UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Eight undergraduates in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently earned national awards in all animal areas -- poultry, livestock and dairy.

Poultry

Heather Lehman, a native of Mechanicsburg, was named U.S. Poultry Science Club 2001 Student of the Year at the National Poultry Science Club's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga., in January. Lehman will graduate in animal sciences in May 2001.

Penn State's Poultry Science Club also won the 2001 National Best Scrapbook Award. The scrapbooks, put together by clubs all over the country, highlight local clubs' activities during each academic year.

Livestock

Jameson Walker and Kevin Harvatine were recently named National Block and Bridle Outstanding Senior and Junior, respectively, at the club's annual convention in St. Louis, Mo., in January. Harvatine, a native of Thompson, will earn his bachelor's degree in animal science in May 2001.

Walker, a native of Guys Mills, graduated in dairy and animal science with high honors. He served as College Marshall at May 2000 graduation. Walker works as a district manager at Purina Mills Inc. serving western Pennsylvania, New York and eastern Ohio.

Dairy

Heather (Oberholtzer) Hostetter, a native of Elizabethtown, received the Dairy Shrine Student Recognition Award at the 2000 World Dairy Exposition in Madison, Wis., in October. This award is given to the top dairy science senior in the country. The award is based on academic activities and dairy-related experience. Hostetter works as an area territory representative for Monsanto Dairy Business in Minnesota. She earned her bachelor's degree in dairy and animal science in May 2000.

Penn State's Dairy Science Club was recognized as the number-one club in the nation for 2000 by the American Dairy Science Association. This is the sixth consecutive year that the club has received this honor.

National Beef Quiz Bowl

The college's 2001 Beef Quiz Bowl Team -- with members Curtis Beidel, Tia Crider, Mark Hazelton and Doug Koontz -- competed and won first place in the National Collegiate Beef Quiz Bowl at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's 2001 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas, in February.

According to coach Jana Peters, who accompanied the team, the college represented the Northeast Region at the competition for eight of the past nine years and has won first place five times. "The fact that Penn State has dominated this contest over the years speaks to the quality of our students, as well as to the quality and rigor of instruction they receive," she says. "Our students excel academically. They also are prepared in the practical aspects of production agriculture, which is apparent during the contests as question topics range from applied beef management to reproductive physiology."

Tia Crider, a native of Chambersburg, received her degree in dairy and animal science in December 2000. Curtis Beidel, a native of Newburg, will graduate in animal sciences in May 2001. Mark Hazelton, a native of Mansfield, will graduate in animal sciences in May 2001. Doug Koontz, a native of Bedford, will graduate in agricultural business management in May 2001.

In 1999, the college combined its majors in dairy and animal science and poultry management and technology into one interdepartmental animal sciences program. The new major -- which covers beef and dairy cattle, companion animals, horses, poultry, sheep and swine -- equips students with the latest, most relevant skills for the changing animal industry.

For more information on the major, contact Jana Peters by phone at 814-863-4198 or by e-mail at jp9@psu.edu, or visit the World Wide Web at http://www3.das.psu.edu/undergraduate.

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EDITORS: Jana Peters can be reached at 814-863-4198.

Contacts: Kim Dionis KDionis@psu.edu 814-863-2703 814-865-1068 fax