Two West Virginia University graduate students earned top honors for their research during a recent poultry science conference.

Alina Corey and Angela Lamp, both nutritional and food science students in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, joined scientists from around the world at the end of July in San Diego, Calif., for the annual Poultry Science Association meeting.

Founded in 1908, the association is a global scientific society dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge generated by poultry research.

Corey and Lamp competed against students from around the world as they presented their research to poultry industry professionals, researchers, academic leaders and peers.

Corey, a native of Wheeling, W.Va., earned the top overall score and received the Graduate Student Research Certificate of Excellence in the “Metabolism and Nutrition: Feed Additives I” category. Her research project was entitled “The effect of calcium lignosulfonate, mixer-added fat, and feed form on true amino acid digestibility and digesta viscosity.”

Her work detailed the economic impact of using calcium lignosulfonate, a byproduct from the production of wood pulp, on broiler digesta viscosity and true amino acid digestibility, which is vital information during a time of record high ingredient costs and intensified demand for cost-effective poultry products for improved performance.

Lamp, of Weirton, W.Va., won the Graduate Student Research Certificate of Excellence in the “Metabolism and Nutrition: Enzymes I” category for her research titled “The effect of pelleting and glucanase supplementation in barley based diets on feed manufacture, broiler performance, and gut viscosity.”

Her research focused on determining if the pelleting process, techniques commonly used to improve the physical form of broiler feed, may be detrimental to the glucanase enzymes activities as well as broiler bird performance and bird gut viscosity.

“These two young scientists worked incredibly hard to earn these achievements. I am very proud,” said Joe Moritz, associate professor of poultry science and Extension specialist. “It is remarkable that poultry science students from WVU consistently outcompete students from universities that have multiple faculty dedicated to poultry science, many with entire poultry science departments.”

-WVU-

law/08/27/13

CONTACT: Joe Moritz, Associate Professor of Poultry Science
304-293-1911, Joe.Moritz@mail.wvu.edu

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