Wyoming Beef Council appoints liaison
The Wyoming Beef Council has appointed University of Wyoming Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center Director Steve Paisley as a liaison member.
Paisley is also the Beef Quality Assurance Coordinator for the state of Wyoming.
BQA is a nationally coordinated, state implemented program that provides information to beef producers and beef consumers.
Paisley has been the Wyoming BQA coordinator since 2002 and routinely does five to seven training session per year across the state. These include individual ranch trainings, extension meetings and coordinated sessions with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and other industry partners. Paisley and his wife Carrie, along with their children live on and manage a ranch north of Wheatland that was established in 1888.
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If you are interested in earning a BQA certificate or would just like more information about the BQA program and what it means to beef producers and beef consumers alike, contact the Wyoming Beef Council at 307-777-7396 or email gary.gwin1@wyo.gov
Casper festival donates to historic preservation
The Casper Heritage Harvest Festival — a partnership of community organizations, including Theatre of the Poor, Candlelight Frights’ Save Halloween and Casper Ghostbusters/EctoInterceptor Project — has raised $575 for the Downtown Historic Preservation Commission and the National Historic Trails Center Foundation with the aid of the Casper Elks Lodge and a ghost hunt.
Proceeds from the fundraiser are being split with $100 going to the Elks Club in thanks to their opening their doors for this year’s paranormal investigation, $200 to the Downtown Historic Preservation Association and $275 to the Historic Trails Center Foundation.
Festival organizers are thanking community partners and all involved in the collaboration and plan to be back in the fall with new partnerships and offerings in the hope of restoring creativity and community to the celebration of Halloween.
Agricultural Experiment Station honors staff, researchers
The Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station recently commended faculty, staff and students for exemplary research accomplishments at an annual awards banquet in Laramie.
WAES is the research arm of the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources. Honorees included staff members of research and extension centers across the state as well as campus-based faculty and students within the college.
Amy Newman achieved the Kathleen Bertoncelj WAES Staff Award, named for a former WAES administrative assistant. The award honors a staff member who excels in their position.
Thomas Boothby, assistant professor in the department of molecular biology, is this year’s recipient of the Early Career Research Award, which recognizes someone with less than six years of experience directing independent research. Boothby studies how tardigrades survive in extreme conditions. This research could help create alternatives to storing biomedical materials in cold temperatures.
Beth Fowers, an assistant research scientist at the Sheridan Research and Extension Center, received the research support award. Nominators commented on Fowers’ willingness to lend a hand and ability to catch details others miss. She conducts independent research, trains and supports students, manages the greenhouse facilities at ShREC and participates in outreach.
Jeff Beck, professor of ecosystem science and management, achieved the WAES Outstanding Research Award, given to an established scientist within the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, and Natural Resources. Beck focuses on sagebrush ecosystems and animals that use those ecosystems.
A student and three faculty members of the Department of Zoology and Physiology were acknowledged for exceptional research published in the 2024 edition of Reflections magazine, WAE’s annual research report. Faculty members Anna Chalfoun, Matt Kauffman and Annika Walters won the Faculty Author Award for an article about the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Former WAES director Colin Kaltenbach established this award to recognize impactful research published in the annual magazine.
Ph.D. student Sabrina White was awarded the Lynn Feltner Student Author Award. The top student research project featured in Reflections is chosen by a panel of judges. This award was created by former faculty member Cub Feltner to honor his late wife. White’s research examines the impact of changing climate conditions on bumblebees.
