The Beef Improvement Federation presented Baker/Cundiff Awards to Miranda Culbertson and Jose Delgadillo Liberona during the group’s recent annual meeting and symposium in Loveland, Colorado.
The annual Frank Baker/Larry Cundiff Beef Improvement Essay Contest for graduate students provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding student research and competitive writing in honor of Frank Baker and Larry Cundiff.
Culbertson is working on her doctorate in genetics and animal breeding at Colorado State University. Her essay was titled “Genetic Improvement of Feed Efficiency In Beef Cattle.”
Liberona is working on his doctorate in animal biology at Texas A&M. His essay was titled “Parent-of-origin effects on growth-related traits in Bos taurus indicus x Bos taurus taurus reciprocal crosses.”
The Beef Improvement Federation presented Roy A. Wallace Memorial Scholarships to Johnna Baller and Madison Butler. These scholarships were established to encourage young men and women interested in beef improvement to pursue those interests as Wallace did, with dedication and passion.
The graduate student award was presented to Johnna Baller. She completed her master’s degree at University of Nebraska-Lincoln in statistics. She was able to incorporate animal breeding and genetics in her master’s project, which involved stacking methods versus model averaging in genomic prediction. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in animal science with a specialization in quantitative genetics at UNL.
Madison Butler is this year’s undergraduate winner. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma State University in May and this fall will start her master’s at Kansas State University in animal science, specializing in livestock breeding and genetics.
