In June, the Undergraduate Research Office announced that Child was awarded the $500 grand prize in the UURAF Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics division for her project titled “The effects of porcine zona pellucida contraceptive vaccine on equid ovarian activity.” The UURAF awards only two grand prizes, with the other awarded in the Humanities, Social Science, and the Arts divisions.

The 2017 UURAF was the largest in the history of the event, with more than 900 students from 14 colleges participating. Students were mentored by more than 600 faculty members. First-place award recipients recognized at the awards ceremony on April 12, 2017 were considered for the grand prize award. Each was contacted to submit a brief paper on their UURAF program topic and an electronic version of their poster or oral presentation. These submissions were reviewed by the Editorial Board and staff of the Red Cedar Undergraduate Research Journal (ReCUR).

Agnew, with a faculty appointment in the Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation and a service appointment at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, has research interests that include comparative reproductive pathology, zoo and wildlife pathology, and infectious diseases in the bovine reproductive tract. Agnew has mentored and worked with a number of students and faculty in the Department of Animal Science over the years.

“This award is an important acknowledgment of Olivia Child’s hard work and talent, but it is also a great tribute to our commitment to involving undergraduates in the scholarship of the College,” says Agnew.

Agnew goes on, “Eighteen other College faculty members mentored students in the UURAF, several of whom also got first place in their own divisions. Working with undergraduates is a great way to excite future veterinary students, build their interest in research, and forge collaborations around the university, especially with Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. And these young, bright students infuse a lot of enthusiasm into the laboratory. In our day-to-day work, faculty members sometimes forget how exciting our work is—undergraduates remind us of that.”

“Olivia Child joined my PDI research lab three years ago as a professorial assistant in the Honors College with a strong work ethic, an independent spirit, and a desire to learn all she could. She has not only done the daily work of maintaining a laboratory, but completed her own research projects every year, each related to our overall emphasis on wildlife reproductive health. In her first year, she developed standard histologic criteria for the stages of the feline estrous cycle—important for diagnosing infertility from biopsies in endangered exotic felids. In her second year, Olivia helped identify important genes that might be involved in the high incidence of ovarian cancer in jaguars, and this year, she wanted to combine her love of horses and our research in reproduction by studying the ovary of wild equids (zebras, Przewalski’s horses, onagers, etc.) treated with contraceptives. Not only is her work award winning, but it is making a difference in how we manage endangered wildlife in zoos and the wild.”