Complete Story
03/28/2011
OSCF Announces Scholarship Recipients for 2011-2012
Contact: Jennifer Coleman
Ohio Soybean Association
Ohio Soybean Council
614.476.3100
jcoleman@soyohio.org
NEWS RELEASE
March 28, 2011
The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation Announces
Scholarship Recipients for 2011-2012
WORTHINGTON, Ohio – The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation (OSCF) is pleased to announce the scholarship recipients of the OSCF Scholarship Program for the 2011-2012 academic year. Undergraduate scholarships of $3,000 each will be awarded to Dustin Homan, Andrew Klopfenstein, Rhiannon Schneider and Brent Stammen.
Emily Krueger is the recipient of the first annual $3,000 undergraduate Farmer, Lumpe+McClelland Scholarship awarded to students pursuing a degree in agricultural business or communication. Rachel Yoho is the recipient of the $5,000 undergraduate Bhima Vijayendran Scholarship, named in honor of a Battelle researcher who has made tremendous contributions to the soy-based bioproducts industry.
Graduate scholarships of $5,000 each were awarded to Sasiwimon Buddhiranon and Andika Gunadi.
This is the fourth year for the OSCF Scholarship Program, which was created to encourage undergraduate students to pursue careers in agriculture that benefit the Ohio soybean industry, as well as to support ongoing graduate-level, soybean-related research. The scholarships were awarded on a competitive basis to full-time students enrolled in an Ohio college or university.
“There were a large number of scholarship applicants this year and they were all very impressive students making it a tough competition,” said Tom Fontana, OSCF director of programs and development. “We are very pleased with the winners who represent a wide variety of academic disciplines and universities.”
Dustin Homan of Botkins, Ohio is majoring in Agricultural Education at The Ohio State University (OSU) and will be a senior in the fall of 2011. He is a Senator for the Undergraduate Student Government, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) ambassador, and he serves on the CFAES Council. Homan also serves on the Scarlet and Gray Ag Day Committee and is the Agricultural Education Society’s Farm Science Review Chair. Homan is employed as a student assistant at the Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center. Homan plans to pursue a career in agricultural education at the collegiate level or as an educational specialist in the private sector.
Andrew Klopfenstein of Haviland, Ohio is majoring in Agricultural Engineering at OSU and will be a senior in the fall of 2011. He is active in OSU’s Quarter Scale Tractor Trouble Design Team, American Society of Biological Engineers, CFAES Council Treasurer, and is a member and House Steward of Delta Theta Sigma. He has served as Team Captain for the X- team who won the International Competition in 2010. Klopfenstein plans to pursue a career that enables him to work with farmers in order to offer the best solutions in farm equipment. This will allow for better yields and greater profitability.
Emily Krueger of West Salem, Ohio is majoring in Agricultural Communications at The Ohio State University and will be a senior in the fall of 2011. Krueger is a junior presenter for YourNextSpeaker and is the winner of the American Farm Bureau Federations’ National Speech Competition. She is also active in the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow and Collegiate Young Farmers. Krueger plans to pursue a career in agricultural communications that will allow her to educate consumers about the advances of agriculture.
Rhiannon Schneider of Grafton, Ohio is majoring in Crop Sciences at The Ohio State University and will be a senior in the fall of 2011. She was active in the Agronomy Club and Phi Theta Kappa at OSU Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI). She has worked at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) on tomato research, and is now working with soybeans. Schneider plans are to pursue a career in crop genetics to improve the quality of farmers’ yields.
Rachel Yoho of Sunbury, Ohio is majoring in Biology at Capital University and will be a senior in the fall of 2011. She is active in Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society, Phi Sigma Iota National Foreign Language Honor Society, and Alpha Chi National Collegiate Honor Society. Yoho has worked as an undergraduate summer researcher with in the MassCrest Collaborative Undergraduate Research in Energy. Yoho is currently working on the development of a fuel cell that creates electricity from livestock manure. She plans to use her degree to continue conducting research on environmental and sustainable energy.
Brent Stammen of Rossburg, Ohio is majoring in Agricultural Communications at OSU ATI and will be a sophomore in the fall of 2011. Stammen was very active in the FFA and has worked on many volunteer activities with his church. He also works at the OSU ATI housing office. Brent is pursuing a career in Agricultural Communications in order to promote Ohio farmers and their role in Ohio’s economy.
Sasiwimon Buddhiranon of Akron, Ohio is a Ph.D. candidate in Polymer Engineering with concentration in Phase Behavior and Miscibility of Poly Based Polymers at the University of Akron. She is a lecturer at Kasetsart University in Thailand where she teaches on polymer processing. She is also a teaching assistant at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Student Award from the University of Akron. Buddhironon’s current research offers opportunity to expand the use of biodegradable polymers.
Andika Gunadi of Wooster, Ohio is pursuing a Master of Science degree at OSU’s OARDC in plant pathology. He has worked with Dr. Anne Dorrance on soybean research, and is a member of the American Phytopathological Society and Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association. He is the recipient of the Dean of Undergraduate Research Fund from the College of Biological Sciences at OSU. Gunadi’s research is focused on marker-assisted breeding and the development of improved soybean cultivars that incorporate additional Rps genes.
“It was a pleasure to be a part of the scholarship selection committee and have the opportunity to meet such impressive students,” said David Black, Ohio Soybean Council board member and OSCF scholarship selection committee member. “We are very proud of the scholarship recipients who will undoubtedly contribute to a successful future for the Ohio soybean industry and all of agriculture.”
About OSCF
Established by the Ohio Soybean Council in 2007, the Ohio Soybean Council Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit organization to the improvement of the soybean industry through the support of scientific research and education.
