Greetings from the SDSU Dairy and Food Science Department! Thanks to all of you for all your support of our Department in so many different ways! We are pleased to share with you many exciting things that have been and will be happening in our Department in this our second edition of our quarterly Department newsletter. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.
Jayne Raabe retired in January 2025 after 38 years of excellent service to our department. Thanks to all of you who attended her retirement party and wished her well!
We are pleased to announce that Haley Eggebrecht started as our new Program Assistant on March 3, 2025 and can be found in Alfred Dairy Science Hall 136. Please stop in and welcome Haley if you are in the area!
Dr. Tony Bruinje started as an Assistant Professor of Dairy Production in January 2025 and has already been actively teaching Dairy Breeding and Evaluation class, as well as the dairy production portion of Introduction to Dairy Science class.
Department Faculty Earn Awards
Two of our department faculty earned awards at the February 2025 SDSU Celebration of Faculty Excellence. Dr. Sanjeev Anand received the F. O. Butler Award for Excellence in Teaching and Dr. Maneesha Mohan received the Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award. Congratulations to both of these well-deserved award winners!
Current Team of Faculty & Staff
For a full list of current faculty and staff visit the link below.
We are currently searching for a new Extension Dairy Occupational Health and Safety Field Specialist. Please consider applying or spread the word to anyone that you think would be a good fit and interested. More information & to apply click below.
Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge Competition hosted by SDSU
Our Department was pleased to host the 2025 North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge Midwest Regional Competition from February 12-14. The event included 113 students from 14 universities and technical schools, as well as more than 70 additional coaches, judges, mentors, and other industry support personnel. Students visited MoDak Dairy in Goodwin, SD and worked with industry and academic mentors to recommend management enhancements to the dairy, which were then judged by a panel of industry and academic professionals. Students also learned from presentations provided by industry professionals, including Dr. Prafulla Salunke from our department who spoke on the future of dairy food products. SDSU students participating in the competition were primarily students taking our annual Dairy Farm Evaluation course, which provides students with hands-on training in milking operations, feeding protocols, reproduction, herd health, facilities, heifer raising, and financial records for dairy farms. The course is led by, and the team is coached by Dr. Maristela Rovai and SD dairy producer Lynn Boadwine. The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge competition will be held in Gainesville, FL in April 2025.
Our Department would like to sincerely thank all of those who supported this competition, including Greg Moes for opening his farm to the students, Lynn Boadwine for coaching the team, as well as all the dairy producers and industry supporters who served as judges, mentors, donors, and many other roles.
Dr. Maneesha Mohan and Dr. Maristela Rovai were recently awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to help strengthen small-scale dairy product processing on dairy farms for profitability. More information will be coming out soon related to this project, including a survey and training opportunities. Please contact Dr. Mohan or Dr. Rovai with questions on this project.
-A note from Cheyenne Edmundson-Coordinator Recruitment and Academic Services
We are looking forward to welcoming our 2025 cohort of Dairy & Food Science students this summer for a new student orientation. If you know a student seeking higher education and a unique and fulfilling career recommend our academic programs, it’s not too late. We are heavily recruiting specifically for our Dairy Manufacturing degree. If you are an industry partner and/or an alumnus tabling at many career events, please consider sharing our flyers to spread the word. I am happy to mail our marketing materials out along with other promotional items to support others in our effort to recruit. Also consider sharing your story in our alumni survey, linked below, where we will highlight you on our social media pages, website, and marketing materials.
Aberdeen Women in Science Presentation, partnered with Sheri Kahnke, Director of Quality, Food Safety, & Regulatory for PURIS, (M.S. Dairy Manufacturing ’04), support Jessemy Sharp, Dairy Manufacturing & Food Science Undergrad ’26, & Hayley Daubert, Dairy Manufacturing Undergrad ’26.
Jessemey Sharp (Left), Hayley Daubert (Right)
Sioux Falls Women in Science Presentation & Exhibitor Booth, partnered with Bel Brands USA team including Vonda Degner, Packaging Technologist, and Lexi Ahlers, Plant Process Technologist, (Dairy Manufacturing ’18). Support from Hayley Daubert, Dairy Manufacturing Undergrad ’26.
Vonda Degner (Left), Cheyenne Edmundson (Right)
Dakota Jensen, Dairy Production ’28 (Hoven, SD) & Ellary Jacoby, Dairy Manufacturing ’25 (Painesville, MN) both returned home over break to support our efforts in recruitment as student recruiters. They presented experiments to inspire the next generation!
Ellary Jacoby presenting experiment
Samples & Support at Regional SD FFA Contests, attending State FFA & FCCLA Conferences this spring until June.
Davis Dairy Plant tour invitations to FFA Chapters during Little I & SD State FFA Convention.
Sponsoring WI & MN State FFA Milk Quality Contests
Ian Hertenstein, Food Science ’28 undergraduate representing our department at IA State FCCLA Conference.
Contact Cheyenne at Cheyenne.edmundson@sdstate.edu or 605-254-7818 (cell) for school visit connections, presentations, marketing opportunities, and student interests. Encourage students to visit campus and our department via visit SDSU!
Alumni Mentorship Program
The spring 2025 Alumni Mentoring Programming is in full swing. We have two current students partaking in this mentorship program facilitated by SDState Alumni Association. The vision of this program is to provide an opportunity for alumni to share their career insights and support Jackrabbit soon to be entering their first career opportunity. Cailtin Swanson is a Dairy Manufacturing student graduating this May, she is mentored by Polly Vander Wal, Dairy production ’95. Sadie Streff is a Food Science student planning to graduate in ’26, she is partnered with Dr. Shayanti Minj, Ph.D. in Dairy & Food Science ’21.
Sign up as an Alumnus to mentor our next generation of Dairy & Food Science undergraduates!
Dr. Srinivas Janaswamy, SDSU Associate Professor of Food Science is leading research efforts designing and developing biodegradable packaging materials, novel carriers of bioactive compounds, water purification and plant nutrition. More information was recently published on Dr. Janaswamy’s research on Extending the shelf life of fruits and on Better bread: How SDSU researchers are improving a staple food. Due to Dr. Janaswamy’s research on developing plastic-like films, South Dakota State University was named a top packaging innovation research university. Learn more about the ranking in the article linked below.
SDSU Dairy Club members traveled to Ames, Iowa in February for the 2025 Midwest American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Conference. Members competed in contests, toured dairy farms and made great connections. Hayley Daubert, Junior Dairy Manufacturing major from SDSU was selected as the 2025 Midwest ADSA- Undergraduate Student Division Treasurer. The SDSU Dairy Club won the spirit award at the event, as well as reserve overall dairy products evaluation team and Briana Maus was the high overall dairy products evaluation individual.
The Dairy Products Judging Team is getting ready for the Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest which will be held in April 2025 in Madison, WI. More information about the team’s results in 2024 and previous years is available from: Dairy Products Judging | South Dakota State University The team is coached by Dr. Maneesha Mohan, SDSU Associate Professor in Dairy Manufacturing and Alfred Chair in Dairy Education.
The Dairy Cattle Judging Team competed in the Southwest Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Fort Worth, TX on January 19th. The team placed 2nd in Holstein, 4th in Jersey, 5th in Brown Swiss, 5th for reasons, and 4th place overall. This year’s team consists of Vanessa Gonzalez, Evelyn Scheffler, Paige Hopf, and Dillion Sparrgrove. Their next contest will be the North American College and Teachers of Agriculture contest in Canyon, TX on April 11, 2025. The team is coached by Dr. Turner Swartz.
Pictured left to right: Vanessa Gonzalez, Evelyn Scheffler, Paige Hopf, and Dillion Sparrgrove
All of our judging teams appreciate your support! Judging teams are a great opportunity for students to develop useful skills for their future. If you are interested in supporting our judging teams to help with travel expenses or in other ways, please contact the coach of that team.
Events & Calendar
Annual Scholarship Banquet
Our Department is pleased to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and the generosity of our donors and supporters at our Annual Department Scholarship Banquet, which will be held on April 14, 2025.
June 17-18, Midwest Dairy- Science Teachers Training, Brookings, SD
June 22-25, American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY
July 13-16, Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
Share & Subscribe
We are thankful to have your continuous support for our programs and students each year! Thank you for taking the time to read our second quarterly newsletter. We plan to continue one newsletter each quarter of the year.
We encourage sharing this newsletter with classmates and colleagues with ties to our department, to subscribe and stay in the loop on our up coming events, opportunities, and updates!
.jpg?upscale=true&width=280&upscale=true&name=IMG_4212%20(1).jpg)
.jpg?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=Alumni%20Mentoring%20Program_Sp%202025%20(Polly%20%26%20Cailtin).jpg)
