K-State Current - April 3, 2019

K-State Current is a weekly news update for the Kansas Board of Regents to apprise the Regents on a few of the many successes and achievements made by K-State faculty, staff and students.

K-State News

A summer of fun: Kansas State Polytechnic hosts a variety of summer programs for kids

Children can experience the power of Polytechnic by registering to attend any of the hands-on interactive summer programs offered on the Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus in June and July.

Summer programs are available in topics ranging from unmanned aircraft systems to digital media to aviation and more, and all are designed to suit the interests of children in elementary, middle and high school. All summer programs are led by student clubs and faculty experts.

The following summer programs are being offered by Kansas State Polytechnic:

• UAS Commander will be offered June 3 and is for kids in grades sixth through eighth. They will learn about the newest area of aviation: drones. The course will let them fly unmanned aerial vehicle simulators, quadcopters and take a UAS selfie using some of the newest technologies in the field. The cost is $105.
• Aviation Fixation will be offered June 10-13 and is for third- through fifth-graders, who will learn the basics of flight and the anatomy of an aircraft, and they'll fly in state-of-the-art flight simulators to expand their knowledge of aviation. Cost of the program is $65.
• Aviation Fixation 2.0 will be offered June 10-13 and is for sixth- through eighth-graders. This program will help them take their love and knowledge of aviation to the next level. Participants will read aviation maps and learn how the weather, pre-flight inspections and aircraft anatomy are all required to be a great aviator. These skills will be tested in a flight around the Salina area. Cost of the program is $110.
• Electronics, Engineering and Game Design will be offered June 17-19 for fifth- through seventh-graders, who will enter the world of hands-on engineering technology. They'll experience the inner workings of industrial manufacturing, laser engraving, electronics, gaming and computer programming in Kansas State Polytechnic's hands-on style. Cost of the program is $65.
• iVideo Mania, for fourth- through sixth-graders, will be June 18. Participants will become movie producers. They will pick a topic and use provided props, their own art and sound effects to bring their video vision to life. Participants will learn multimedia editing skills using popular software and technology. Cost of the program is $50.
• Digital Design, offered June 24-27, will let ninth- through 11th-graders learn art and graphic design basics to take their artistic talents to a new level. Throw in animation, motion graphics, and video capturing and editing skills, and they'll learn what it takes to become a digital media design expert. Cost of this program is $65.
• Fly K-State Academy will be offered July 22-25 and is for ninth- through 12th-graders, who will take part in four missions designed to take their aviation skills to the next level. They'll learn how to take off and land, perform flight maneuvers, and take a cross-country flight using the tools of a professional pilot. Cost of the program is $1,200.

Register for courses online at polytechnic.k-state.edu/summerprograms or contact Kris Grinter at 785-826-2676 or kgrinter@k-state.edu.

Registration opens for international livestock conference at Kansas State University Invitations are being sent around the world for high-profile leaders to travel to Kansas State University in September to help shape the future of livestock production.

Livestock producers worldwide face complex questions about innovating in sustainable ways to meet growing global demand. Those questions deal with feeding nearly 10 billion people in the coming decades, environmental stewardship, business concerns, dependable systems for grain and feed, disease prevention, technology adaptation and more.

The Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock, or GASL, annually convenes Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meetings to initiate open discussions from varied perspectives so these questions can be answered.

Hosted by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization based in Rome, GASL shares good practice and policy and promotes the sustainability of the global livestock and agri-food sector. Its main principle is that all livestock production systems can be more sustainable, no matter where they are.

GASL's ninth Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meeting, titled "Innovation in Sustainable Livestock Systems," will take place in Manhattan Sept. 9-13 to discuss science and policy around four sustainability domains, with plenary sessions for each that will be open to the public: Food Security and Nutrition, Livelihoods and Economic Growth, Animal Health and Welfare, and Natural Resources and Climate.

More than 350 invited attendees from around the world are expected to attend, making Manhattan the epicenter of the global livestock industry for the week. This year will mark the first time this meeting of influential political leaders, industry executives, NGO representatives and academics will be conducted in the United States and the first time it will be hosted by a university.

"Innovations are key to maintain and further improve sustainability in livestock-based value chains," said Fritz Schneider, chair of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock. "Kansas State University is an important innovator both in the USA and globally. GASL is privileged to partner with K-State for its ninth Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meeting in September 2

Anyone with an interest in sustainable livestock systems is welcome and encouraged to attend. Non-members of GASL may register and attend the meeting as well.

The schedule for the Manhattan event includes a specific focus for each day:

• Monday, Sept. 9, Science Day — featuring plenary sessions on GASL's four sustainability domains.
• Tuesday, Sept. 10, Policy Day — roundtable discussions and panels.
• Wednesday, Sept. 11, Field Tours — five tours of regional agricultural production operations.
• Thursday, Sept. 12, Action Day — action plan discussion, guiding group meeting and closing ceremony.
• Friday, Sept. 13, Business Meetings — closed member meetings, planning for next events.

With discussions centering on this year's theme, attendees will share perspectives on how innovation goes beyond the invention and development of technologies to include economic, behavioral, technical and policy aspects of bringing new approaches to bear on the issue of sustainable livestock systems.

All eight previous meetings over the last seven years were organized by the host countries' governments. Last year's meeting was in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Previous meetings were in Ethiopia, Panama, Colombia, Canada, Kenya, Thailand and Brazil.

Because of livestock's primary importance to the lives and livelihoods of people in developing counties, much of GASL's work is focused on smallholder and even subsistence farming. With a university in the heartland of the U.S. hosting this year's event, some of the information sharing will include demonstrating how larger-scale livestock operations incorporate sustainable innovations and how those practices can be adapted and adopted.

"Sharing innovations, from on-the-farm practices to genetics and technology, will allow us to collectively meet a growing world demand for animal-sourced proteins while balancing the protection of natural resources, ensuring a safe food supply, and protecting animal health and welfare," said Ernie Minton, interim dean of the university's College of Agriculture.

The university's standing as a leader in agricultural research and its collaborative efforts all over the world already have made it a recognizable destination for GASL participants.

"The strong roots of many of the Kansas State University faculty in practical livestock production makes a dialogue between the university and civil society organizations very valuable," said Pablo Frere, a member of the GASL guiding group and a coordinator for Redes Chaco in Argentina.

Another member of the GASL guiding group, Marcelo Gonzalez, vice minister of livestock in Paraguay's Ministry of Agriculture, said his country is committed to specific actions to keep its livestock production sustainable. "In tune with the existing academic agreement between Kansas State and Paraguay, the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership meeting will lead to many important innovations in livestock production in Paraguay," he said

K-State Faculty Highlights

Landscape architecture professor publishes new guidebook

Jessica Canfield, associate professor of landscape architecture in the College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign, is the co-author of a recently released guidebook, "Evaluating Landscape Performance – A Guidebook for Metrics and Methods Selection."

Developed by Canfield with Bo Yang, associate professor at the University of Arizona, and Heather Whitlow, director of programs and communications at the Landscape Architecture Foundation, the guidebook is the first comprehensive guide to landscape performance metrics and methods.

Landscape performance is a measure of the effectiveness with which landscape solutions fulfill their intended purpose and contribute to sustainability. Canfield and Yang's work was commissioned by the Landscape Architecture Foundation to make landscape performance evaluation more accessible to broader audiences and to improve the research rigor and replicability. The guidebook was developed through coding and analysis of the first 58 case studies published in the Landscape Architecture Foundation's Landscape Performance Series to identify categories of performance benefits. From that analysis, the authors identified specific metrics for three landscape performance categories: environmental benefits, social benefits and economic benefits.

"I am excited to see how the guidebook will be applied and to learn about outcomes from others' landscape performance assessments," Canfield said.

The book is available as a free PDF download, allowing design, planning and engineering professionals and students access to the information to use in their work.

Kansas State University faculty and alumni who provided assistance on the guidebook include Tim Keane, professor of landscape architecture, and Katherine Leise, 2015 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate.

K-State Student News

Kinesiology student awarded National Strength and Conditioning Association's Women’s Scholarship

Brittany Hollerbach, doctoral student in kinesiology, has been named a recipient of the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation's Women's Scholarship for 2018. Hollerbach was selected by the association's Foundation Scholarship Committee after a thorough evaluation process of all applicants. The $1,500 scholarship is designed to support women, ages 17 and older, to enter the field of strength and conditioning.

Hollerbach is a project coordinator at the Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research through the National Development and Research Institutes Inc. She works on studies being conducted by the Center for Fire, Rescue and EMS Health Research and the Center for Military and Veteran's Health Research. Her current work focuses on firefighter health and a military PTSD clinical trial. Hollerbach has been working on both military and firefighter projects with NDRI since she started her master's degree. She has an interest in firefighter health in general and female firefighter health specifically, given her background as a former firefighter. She has experience teaching at the fire academy and is well-connected to the fire service community in Kansas City. Hollerbach also has extensive experience working with military personnel through the Army Training at High-Intensity Study, a cluster randomized clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Katie Heinrich, K-State associate professor of kinesiology, in collaboration with the Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research/National Development and Research Institutes investigators.

"Congratulations to Brittany for this well-deserved honor," said Matt Stock, National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation Board president. "She is an outstanding student with an extremely bright future. We are proud to support Brittany in her studies to be a future leader of the strength and conditioning industry."

"Brittany's receipt of this award is well-deserved and celebrates her clear commitment to strength and conditioning research, particularly for female tactical athletes," Heinrich said. "She is an outstanding example of the high-quality student-researchers we prepare at Kansas State University."

The National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation was founded in 2007 with the aim of supporting the advancement of strength and conditioning practical applications. The foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to providing funding to its members taking part in educational and research endeavors.

Since its establishment, the foundation has awarded 120 grants and 440 scholarships, totaling more than $2 million to outstanding individuals within the strength and conditioning community. The foundation is one of the few foundations that fund work at the master's level and across all levels up to senior investigators, as well as one of the few sources that funds work in the strength and conditioning fields. A major goal of the foundation is to continue to maximize assets to increase grants and scholarships for its members.

Veterinary student is second-time winner of poultry medicine scholarship from national organization For the second year in a row, Jake Carlson, Elk Grove, California, a third-year veterinary student at Kansas State University, is one of 10 students chosen nationwide to receive a $5,000 scholarship from the American Association of Avian Pathologists Foundation and Merck Animal Health.

These scholarships are designated for second- and third-year veterinary students who are focused on poultry health.

Carlson earned a bachelor's degree in animal science at California State University, Fresno. He spent multiple years working for Mitchell Farms in Elk Grove, interned with the National Turkey Federation and worked for the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Emergency Management and Animal Health Team. He took part in a series of externships with Butterball LLC, the Turlock Branch of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, and Foster Farms this past summer. After graduating, Carlson plans to become a staff veterinarian for a poultry company.

"It's a great honor to have been selected for this scholarship again," Carlson said. "I am looking forward to using the funds to travel to the different poultry externships I have arranged for my fourth year of veterinary school, and am excited to learn even more about poultry medicine and the industry."

Carlson added that he is especially looking forward to spending two weeks with Kansas State University veterinary alumnus Kabel Robbins, who is a veterinarian for Butterball in Ozark, Arkansas.

"I was fortunate enough to have met him at the American Association of Avian Pathologists' annual meeting last July and have enjoyed having him as a mentor," Carlson said.

"These standout recipients will be instrumental to the future of poultry production," said Justin Welsh, veterinarian and executive director of livestock technical services for Merck Animal Health. "We're proud to support these students in their educational pursuits and look forward to the impact they will make in the years to come to help us advance the science of healthier animals."

"Projecting ahead 30 years, these are the future veterinarians who will ensure healthy flocks are producing safe and wholesome eggs and poultry meat in the global food supply," said Fred Hoerr, president of the American Association of Avian Pathologists Foundation. "We are fortunate to partner with Merck Animal Health to help identify these students and support their education."

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