Smith named Udall scholar, publishes book

Madelyn Smith, a sophomore from Lafayette studying natural resource ecology and management, spent the past year photographing and collecting stories from Louisiana communities threatened by coastal erosion. The book that resulted from her work, Louisiana Gone, is filled with black and white images and essays that detail life along Louisiana’s vulnerable coastline.

Smith is a 2017 recipient of the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, which is awarded to only 50 college sophomores and juniors in the country and recognizes a student’s commitment to issues related to the environment. She believes her book played a role in her receiving the scholarship. As an Udall scholar, Smith will travel to Tucson, Arizona, this summer for a conference with other Udall scholars, where they will be charged with trying to find a solution to an environmental issue.

Five students receive University Medals at commencement

Five College of Agriculture students received University Medals during the college’s commencement ceremony on May 12 in the LSU Maddox Field House. The University Medal was established as an award for LSU undergraduate students graduating with the highest grade point average in their class.

Earning University Medals were, left to right: Kelly Forschler, a nutrition and food sciences major from New Orleans; Mackenzie Gremillion, an animal sciences major from Baton Rouge; Allison Poche, an animal sciences major from Baton Rouge; Jennifer Parent, a nutrition and food sciences major from New Orleans; and Elizabeth Weltman, a double major in natural resource ecology and management and sociology from Baton Rouge.

“This is an outstanding achievement,” said Bill Richardson, dean of the College of Agriculture and LSU vice president for agriculture. “We are very proud of these students for their accomplishments.”

Students take top honors at national poultry judging contest

The College of Agriculture poultry judging team won numerous awards at this year’s U.S. Poultry Foundation Ted Cameron National Poultry Judging Contest held April 5-7 on the LSU Baton Rouge campus. The LSU team placed first overall in the contest, and four team members were named overall finalists.

Individual winners were Kurtlyn Givens of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, who was the overall high individual in the contest; David Smith, of Opelousas, second high individual; Nicole Cutrer, of Covington, fourth high individual; and Chris Harris, of Baton Rouge, fifth high individual overall.

The team included, left to right: Dennis Ingram, professor and coach; Karen Robbins, assistant coach from Folsom; Smith; Cutrer; Givens; Harris; Trent Dugas, assistant coach from Loreauville; and Brandon Cheron, assistant coach from New Orleans.

College lauds alumni, students at spring awards ceremony

The College of Agriculture recognized outstanding alumni and students at its spring award ceremony on March 30. Award recipients included Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, outstanding alumnus; Melissa Siebert, outstanding young alumna, Matt Foster and Jancee Rice, the Ray and Dorothy Young Award in Louisiana Row Crop Integrated Pest Management; Brad Frazier, K.C. Toups Memorial Les Voyageurs Award; Jean Pittman, Gerald and Norma Dill College of Agriculture Alumni Association Outstanding Senior, and Fran DeVille, outstanding alumnus.

Kunlin Song wins distinguished dissertation award

Kunlin Song, at right, a recent Ph.D. graduate in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, is the recipient of this year's LSU Alumni Association Distinguished Dissertation Award in Science, Engineering and Technology with his dissertation, "Application of Biomass in Nanocomposites and Drilling Fluids."

His major professor was Qinglin Wu, at left. The winning dissertation demonstrated a mastery of research techniques, ability to do original and independent research, and skill in formulating conclusions that in some way enlarge upon or modify an accepted idea and most importantly contribute to knowledge. In 2015, Kunlin won a prestigious second-place Wood Award given to the best graduate research papers by the Forest Products Society. Kunlin’s work has been published in Fuel, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Colloids and Surface A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, and Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering.