Events, Past Projects and Testimonials
2022 Events
We held our inaugural ASSURE Research Showcase in February 2022. The 2022 10 ASSURE Scholars heard about food animal related research and got to network with Animal Science faculty.
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Our 1st Professional Development Friday tour occurred on Friday, June 3rd. We were hosted by Iluma Alliance in Durham, NC. We learned about their research projects focused on food animals and were lucky enough to be allowed to tour some of their facilities. We also had the chance to network with research scientists in our area. Thank you, Iluma Alliance for a great visit!
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Our second tour occurred on Friday, June 17th. We had the opportunity to visit Novozymes in Durham and learned about their probiotics research as well as the enzymes they produce for a variety of different consumer products and applications. The ASSURE Scholars also learned about potential internships and the career paths that some of the Novozymes researchers had taken. Thank you Novozymes for a great tour and lunch!
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Our third tour occurred on Friday, July 8th. We had the pleasure of meeting with a diverse group of researchers at TARGAN Inc located in the Research Triangle Park. This group blends scientists and engineers who are creating biodevice systems that can be used in commercial food production. The ASSURE scholars met some Animal Science alumni who work at TARGAN, learned about potential internships and part-time positions, and connected with mentors. We also had a delicious lunch and good networking conversations!
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We held our first ASSURE Career Day in July, where we hosted guests from academia, state and federal government agencies, North Carolina Extension offices, and animal industries. ASSURE Scholars learned about food animal-related opportunities in a variety of career fields and got to network with the guests.
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Our first ASSURE Summer ended with oral presentations from each of our scholars and a research poster session. In their oral presentations the scholars talked about what they learned about research, what career paths are of interest to them, what they enjoyed about the program and provided suggestions on how to improve the program for future Scholars. During their research poster session, each scholar talked about their summer projects, providing an overview of their work and results, and discussing the potential impact their research has on food animals.
2023 Events
In 2023 we held two Career Days and had panelists representing various animal industries, cooperative extension, animal-related governmental agencies, as well as faculty and staff from academia. ASSURE Scholars heard about many different career opportunities and got a chance to network with professionals.
In 2023 ASSURE participants were lucky enough to take 4 tours of local animal-related organizations–NIEHS, Novozymes, Iluma, and the Rollins Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab.
The ASSURE Scholars also presented posters at the NC State Summer Research Symposium and got a chance to discuss their research findings and practice their oral presentation skills.
The 2023 ASSURE program concluded with a final breakfast and presentations by all of the Scholars, who discussed their entire experience and provided the ASSURE faculty with ideas on how to improve the program for future Scholars.
2024 events
In 2024 we held our Research Showcase on February 2nd. The new ASSURE Scholars got a chance to hear about food animal related research programs in the Department of Animal Science and then had a chance to chat with potential research mentors in our Meet and Greet session.
On June 10th, we held our first Career Day Panel, composed of panelists from various food animal-related industries and governmental agencies.
We also got the opportunity to visit a few food animal-related companies in the Triangle area. On June 14th, we went to Durham and had the pleasure of meeting with scientists from Alura and touring their facilities.