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College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Newsletter

Upcoming Events

11/1 LDE Invitational

11/2 Fall Plant Sale

11/3 COAES & Alumni Tailgate Party

11/5 Dairy Max “Telling Your Story”

11/15 Happy Sustainable Holiday

11/22-23 Thanksgiving Holiday

11/26 Graduation Ticket Distribution

Beings

12/7 Holiday Showcase

12/8 MOOvie Night @ The Dairy

A Message From Dr. Damron

DEAN’S CORNER

November 2018 Tarleton State University

The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is a large and complex entity. We are comprised of over

two thousand students, nearly fifty full-time faculty and staff, a campus facility, and the Agricultural Center.

The Agricultural Center increasingly functions as a second Tarleton campus in Stephenville. It is comprised of the

Southwest Regional Dairy, Equine Center, Meats Lab, Agriculture Field Machinery and Fabrication Center, Animal

and Plant Sciences Center (under construction), Hunewell Ranch, and herds and flocks of sheep, goats, beef cattle,

dairy cows, pigs, and horses. It provides a hands-on learning opportunity that may very well be unmatched by any

university in the nation.

Our already well-regarded teaching program is gaining increasing attention. The faculty is to be lauded for their ef-

forts in putting Tarleton and COAES on the map with new and different groups of potential students, constituencies,

and funding/support agencies.

Our rapidly growing research program is being fueled by an assertive discovery-minded faculty. Already COAES is

the principal generator of IDC of all the Tarleton academic units and a record number of grants have been submitted

this year.

Our large and effective service program is legendary and still growing. The number of events and the sheer magni-

tude of them is a sizable contribution to Tarleton and Stephenville. Further, we have aspirations of increasing out-

reach to Stephenville and surrounding communities by hosting new summer camps, workshops, and youth livestock

events.

In the midst of all this excellence, opportunity, and plans for the future, there is a perpetual “best kept secret in Tex-

as” characterization of Tarleton. Why keep Tarleton a secret? This college has made a concerted effort to wrestle this

“secret” mentality into submission by taking advantage of communication channels to highlight the many good

things happening here. We have enhanced our web presence, created this college-wide newsletter for both internal

and external audiences, established a positive social media presence, and managed the image of the college in a way

that brings regard to Tarleton. We have also ramped up our recruiting activities and presence in several markets, in-

creased the presence of our competitive collegiate teams, and brought awareness of the outstanding things that hap-

pen here.

Please help in the effort to bring attention to Tarleton’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Science. Help

make it a household name. We do not need to be a secret! We have too much to offer.

WSD

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You’re looking at the D2 Collegiate SHTX World Champions! This was not only a weekend of winning but a weekend of growing. Growing

horsemanship skills, confidence and growing closer as a team.

Congratulations to coach, Bobbie Walton, on guiding the team to success. A few highlights are:

•Katlyn Humphreys won 1st in the Day 1 All Around

•Audrey Whitehead won 3rd in the Weekend All Around

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

TREAT Riding set a record in the history books of the program and its Special Kids Rodeos. For those that don’t know

TREAT Riding began with a “field trip” for two elementary classes in the fall of 1994. It was set up very similar to our

now Special Kids Rodeos. In the spring of 1995 is when we held our first official therapeutic riding session with the Basic

Equine Assisted Therapy course that is offered in Animal Science.

Our record breaking Special Kids Rodeo was held on Tuesday, October 30th with us

serving right at 300 kids. There were a total of 35 different classes from 19 different

towns that attended and participated. These towns included Brookesmith, Brownwood,

Comanche, Cross Plains, Dublin, Early, Eastland, Gorman, Granbury, Hico, Itasca,

Lipan, Millsap, Peaster, Ranger, San Saba, Stephenville, Weatherford and Whitney.

This was only made possible by the 130+ volunteers from the Basic Equine Assisted

Therapy Class, Tarleton Equestrian Team, Horse Management Class, White Horse

Christian Academy, Morgan Mill 4H, Midway FFA, Weatherford OTA, and many

other individuals from our Tarleton family and Stephenville community. We filled the

TSU equine center arena with nearly 600 people and had an incredible, successful

rodeo, but could not have done it without our sponsors and our volunteers. We are truly

humbled by this community’s heart to give back and cannot say thank you enough.

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

By: Rebekah Halepaska, Public Relations Committee; Tarleton Student Chapter of The

Wildlife Society

With the flap of their wings, Kujo and Grim, the stars of the show, started the fourth meeting of the Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Grim, one of the previously missing hawks who famously made his way across Stephenville, seemed to be settled again with his falconer, Roger Crandall.

Roger Crandall, the founder and owner of Fal-Tech Inc., graciously held a presentation at the Joe W. Autry Agriculture Building, where he explained the roles of being a master falconer. Along for the ride were two of his Harris’s Hawks, previously mentioned, and his two peregrine falcons. These exquisite birds of prey are used in Crandall’s business, who offer a “green solution,” to disperse any nuisance birds, such as grackles, starlings, cowbirds, and crows from various facilities. These birds are specifically trained to hunt for other birds, when naturally they may go after small mammals. During his presentation, Crandall shared many interesting facts and details about Harris’s hawks and Peregrine falcons to members that attended this special meeting. For example, Peregrine falcons are equipped with long, hard, pointed wings as well as a long tail to help them reach speeds up to 250 mph when hunting for prey. Crazy, right? Also, Harris’s hawks, when in groups, can capture prey more successfully than individuals hunting alone. Therefore, we can conclude that these Aves are natural born hunters.

After the meeting was adjourned, any interested students were provided falconry gloves and given the chance to carefully handle these birds of prey. In conclusion, this mid-October meeting was a success and students left the presentation with an exaggerated story about their close encounter and handling of a fierce hawk to tell their friends.

Visitors Fly in to Educate Student Chapter of

The Wildlife Society members

Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society

member Sierra Oguzhan holds a Harris Hawk

Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society members Caitlin Elliott and Kathryn Burton hold a Harris Hawk and

a Peregrine Falcon at a recent SCTWS meeting.

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

By: C. Jennifer Matthews, Public Relations Committee of the Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society

In a previous article, readers were introduced to the H.R. 4647 Recovering Americans Wildlife Act (RAWA). This act would provide over one billion dollars in funding for conservation and research efforts for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCNs) including endangered species. Texas alone would receive approximately $64 million a year. However, the act is currently on the back burner due to it being bipartisan and lacking the needed cosponsoring of representatives. To remedy this, organizations all over the country, including Texas student chapters, are urging their local representatives to become cosponsors. The Public Relations Committee, led by Kathryn Burton of the Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, has reached out to their fellow peers to sign petitions and letters to be sent to two local representatives, Roger Williams and Michael Conaway. The committee organized presentations to classes and set up two informational booths at the Stephenville campus library. This provided students the chance to sign letters of support urging representatives to cosponsor. Over 120 individually signed letters were sent to the representatives advocating for this act and encouraging the representatives to support passing it. Congratulations to all those who signed, your voice was heard and Michael Conaway has become a cosponsor for RAWA! Currently, there are 104 cosponsors for the act, but 125 are needed to bring the act out of committee and into the House to be reviewed. Gaining cosponsors is a step in the right direction for passing the act, but time is running out. If the act is not passed by the end of the year, the entire process will start over again next year. Thus, wasting time that some endangered species do not have. The committee will continue to reach out to representatives like Roger Williams and remind them of the importance of this bill. For more information about RAWA, contact Kathryn Burton at kathryn.burton@go.tarleton.edu or Advisor Dr. Heather Mathewson at mathewson@tarleton.edu

Madi Midgley, Kathryn Burton, and Jennifer Matthews at a both on the TSU Campus to raise awareness of RAWA.

They got over a hundred letters signed that day!

Chumbley, S. B., Hainline, M. S., & Haynes, J. C. (2018). What high school administrators think of agriculture dual enrollment. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Journal, 62(3)

Chumbley, S. B., Hainline, M. S. & Haynes, J. C. (2018) Agricultural Mechanics Lab Safety Practices in South Texas. Journal of Agricultural Education, 59(3), 309-323. doi: 10.5032/jae.2018.03309

Dr. Curtis Langley had 1 paper and 1 poster accepted by the National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Research Conference in Indianapolis, IN. Early Stage College Students Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Needs poster and Agricultural laboratory safety education exposure levels of students participating in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Agricultural Mechanics Project Show: A generational review paper.

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

Region IV Collegiate Soils Contest hosted by Oklahoma State University on October

22-26 in Stillwater, OK. Six teams competed: Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Tarleton State,

University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University Kingsville, and an international team

coached by USDA-NRCS staff

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Bug Appétit is an annual event hosted by the Tarleton Entomological Society as a way to inform more people about the expanding use of insects as alternative protein sources. At the event we use

a variety of edible insects ranging from Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets), Hymenoptera (ants) and non insects like tarantulas in everyday dishes, that people love, to demonstrate how they

could be an effective alternative protein source. Dishes like cricket brownies (cricket flour used to make them), ants on a stick (weaver ants on a chocolate covered pretzel stick), and cricket curry

(chicken curry with crickets in it) give students who like a variety of cultures of food, different ways to implement insects into their diets, discretely through flour or strait up like the curry. The students who come seem to take away a better knowledge of insects and a great

experience. We hope those who are interested in insects, ask questions and contact us.

Contacts:

Haley Vincze: (214) 289 5868

Hannah Walker (817) 781 7929

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The Department of Wildlife, Sustainability, and Ecosystem Sciences (WSES) has kicked off the

second year of the Student Academic Mentors (SAMs) program. Student Academic Mentors are a group of upperclassmen WSES students that serve as mentors and leaders to freshmen students within the First-Year Seminar course.

Student Academic Mentors were selected based on an application and interview process with WSES

faculty members. Mentors serve voluntarily and are expected to model exemplary academic behavior, such as perfect class attendance and exhibit strong study habits.

Each SAM is assigned a small group of students within a section of First-Year Seminar where they have the opportunity to assist incoming freshmen with their transition into Tarleton State University.

Mentors attend class with their assigned group and provide guidance to their mentees by answering questions and providing insight based on their own college experiences. Mentors also organize out-of-

class group activities, such as study sessions, impromptu dinners, exploring the rec center, and other social events.

The SAM program aids freshman students during their transition into college while also providing upperclassmen serving as mentors an experiential learning opportunity. Serving as a ‘SAM’ allows

students the opportunity to make a positive impact and share their school spirit with new students at Tarleton State University. For more information on the program, contact Dr. Heather Mathewson

mathewson@tarleton.edu in WSES.

Our Student Academic Mentors for the Fall 2018 are: Ricky Garibay, Cheyenne Holt,

Tiffany Leitner, Hannah Walker, Kanyon Klein, Carlen Smith, Maximiliano Flores,

Samantha Eaton, Samantha Metts, Taylor Breeden, Nick Belsher, and Jacob Davis.

Students attended a falconry presentation hosted by The Wildlife Society.

Student Academic Mentors hosted an ‘Explore the Rec Center’ event where they organized a variety of

activities such as rock climbing, racquetball,

volleyball, soccer, and basketball. The purpose of the event was to help freshman students become

aware of resources and activities at the Rec Center and become comfortable using them.

Student Academic Mentors spoke with donors at the President’s Circle Showcase about the purpose of the SAM program. Students (left to right): Samantha Eaton, Taylor Breeden,

Tiffany Leitner and Jacob Davis.

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

The Tarleton State University Dairy Judging Team, coached by Barry Cavitt (adjunct Instructor/Tarleton alumnus) with assistance of Morgan Cavitt (Team/Tarleton alumnus), competed in the National Intercollegiate Dairy Judging Contest held at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin on October 1st. Both the team and individuals placed very well. During the Awards Banquet, they were awarded for the following placings: Team:

2nd High Team in Brown Swiss 4th High Team in Ayrshire 4th High Team in Milking Shorthorn 9th High Team in Reasons Individual:

Ellen Schilderink 8th High Individual in Reasons 4th High Individual in Milking Shorthorns 9th High Individual in Brown Swiss Landry Vieth 4th High Individual in Ayrshire Ashley Willits 6th High Individual in Brown Swiss The team’s next and final competition of the season is at the Senior College Dairy Judging Contest held at the North American International Livestock Exhibition in Louisville, Kentucky on November 4th. The team wishes to thank all who have and continue to support and cheer them on as they compete and gain valuable experience! Photo (L to R): Morgan Cavitt, Billie Nail (Sophomore Animal Science Pre-Vet major from Killeen, TX), Landry Vieth

(Junior Agribusiness major with concentration in Dairy Business Management from Windthorst, TX), Ellen Schilder-

ink (Sophomore Agribusiness major from Nazareth, TX), Ashley Willits (Senior Agricultural Communications major

from Copenhagen, NY) and Barry Cavitt

Click destination to learn more

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Thank you to everyone that

attended the COAES Homecom-

ing Alumni Breakfast at the Ag

Mech. Building, Oct. 20th,

including our honorees from the

50th anniversary class of 1968.

We look forward to seeing every-

one, and more, again next year!

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

By: Kathryn Burton, Historian for the Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society

The Wildlife Society, whose mission is “to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation,” hosts an annual conference that brings together wildlife professionals and students from all over the

country. Conference week provides learning and networking opportunities for all.

In October, Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society attended The Wildlife Society’s con-ference taking six officers and two active members. Dr. T. Wayne Schwertner and Dr. Heather

Mathewson led the way and encouraged the students to take advantage of the given opportunities. Five days of presentations, networking events, field trips, and activities kept the students with a full agenda. The days began with keynote sessions from well-known wildlife professionals including

Winifred Kessler, Darren Miller, David Hewitt, Mike Phillips, John McDonald, and more. A theme of “how far we have come” in wildlife sciences was shared across these talks, inspiring all the mem-

bers to continue to do what needs to be done to make positive changes. Following the keynote speakers, the convention center was opened to be explored.

Poster sessions were held each day and showcased upcoming research in areas such as avian ecolo-gy, mammal surveys, urban wildlife, diseases, and human dimensions. Research symposiums con-

tinuously ran throughout the day presenting similar topics. Along with these presentations, students were offered a résumé review to help them prepare for job applications.

TWS members also have the option to join working groups, each one specializing in an important

field of wildlife. Students automatically become part of the Student Development Working Group, which assists and connects student chapters from all over with helpful tips for excelling as young

professionals. The best part of the conference is the availability of networking. Connections were made with peo-

ple from all over the U.S. and Canada. A variety of career fields were introduced with opportunities to network with the people that are behind the work. TWS Council members, professors from uni-

versities, researchers, and the list goes on. TWS hosted organized mixers for more direct networking allowing members to pick a topic and sit at a labeled table with people who had similar interests.

Some of the options were graduate school, private and public sectors, Non-Governmental Organiza-tions, policy, education and outreach, environmental agencies, and other popular subjects like birds and mammals.

The student chapter had a wonderful wildlife learning experience and recommends involvement in

The Wildlife Society to stay up to date with these crucial topics. For more information, contact the Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society Advisor Dr. Heather Mathewson at mathew-

son@tarleton.edu.

Front row, left to right: Madi Midgley, Kathryn Burton,

Cheyenne Holt; back row: Dr. Heather Mathewson, Sara Beth Boggan, Daniel Wilcox, Wyatt Bagwell, Nick Belsh-

er, Chandler Larson, Dr. T. Wayne Schwertner. Daniel Wilcox and Wyatt Bagwell attend the Student

Leader Lunch where they met with student officers from universities across the nation and Canada.

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Nicholas Belsher grew up in the small rural community of

Ferris, Texas. Growing up Nicholas spent much of his

time hunting, camping, and fishing, and he grew to love

the outdoors. This love for the outdoors created a passion

to conserve the natural resources around us so that

future generations can have the same opportunities and

memories.

Nicholas is the outstanding graduate for the department of

Wildlife, Sustainability, and Ecosystem Sciences. In the

department, Nicholas has worked for three years as a

student worker assisting faculty and graduate students

with various tasks. He held the position as president of the

Tarleton Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, in

which he organized community outreach events and

volunteer experiences in the natural resource field.

Nicholas has received the honor of being on the dean’s list

every semester here at Tarleton. During the summer while

at Tarleton Nicholas has studied abroad in Southern

Africa learning the ecology and culture. He has also held

an Internship with Texas Parks and Wildlife on the Gus

Engling WMA

Following graduation Nicholas, plans to continue his

education and obtain a master’s degree in the natural resource field. Proceeding his education, he plans to work for a

state agency to do his part in conservation. Nicholas would like to say thank you to his family and friends for all they

have done.

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

By Jade St. Denis, Tarleton State Equestrian Team Public Relations Officer

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to compete in the horse

world without owning a horse? There is! You can show your horse-

man/woman skills in the show ring independently from the horse

you ride. Meet Tarleton’s own national qualifying Equestrian Team,

a group of skilled and passionate equestrians who represent our uni-

versity in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA).

Never heard of IHSA before? No worries, a lot of the team’s

members weren’t familiar with the association either until they met

the team. IHSA was originally founded to make it possible for riders

of all skill levels to compete individually and as teams at regional,

zone, and national levels, in divisions appropriate for the rider’s abilities. The organization was founded and devel-

oped by Robert Cacchione in 1967 while he was a sophomore at the Farleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New

Jersey, along with the help of his professor, Jack Fritz, a renowned horseman. When the association first launched

only two colleges competed against one another in hunt seat equitation, but the competition style quickly caught on

and many other universities joined. In 1979, the western divisions were in-

troduced to the world of IHSA, thus making it truly possible for all types of

students to participate. Today IHSA encompasses over 400-member colleg-

es across 45 states and Canada which are divided into 40 Regions in 8

Zones, allowing over 10,000 students to compete annually in the disciplines

of hunter seat equitation, western horsemanship, and reining.

IHSA was originally brought to Tarleton State University in 1980, although

the team was disbanded due to falsely representing the university. Our team

was revived in 2011, by undergraduates Lauren Bessert and Kelli Bannert

with the goal to rebuild the universities trust in our team and to give more

students the opportunity to show. Lauren had always competed as a young

girl and wanted to continue to do so in college. During her college searches,

Lauren had come across various other schools that had IHSA programs

and decided that it was time for Tarleton to have its own program once

again. The team still uses Lauren’s horses Sarah, a 16-year-old Appaloosa

mare, and Tonka, a 17-hand draft gelding, whom Lauren used for eventing.

Today, the Equestrian Team works hard to make

Tarleton proud inside and outside of the show ring.

We love participating in the university’s events, such

as the Halloween Carnival, Round Up, and Service

Day, and work closely with other equine programs

and teams at the school. Last season we achieved the

goal of sending two of our Hunt Seat riders to

Harrisburg, PA, for IHSA Nationals; where our team

president Jessica Johnson, who placed eighth

nationwide in the Novice Fences division, and former

team president Summer Farmer made team history.

This semester our team has started our season off

with 35 overall members out of which eleven repre-

sent us at shows in hunter seat equitation, and eleven represent us at shows in Western horsemanship, currently we

also have ten riders on our JV team who are getting ready to head into the show ring. Our western team went and

competed at North Central Texas College and Southern Nazarene University this semester, starting their season off

by ribboning in every division at both shows, while our hunt seat team had their first competition at the University of

Oklahoma ribboning in every ride and earning third place overall for High Point Team in the region on the first day!

Our successes would not be possible without the dedication of our advisor, Dr. Trinette Jones and our coach and

alumni rider, Michelle Mohr! Michelle became a member of our team when she was an undergraduate student and

began representing us in the alumni division in both hunter seat equitation and Western horsemanship. Coach

Michelle has competed at IHSA Nationals herself in both disciplines, and still goes out and represents our university

in the show ring along with us.

Our goal for this season is to qualify more riders for regionals so that we can send more riders on to Zones and Semi

Finals, and hopefully on to Nationals in Syracuse, NY!

Jessica Johnson on Ms H at Texas Tech

Jessica Johnson and Summer Farmer with

Robert Cacchione at IHSA Nationals

Natille Barnett on LeRoy at NCTC

Tarleton State Equestrian Team

Making History One Ride at a Time

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

Have something to share? Please submit articles, pictures and ideas to jcamp@tarleton.edu

During Tarleton’s Research & Scholarship Appreciation Week, held Oct. 8-12, a number of academic colleges highlighted their faculty and student engagement in research, scholarly and creative activities across the cam-puses. The symposium provided students an opportunity to discover how their peers are engaging in research across disciplines. This year’s symposium included six graduate research oral presentations, 25 graduate re-search posters, 45 undergraduate research poster presentations, five First-Year Research Experience (FYRE) oral presentations, 12 undergraduate research oral presentations and nine entries in the Creative Activities category.

A Graduate Student in Animal Science, Taylor Garcia —T. J. Garcia, J. P. Muir, K. A. Guay, J. A. Brady, and W. B. Smith With his first place research oral presentation award for Reduce Reuse ReRumen: Variability in

Nutritive Value of Paunch Manure, mentor: Dr. W. Brandon Smith

Southwest Regional Dairy Center

Tarleton COAES

Tarleton COAES

Animal Science & Vet Technology

Stock Horse Team

Equestrian Team

Meat Laboratory

Pre-Vet Club

Equine Center/Program

FFA Events

Dairy Judging Team

Agriculture & Consumer Sciences

Wildlife, Sustainability & Ecosystem Sciences

Agricultural Communications of Tomorrow

Southwest Regional Dairy Center

Rodeo Team

Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society

TREAT Riding

Entomological Society

Tarleton COAES

Equestrian Team

FFA Events

Complete Article & Award Winners

Tarleton announces winners of

annual student research symposium

Events at this fall’s LDE contest include: Ag Advocacy, Ag Issues Forum, Greenhand Chapter Con-ducting, Greenhand Creed Speaking, Greenhand Quiz, Greenhand Skills, Job Interview, Public Re-

lations, Radio Broadcasting, Senior Chapter Conducting, Senior Creed Speaking, Senior Quiz, Sen-ior Skills and Spanish Creed Speaking.

Press Release

Tarleton hosts 1,600 FFA members for leadership events