LSU College of Agriculture Graduate Jake Anderson Receives 2011 ADSA Genevieve Christen Undergraduate Student Award

BATON ROUGE – LSU alumnus Jake Anderson of Athens, La., who recently received his bachelor’s degree from the LSU School of Animal Sciences, was recently selected as the winner of the 2011 American Dairy Science Association, or ADSA, Genevieve Christen Undergraduate Student Award.

Anderson received the honor during the ADSA’s recent national meeting, held July 10-14 in New Orleans.

“Jake’s passion for the dairy industry, academic accomplishments and leadership skills are clearly evident,” said Cathleen Williams, an associate professor in the LSU School of Animal Science’s Department of Dairy Science. “Therefore, it is fitting that he is the recipient of the 2011Genevieve Christen Undergraduate Student Award.”

The Genevieve Christen Undergraduate Student Award recognizes distinguished undergraduates focusing on leadership ability, participation in ADSA-Student Affiliate Division activities, local dairy science club activities and involvement in the dairy industry.

Anderson completed his Bachelor of Science degree program in animal, dairy and poultry sciences with a dairy production concentration in May 2011. He will continue his studies at LSU this fall, where he will pursue a master’s degree in ruminant nutrition. Upon completion of his master’s program, Anderson said he is interested in a career either as a consulting nutritionist or extension specialist.

Anderson’s interest in the dairy industry began while he was involved in 4-H youth programs in middle and high school. He became actively involved in dairy science as a resident student employee at the LSU Dairy Farm, where he was responsible for overseeing the farm in the evenings and weekends.

Anderson’s interest in dairy science flourished during his undergraduate study. During his senior year, he was selected as the LSU Dairy Alumni Association Dairy Scholar. During this time, he became actively involved in all aspects of dairy nutrition research.

“This experience in research greatly enhanced his [Anderson’s] education in dairy production during his undergraduate program and cultivated his interest in pursuing graduate studies in ruminant nutrition,” Williams said.

“Jake has proven to be an outstanding student at LSU,” Williams said. “While maintaining excellent grades, he also participated in extracurricular events to supplement his classroom education. He participated in the regional and national North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge contests. His presentation, ‘Dairy Foods in the Prevention of Childhood Obesity,’ placed first in the Southern region and second in the national ADSA student division paper competitions.”

While Anderson is an excellent student, he also excels in leadership. He recently served as the 2010-11 president of the ADSA Student Affiliate Division and as an ex officio member of the ADSA board of directors and ADSA program planning committee. Prior to his term as president, he served as the 2009-10 secretary-treasurer. He was also awarded the ADSA Student Affiliate Division Outstanding Student award for 2009-2010. At the regional level, Anderson was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Southern Regional ADSA Student Award.

As a Dairy Science Club member at LSU, Anderson was actively involved during all four years of his undergraduate study. He served as the club’s president in the 2010-11 year, social chair in the 2009-10 year and second vice president in the 2008-09 year. Under his leadership as chairman of the fall ice cream sales, the club netted several thousand dollars in revenue. He also secured more than $3,000 in student government funding for the club to attend national ADSA meetings.

“He was extremely instrumental in the success of the dairy science club for the past four years,” Williams said of Anderson. “As a testament of his club leadership, his peers selected him as the Outstanding Senior for the 2010-11 year.”

In addition to his work with the dairy science club, Anderson’s leadership skills flourished as assistant coach of the LSU dairy challenge team, Williams said.

“His unselfishness and willingness to help others are two of Jake’s most impressive qualities, and these qualities have helped him develop as a leader in the dairy industry,” she said.

Founded in 1906, the American Dairy Science Association was established as a scientific and educational association to serve the dairy-related industries. It works to develop leadership and promote scholarship among students interested in the dairy industry, and encourages students toward careers in dairy science. There are nearly 500 undergraduate student members in ADSA. More information can be found online at www.adsa.org.

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Contact Aaron Looney
LSU Media Relations
225-578-3871
alooney@lsu.edu