Students may apply to attend agriculture conference; travel awards to be granted

The UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the UAF Cooperative Extension Service are hosting the Sustainable Livestock Production in Alaska conference at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, Oct. 13-14. The conference will bring together livestock professionals and others interested in developing a stronger, more functionally integrated red meat system in Alaska. The goal of the conference is to identify the “best practices” for healthy and sustainable red meat production in a context of healthy ecosystems and financial viability.

Using money from a USDA grant, there are six student travel awards to the conference available in the amount of $500 each. Award recipients are expected to attend and participate in the conference, help the conference organizers with registration and with other conference activities as needed. Students are expected to fully participate in all conference activities, including topic discussions during breakout sessions. This is a tremendous opportunity to meet and interact with a wide variety of agricultural professionals, farmers and stock growers, and many others involved in all aspects of the supply chain from production to consumption, from the pasture to the fork.

To be considered for the award you must be a registered student in the UA system. Please submit a one- paragraph synopsis of your interest in the conference, of your ideas about, and commitment to, sustainable agriculture and red meat production, and your long-term educational goals. After the conference, you will be asked to submit a brief summary and overview of what you learned, where the conference activities were strong or weak, and your ideas about sustainable agriculture in Alaska.

Please submit your synopsis paragraph to Dr. Jan Rowell, chair of the organizing committee, by Sept. 20. Award recipients will be notified by email on Friday, Sept. 23.

For more information contact Dr. Rowell at 907-474-6009 or one of the other conference organizers, Milan Shipka, Joshua Greenberg, Tom Paragi or Craig Gerlach.