2020-2021 Candiates for PSA
Hatchery Junior Student Director

My name is Meagan Abraham and I grew up on a small cow-calf and row crop farm in South Dakota. Growing up we also had small flocks of chickens, turkeys, and ducks but a career with poultry was not on my radar. I hadn’t realized at that point just how cool the poultry industry is! I completed my bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at South Dakota State University. I then went on to receive my DVM from the University of Minnesota and followed a mixed animal track with special emphasis on animal behavior and poultry medicine. I discovered a love of poultry medicine during my second year of veterinary school and during my fourth year I was fortunate enough to extern at several poultry companies- Sanderson Farms, Jennie-o turkey, and Daybreak layers- as well as diagnostic labs in Mississippi and Georgia. In the past I have done research with Minnesotan amphibian disease ecology and Asian elephant healthcare in Northern Thailand. I am currently a PhD student under Dr. Darrin Karcher at Purdue University and my research focuses on laying hen pullet welfare and management. Welfare is a passion of mine and I hope to complete my PACUC auditor training soon. I was specifically drawn to pullets because this phase is crucial to the hen’s lifetime success but very little is known about management during this phase.

I would like to be the PSA junior director because I want the opportunity to network with and hear from students within poultry science. I think everyone comes from unique and interesting backgrounds and I want to get to know more people in this organization. In my travels throughout the USA, Thailand, Japan, Europe, and Africa I’ve met some pretty amazing people and I can’t wait to meet MORE wonderful people! I’m currently serving as Purdue’s ANSC Graduate Student Association (GSA) President so I have some experience as a liaison between students and those in executive positions. I have some ideas of my own for this organization but of course want to know where students see the Hatchery going. If elected, expect online polls periodically so I can judge what students want out of this organization! If selected, one of my big goals is to get a mentorship program started. I am currently participating in a mentorship program in the American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP). This program creates an opportunity for students to network with current professionals in the field, helping them find jobs and to get career and life advice. I have found it very helpful and think it would be a great opportunity for this organization! Lastly, while COVID has changed the climate of social activities I’ve found some great ways to stay connected with other grad students and I would like to try out some of those activities with this group- specifically through webinars, online trivia nights and virtual coffee hours. I think it’s important for each of us to connect and communicate because we all plan on working in the wonderful world of poultry. I want to help facilitate that communication!

I want to introduce myself such that I can be a competitive candidate for the available Graduate student position at the Poultry Science Association. My name is Patrícia S. Carvalho, born 07/08/1991 in Brazil. I graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 2018 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. I am currently a M.Sc student in Animal Production at the Department of Zootechny at the same University, which is located in Porto Alegre, south of Brazil (see link in the map below).

I have been under the supervision of Dr. S.L. Vieira at the Aviário de Ensino e Pesquisa since 2012, first as an undergraduate trainee and since last year as a M.Sc student. My current project is ongoing and is related to the ¨Requirements of cupper of broilers fed excess phytase¨. We are willing to detect influences of phytase on the release of cupper as well as on reducing the needs for the supplementation of this mineral in broiler feeds.

I have been involved with poultry production since the beginning of my academic career and, because of the propitious environment at Dr Vieira´s Lab, I have had many opportunities to join academics with production. I have pursued this connection through the presentation of 26 abstracts in Brazilian and International meetings as well as done internships in laying hen and broiler companies. Examples were an internship at Hy-Line Brazil from September to December of 2019, where I was with Hy Line´s incubation personnel as well as at BRF broiler processing plant in Lajeado, RS, Brazil.

I had the opportunity to spend a full semester at the Precision Livestock Farming Lab at KU Leuven, Belgium, advised by Professor Dr. Tomas Norton. In that period, I was involved in two projects: “Effects of heat stress on broiler chickens using different temperatures during incubation” and “Vocalization of one-day-old chicks under heat and in cold stress”. I have been studying Poultry Production throughout my academic life and I am excited about the possibility of being a more prominent part of the Poultry Science Association as a Junior Student Director. As a country, Brazil is a large producer and exporter of both eggs and broiler meat; but we have not had a compatible representation from the graduate student side at PSA. Therefore, I see this opportunity as one to support the Association in Brazil as well as in Latin America to promote the benefits of being part of it.

I understand that language is a limitation in International meetings as the ones held by the board of PSA. I can communicate orally in English as well as in Spanish. Of course, Portuguese is my native language. So, I think communication can be overcome well during my participations.

I hope this introduction from my side will allow me to be a candidate that will meet the expectations of PSA.