DASC undergraduate research assistant places 1st at the Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference
Anna Cappellina represented Virginia Tech at the Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana placing first in the undergraduate original reseach student competition. The title of her presentation was “Effect of plant maturity on yield, nutritional composition, and fiber digestion kinetics of small grains for silage.”
An undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Gonzalo Ferreira's lab, Anna, worked with him on the project in the fall. Dr. Ferreira, who also presented at the conference (“Alternative forages for dairy systems”) invited her to participate in the competition.
Anna, a junior in the dairy science departmant, was named to the Dean's List in the fall of 2021. She is an active member of The Dairy Club at Virginia Tech, the Equine Repro Cub, Sigma Alpha, and the Collegiate Young Farmers.
From Silver Springs, Maryland, Anna did not grow up with an agriculture or farm background. She became involved with dairy through the Maryland Dairy 4-H Leasing Program. She showed with 4-H until aging out of the program when she began college. More collegiate competition experience is on the horizen for Anna when she presents at the 2022 American Dairy Science Association in June. It's safe to say that Anna now has quite an impressive dairy background.
The Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference aims to provide the most current information available to the industry regarding the feeding of dairy cattle. The conference is the result of the collaboration between The Ohio State University, Michigan State University, Purdue University, and the allied dairy industry.
