Student Success – Cultivate Fall 2019
Definition of Success
1 a: degree or measure of succeeding b: satisfactory completion of something c: the gaining of wealth, respect or fame 2: a person or thing that succeeds
First Place
A team of four Cal Poly animal science majors took first place at the national American Society of Animal Science competition in Austin, Texas, in July. The team, consisting of Selby Boerman, Sarah Dreyer, Kaitlyn McFarlan, and Hannah Neer competed in four events, including a written exam, oral presentation, a practicum of eight labs, and a quiz bowl. The students, who advanced to the national competition after taking first place at the western regional competition April 5-6, competed against teams from Texas Tech, North Dakota State University and Penn State.
Symposium
More than 40 students participated in the Spring Student Research Symposium. Sarah Dryer, animal science, won first place; Rebecca Bland, Olivia Chaffee, Sarah Mijalli and Amanda Drexler, food science, second place; and Anna Lamb, Cooper Ray and Manuel Ramos, nutrition, third place.
MANRS
Agricultural science major Gissel Corcoles (left) and MANRS' Omar Gonzalez-Benitez, who is pursuing a master’s degree in plant science, were both elected to the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRS) national office. MANRS is a nonprofit organization that promotes academic and professional advancement by empowering minorities in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences. Gonzalez-Benitez will serve as the graduate student vice president and Corcoles as the undergraduate student vice president. Cal Poly will host the MANRS regional conference Nov. 8-10.
Scholarship
Vegas Riffle (Agricultural and Environmental Plant Sciences, ’19), won the 2019 American Society of Enology and Viticulture Scholarship. She was recognized in June along with the other scholarship recipients at the American Society for Enology and Viticulture’s annual conference in Napa. Ripple is pursuing a master’s degree, studying the effect of vine age on performance of Zinfandel grapes and wines in the Edna Valley, California.
Floral Design
Cal Poly’s Floral Design Team took home three first-place awards at the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) National Student Competition, held in Las Vegas in July. The team won first overall and first in the Flowers to Wear and Bridal Bouquet categories. The team also placed fifth in Sympathy Design and 10th in Interpretive Design. Competing team members were agricultural education senior Alyssa Snow, animal science junior Amber Buzzard, and recent graduate Megan Borzone (Horticulture and Crop Science, ’19). As a team, they placed first overall.
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