AASV Foundation Announces Student Scholarship Winners

March 8, 2005 — Tracy Ann Raef

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation awarded scholarships, totaling $25,000, to 15 veterinary students during the AASV annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Jennifer Schurrer received a $5,000 scholarship for best student presentation. Jennifer is a third-year veterinary student at the University of Minnesota. Her presentation was titled "The influence of environmental temperature on PRRSV retention in houseflies." Alpharma Animal Health provided the financial support for the award.

Four veterinary student presenters received $2,500 scholarships: Andrew Bowman, The Ohio State University, Heather Gunn-McQuillan, University of Guelph, Michael Pugh, Iowa State University; and Janet Sunstrum, University of Guelph. Five veterinary student presenters received $1,500 scholarships: Brad Leuwerke, Iowa State University; Abby Patterson, Iowa State University; Brian Payne, University of Illinois; Stacey Walk, University of Illinois; and Lynette Wellen, University of Illinois. Five veterinary student presenters received $500: Nicola Jackson, Uniersity of Prince Edward Island; Deborah Murray, University of Minnesota; Jill Odle, Texas A&M University; Erin Strait, Iowa State University; and Peter Thomas, Iowa State University. Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, on behalf of Elanco Animal Health, provided financial support for these 14 awards.

Fifteen students were selected to present during the annual meeting from a pool of 34 whom submitted abstracts for consideration. All student presenters received a $500 travel stipend from Alpharma Animal Health to attend the annual meeting.

The awards were presented on Monday, March 7, 2005, at the AASV Luncheon.

Judges representing private practice, academia and industry selected the recipients on the basis of communications skills in the writing of the abstract and the presentation of the case report, and on applicability of the research to swine medicine.