout the study.

Research: CBD Supplement Use For Horses By: Drs. Trinette Jones and Kim Guay, ASVT Associate Professors

The use of hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) as a supplement for horses has gained popularity in recent

years. Some many testimonials and reviews that claim CBD has the same beneficial effects, however, there is little to no research analyzing these benefits in horses. CBD is an FDA-regulated product that comes from hemp which is part of the family of Cannabis Sativa L. To be considered hemp, it must contain no more than 0.3% THC, which is a psychoactive component. CBD is a non-psychoactive product that is proven in humans and other animal species to be an anti-inflammatory, reduce anxiety, reduce insulin resistance, and aid in di-gestive health.

With no research using CBD as a supplement in horses, we performed a pilot study with mature quarter horses to determine 1) the ideal dosage to feed; 2) how long CBD stays in the blood, and 3) if there would be any adverse effect on the horses such as elevated heart rate, sweating or abnormal behavior. CBD was recon-stituted into olive oil and was administered to eight horses (4 mares and 4 geldings) that were blocked by age and gender. Before the dose day, horses were acclimated to the stall environment and feeding methods. On the dosing day, horses were given either a low dose (~150 mg) or a high dose (~300 mg) of the CBD/olive oil mixture. Blood samples were collected throughout the 24 hour study period. Heart rates were recorded every 15 minutes for the first 3 hours and feed and water intake were documented over 24 hours. Video footage was also collected of each horse, during the 24-hour period, to evaluate behavior.

Horses receiving the higher dose had higher levels of plasma CBD compared to the low dose treated horses, peaking at hour 4. Feed intake, tended to be higher in horses fed the high dose and the time of initial meal was longer for those horses compared to those receiving a low CBD dose. Heart rates tended to be high-er in the low-dosed group, however, all heart rates were within the normal resting values throughout the collec-tion period. These results were used to determine a dose amount for a longer duration study of CBD supple-mentation and feed intake in horses that took place this previous summer.

12 COAES Newsletter, April 2021

Email COAES@tarleton.edu to subscribe or submit newsletter content

The COAES Family

Taylor Tiemann (Nichols), COAES

Academic Advisor, married Matthew

Tiemann on Saturday, March 27th.

Wishing them all the best!