Students complete in academic quadrathlon
Print
EmailThe American Society of Animal Science offers students a chance to test their knowledge.
Each year, the Animal Science department offers MSU undergraduate students enrolled in any major the opportunity to participate in the American Society of Animal Science Academic Quadrathlon (AQ). AQ requires a four-person team that completes four events:
- A written exam, consisting of questions from any area related to animal production and products
- An oral presentation, in which the team uses cooperative problem solving and critical thinking to develop a presentation within a one-hour time limit
- Quiz Bowl, which is similar to the 4-H quiz bowl in which teams go head-to-head answering questions related to animal agriculture
- A lab practicum, where teams work through 15-minute stations to demonstrate practical skills
The winning MSU team moves forward to compete against other universities in the ASAS Midwest Section. Two teams competed in this year’s competition. Team one consisted of Kassandra Wilson, Delani Stull, Layla True and Mylee Haught. Team two consisted of Laken DuRussel, Brooke DuRussel, Grace Brown and Helen Craig.
The written exam focused on the topics of genetics, nutrition, anatomy and physiology. The oral presentation and quiz bowl took place at the Animal Science department meeting in November. For the oral presentation, teams had to answer the prompt, “Will precision livestock technologies replace animal husbandry staff in disease detection in production livestock?” The presentations were judged by Babatope Akinyemi, Pedro Trindade, and Barry Bradford. Finally, the laboratory practicum took place on December 12 and consisted of stations testing teams’ knowledge in meat science, equine, sheep, dairy, beef, swine, poultry, companion/exotic animals, feedstuffs and anatomy.
Several Animal Science department faculty, staff and students were instrumental in making this event a success. Mike VandeHaar, Hanne Hoffmann, Tasia Kendrick and Miriam Weber provided the written exams. Jackie Jacobs, Cara Robison and Andrea Garmyn as well as Kendra VanOrder, Julie Moore, Erika Ekhardt, Melanie Pimental Concepcion, Katie Baugh and Eye Ampaiwan assisted in designing and running the laboratory practicum stations.
While it was a very close competition, Kassandra Wilson, Delani Stull, Layla True and Mylee Haught will represent MSU at the 2025 ASAS Midwest Section Meeting, held March 9-12 in Omaha, NE. Congratulations to the team, and we look forward to next year’s MSU Animal Science AQ competition.
