Lakeland College applied research projects swept the competition in the Canadian Beef
Industry Conference’s student poster competition, championed by three students who
spent the summer working alongside college researchers.
The competition is divided into two streams, one for undergraduate students and the other for graduates. To participate, students submitted abstracts about the projects they would like to feature in their poster, and, if accepted, presented their posters for evaluation during the conference. After being judged by the beef producer audience, the top three students in each division were selected to advance to the main-stage finals where they competed for cash prizes by delivering a presentation about their project.
Bachelor of agriculture technology students Meghan Lees and Hannah Ames, both completing their practicum placements with applied research, participated in the competition as well as Grace Burton, a University of Saskatchewan student who joined the Lakeland team as a research summer student.
Lees’ work with Dr. Obi Durunna on winter swathgrazing, comparing a polycrop versus a monocrop for water use efficiency, took first place.
“I am really proud of the three of us,” says Lees. “It feels amazing to be able to have a community at Lakeland. It feels really good to be able to represent the college and show everybody what we can do. Being part of the conference instead of just attending had a huge impact on the experience as well. We got to interact with people and make connections that opened a lot of doors.”
Burton worked with Dr. Susan Markus, creating a poster about Markus’ project tracking pasture water quality changes throughout the grazing season and the effect on beef cattle, and placed second.
“My whole summer was built around this project, so being able to present it and talk to producers about it was a really great experience,” says Burton. “It was my first time doing any public speaking and it was in front of more than 200 of the most important people in the ag industry. I really appreciate that I got to have this kind of experience.”
Ames placed third, working with Dr. Brenda Ralston and Andrea Hanson on a project about enhancing cattle nutrition and health through mineral and vitamin supplementation.
“It was really interesting to meet all the people that came to check out our posters. I met a lot of people and being able to connect with them and have those conversations is a really important skill,” says Ames.