Presenting my research in the Undergraduate Student Research Competition of the American Society of Animal Science Southern/Western section meeting

Author: John Mitchell | Major: Biology | Semester: Spring 2025 

My name is John Mitchell, and I am an Honors College Fellow studying Biology on the pre-medical track, and performing research on beef cattle within the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences. My research targets solutions for the largest disease-related economic loss in the beef cattle industry, bovine respiratory disease (BRD). The goal of our study was to assess innovative dietary supplements that could have a positive effect on the morbidity of cattle at high risk for BRD.

Upon completing my research, it was important to present my data to those to whom it most pertains–other animal scientist researchers searching for solutions to the BRD epidemic. I was honored to receive the Honors College Conference Grant, which gave me the funding to attend the American Society of Animal Science Southern/Western section meeting in Arlington, Texas. At the conference, I competed in the Undergraduate Research competition, presenting my research against other undergraduates from across the United States. This provided me the opportunity to share the results of my research, receive feedback on my research from animal science professors, and compete against other students while improving my communication and presentation skills.

This was my first time presenting any form of research at a conference, and I learned a great deal from the experience. The wide variety of presentations and topics showed me the importance of sharing research with professionals within the same field, as they may look into researching similar topics. The conference also helped me to understand that the research I am conducting while at the University of Arkansas campus holds value and could help shape the agricultural industry in the future.

The feedback I received following my presentation has inspired me to look into possible future projects, specifically in testing one of the specific supplements. After conferring with the judges of the competition, as well as other professors in attendance, many variables were researched in our initial overall study, but better data could be attained by using larger sample sizes and isolating variables. Before graduation, I hope to assist in running another set of trials with the microbial dietary supplement that shows a numerical advantage in body weight, isolating variables to improve experimental design.

I will be graduating from the University of Arkansas in May of 2026, giving me a year left on campus. During that time, I still have much to accomplish. The next step in my research is writing and defending my thesis in Fall 2025. The ASAS conference has helped me prepare for this process as I attended many PHD and Graduate student presentations on their theses. As I mentioned before, I also want to take steps to do further research on the products I have studied and hopefully find a cost-effective solution for BRD within the Beef Cattle industry. All of these goals have been made achievable because of the Honors College and its support of undergraduate research. I think it’s important for all students to look into undergraduate research, as it provides a chance to broaden their knowledge while also assisting in shaping the world around us.