PSERT General Meeting
9-30-2014
All attendees signed in to keep record of attendance. Proceeding this, all officers re-announced themselves to the group, making any necessary remarks on positions or upcoming events.
Danae Oliver - President
· Reflected upon the barn open house and thanked all who participated
· Reflected on the Pulse and Respiration event and KILE
Amy Kraus - Vice President
· Nothing to report
Caitlin Edinger - Secretary
· Nothing to report
Patricia Ochonski - Treasurer
· Collected dues for the semester and for the year
· Reflected on Pulse and Respiration with the trail ride; Andrea and Dr. McCallister were very pleased with the turnout from PSERT
Taylor Shears - Webmaster
· Email Taylor for any concerns regarding the PSERT info at tms5636@psu.edu
· Meetings are now on alternating Tuesdays and will be placed on the website for verification
· May update the ANGEL site
Kristin Murray/Ellen Blum - Ag Student Council Representative
· Thanked members for help with the Mushroom stand during Ag Progress Days
· We logged in 12 hours, so we are eligible to get the Club of the Year award as well as additional funding
· This weekend is the Ag Hill Olympics
o Sunday 2-4 pm
o Each club has a team of 4 members and hosts their own game
o Need ideas for a game
o A sign-up sheet was passed along
· Ag Career Day - October 21st
o Held in the Bryce Jordan Center
o Bring resumes and business attire
o Chance for internships, jobs, and graduate schools
· Now Holding a point system
o If we get 10 % of the points, we get $10
o More incentive for participation in the College of Ag events
Hannah Allen - UPAC liaison
· Nothing to report
Sara Groome - Social Chair
· The first social event will be in early October - potluck at her house or on campus TBA
· Other possible social events include bowling, frozen yogurt, dinner, and a tie-dye party!
Jenny Lind - Historian
· Nothing to report
Janelle Musser - Alumni Relations
· Nothing to report
Katie Baluch - Social and Fundraising Chair
· Cowgirl cookies TBA
· Updating apparel
· Came up with Peace, Love, PSERT workout tank
- We will order the tanks in white and will be tie-dying the shirts as a social event.
· Will keep the navy jacket, polo, and quarter zip
· Heather gray t-shirt with logo
· Running shorts, location of logo TBA
· Stay tuned for a survey from Katie in order to assess which ideas everyone would like for apparel
Dr. Staniar - advisor
· Discussed potential research ideas
· Brought all the posters from past years and discussed each one to stimulate ideas on attainable projects that incorporate the whole group and help the equine industry
· Indicated which ones PSERT was involved in as well as the Equine Science Department as a whole to prove how much we have accomplished over the years
· Money is certainly an issue at this time, so projects must fall within the budget and facilities that we currently have here at Penn State
· Mentioned the Miner Institute - great undergraduate internship opportunity for students interested in horses and cows
· Undergraduates have been involved with every single one of the projects presented by Dr. Staniar, so the possibilities are definitely out there for old and new members to get involved.
Update on the Growth Study
· Measurements were completed in July, due to the fact that we ran out of available members to continue the data collection. The data is all available and ready to be entered!
This will be the "Year of Publications!!!"
· We are looking to produce a manuscript that will summarize normal quarter horse growth trends from our Growth Study as well as growth trends that occur in the rare case of twins, in Sheila Zimmer's study.
Potential Ideas
· Utilization of the GPS on Penn State's Horses
o Detect foal movements
o Correlate to behavior
o Correlate to eating habits
o Trends amongst different breeds
o Precision of the GPS should also be considered, given the limited space available
· Use of Chew Sensors ($$$)
o Unsure of the reliability
o Want to find a mechanism of measuring intake in grazing animals
o Dry lot with certain amount of feed available
o Currently a study at NC State on pasture intake in horses
· Study on Parasites
o Egg count and seasonal changes
o Laura is currently working on a similar project for parasites in Penn State's horses
o High shedders (horses with a lot of eggs in feces) producing high shedders? Will switching a high shedder foal to a low shedder convert it to a low shedding individual?
o Around 80% barely need dewormers here, whereas the other 20% contaminate the field
o What is the genetic difference?
o Setting up a PSERT Fecal Egg Count Laboratory for everyone within a certain radius
§ Could set up a certain rate that would be discounted from the vet and could help fund the resources needed for the research
o Incentive for involvement?
o Setting up small teams to operate on specific weeks
o Could interfere with veterinarians
o May or may not have proper legal access
o If Dr. Ed were involved - he is a licensed veterinarian
o Dr. Van Saun has the knowledge
o Ag Extension and diagnostic lab may also handle these
o Laura will look into the logistics and legality of an undertaking like this
· Stomach Ulcers
o Requires endoscope ($$$)
o Serious issue in equine medicine
Funding, accessibility, and legal issues will always present issues, but it is important to expound ideas and continue to work as a research team.
