Ļć½¶Ö±²„students selected for nationwide meat science program
Contact: Kathleen Forman
STARKVILLE, Miss.āFour Mississippi State students were among only 30 chosen nationwide to participate in a recent training conference for college students entering the meat science industry.
The Ļć½¶Ö±²„students traveled to Smithfield, Virginia, for the Smithfield Foods INTEGRATE program, where they worked closely with other meat science students to expand their view of industry careers.
Ļć½¶Ö±²„student participants included:
Joseph Manganoāan animal and dairy science masterās student from Pearl River, Louisiana, who earned his Ļć½¶Ö±²„undergraduate degree in 2018.
Maliq Holmesāa senior animal and dairy science major from Vicksburg.
Chelsie Dahlgrenāan animal and dairy science major from Ocean Springs who completed her undergraduate degree in December.
Virell Toāa food science, nutrition and health promotion masterās student from Indonesia, who earned her Ļć½¶Ö±²„undergraduate degree in 2020.
āSmithfield has a huge industrial scale operation, and they are invested in enhancing their processing capabilities,ā said Mangano. āI was excited to see their operation and learn how their techniques can be incorporated into our university meat lab.ā
Both Mangano and Holmes work at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Stationās Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory under Associate Professor Derris Devost-Burnett, in MSUās Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.
Dahlgren and To work as student researchers assisting both Associate Professor Thu Dinh in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences and Professor Wes Schilling in the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.
Burnett, Dinh and Schilling encouraged all four students to apply and assisted them during the process. Scott Willard, Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences also assisted with their travel.
āThis immersive approach gave students theĀ opportunityĀ to experience stakeholders in the meat industry that are interested in taking new ideas or customer requests and turning those into products on a commercial scale,ā said Burnett. āHaving four students selected for this opportunity further contributes to MSUās reputation in this field.ā
For more information on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, visit , on the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, visitĀ . Ā
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online atĀ .