Greetings from the SDSU Dairy and Food Science Department! As we turn the calendar to November, I am reminded even more about all the things that I am thankful for- including all of you reading this newsletter and all the other generous supporters of our department. I am also thankful for the great students, faculty, and staff in our department. We appreciate your help with sharing information about our programs with any prospective students that you may know. Please also feel free to let us know if you would like us to follow up with any prospective students.
We are pleased to share with you many exciting things that have been and will be
happening in our department in this our fifth edition of our newsletter. Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.
Please contact myself or Mark Sandager of the SDSU Foundation if you have questions about supporting our department financially or myself if you would like to visit about our department.
The cheese box fundraiser throughout the holiday season is the Dairy Club's largest fundraiser. If you forgot to order you can stop by the SDSU Dairy Bar Dec. 11-17, 2025, and order one for pickup. The club’s cheese boxes can be shipped to any of the continental states. Thanks for your support of the Dairy Club and our department through buying delicious cheese that can make a great gift! An online order form and more information is available by clicking on the flyer below.
We Are Hiring!
Extension Food Processing Field Specialist I
SDSU is seeking a knowledgeable and collaborative professional to support dairy processors through hands-on training, outreach, and technical assistance that strengthen food safety and processing practices statewide. This position is located in Brookings, SD and is a 12-month, full-time, benefits-eligible position. For questions on the position, please contact SDSU Extension Interim Director Alexander (Sandy) Smart or call 605-688-4940.
SDSU Extension is seeking a forward-thinking professional to lead innovative outreach and research-based education that supports dairy producers, industry partners, and rural communities across the state. This position is located in Watertown, South Dakota and is a 12-month, full-time, benefits-eligible position.
Londa Nwadike, David A. Thompson Endowed Department Head and Professor, recently had a radio interview with Farm Journal radio talking about the Dairy and Food Science Department. Thanks to Michelle Rook, one of our Dairy Manufacturing alums for connecting our department with this opportunity.
Education abroad program to India -- Food & Agriculture Processing: India: SDSU Fall 2026
One of the faculty in our SDSU Dairy and Food Science Department is planning a study abroad trip to India in August 2026 and wanted to invite our alumni and supporters along on the trip as well if you are interested. This trip would be a great chance to learn about food and agriculture processing in India, and pave way to test your spirit of adventure or tick off a box on your bucket list!!
India is considered a global agricultural powerhouse, ranking as the world’s largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices. India processes massive amounts of food, feeding the world’s largest population. Food processing in India is forged by the agriculture, industries, and cooperatives, influenced by the communities, landscape, history, environment, traditions, and culture. This program will be a chance to experience the wonders of this diverse agricultural and food science landscape through farm visits, dairy and food processing industry tours, leading agricultural institutions, food and clothing markets, while also seeing historical sites including tombs, forts, and the Taj Mahal (one of the seven wonders of the world).
In case you would like to know more about this program, including estimated costs of the trip, please consider joining one of the following info sessions listed using the link below.
Wed Nov 12th - 5 PM Central time
Thu Nov 20th - 5 PM Central time
Please contact Maneesha Mohan if you have any questions on this trip.
Dr. Srinivas Janaswamy, Associate Professor in Food Science is in the top 2% of researchers in the world in terms of number of people citing his research. He has been in the top 2% for 2 years. Congratulations Dr. Janaswamy!
Filling a need for farm safety education
Dr. Maristela Rovai, an Associate Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist at South Dakota State University, saw a need for dairy farm safety training — specifically within the Latino workforce — and she is working to meet it. Read more about it below.
We invite you to take part in a consumer survey being conducted by SDSU, as a part of research funded by the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education - Partnership Grant Project NCR-SARE # ONC25-170. The purpose of this survey is to better understand the types of dairy products that local consumers are interested in such as cheese, ice cream, butter and other value-added products. The survey takes only 5-7 minutes and responses will remain anonymous. As a thank you for participating, you’ll also have the opportunity at the end of the survey to enter a drawing to win a coupon for free SDSU Ice Cream!
~A word from Cheyenne Edmundson, Coordinator Recruitment and Academic Services
We are steadily growing our recruitment opportunities each year and building strong relationships with teachers and prospective students. Showcasing what the industry has to offer and where our alumni are in their careers has been tremendously helpful in giving our current and prospective students a vision for what their future careers can look like. If they can see the variety of career successes, they can feel more confident in their investment to pursue any one of our academic programs. Cost is a big factor for prospective students and families. Our scholarships and SDSU's in-state tuition opportunities for select states are an advantage we enjoy sharing, applicable states include WI, MN, IL, IA, NE, MO, KS, CO, WY, MT & ND.
It's also free to apply to SDSU undergraduate programs now through November 30th!
Other events this semester include hosting culinary students from Sioux Falls' Career and Technical Education (CTE) Academy, facilitating a food science workshop on campus with the Department of Education (DOE) for South Dakota high school teachers in agriculture and family & consumer sciences (FACS), visiting first-year exploratory study courses on campus, hosting our 3rd annual Alumni Panel in our DS 119/DS 120 seminar, and attending National FFA Convention. We have our first digital ad campaign for Dairy Manufacturing set over National FFA through the end of the year this was made possible through our North Central Cheese Industry Association (NCCIA) grant. The ad will showcase a still image and Raul's Meet Our Jacks Video.
Ways you can help:
Consider tabling or partnering with me at an upcoming event (view events, here)
Grants are effective in presenting and executing ideas to meet immediate recruitment goals.
Support in getting our logo represented at more state FFA contests. We sponsored the Dairy Products/Milk Quality teams in WI & MN this year with interest in expanding this to IL and other contest including Dairy Cattle, Food Science, & Veterinary Sciences.
Connect us with a prospective student, I am happy to meet them via Zoom to share what we have to offer. Feel free to share my contact details as well.
Winter break is the right time to connect with recruitment ideas & building new opportunities going into 2026!
One of our eight department student ambassadors, Logan Guilette, joined me for World Dairy Expo's Wisconsin FFA Day, where we had over 2,000 FFA members visit our booth through a passport booklet activity sponsored by Wisconsin Dairy Farmers. Logan shared his story of "why" SDSU and how he heard of SDSU through our booth at World Dairy Expo in 2023!
SDSU Company Student Recruitment
Companies, if you are interested in receiving a pdf file of our current student resumes for your hiring purposes, please contact Haley Eggebrecht or Kristi Prunty and we can send you the file.
Student Updates
Congratulations to Jessemy Sharp, Dairy Manufacuring and Food Science, for being awarded a scholarship from the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board.
Alumni Spotlight
Rakesh Kaushik, a graduate student alumnus, recently won the SDSU Distinguished Master's Thesis Award. His thesis is titled "Enhancing the Biopreservative Effect of Non-starter Lactic Acid Bacteria by Soluble Fiber during Cheese Ripening." He has also been nominated for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Master's Thesis Award. Congratulations Rakesh!
Events & Calendar
Events
Negar Sedghi, General Manager Bel USA Cheese category, will be speaking in a Seminar with Industry Leaders class taught by the SDSU Ness School of Management and Economics on Nov 14 from 10-11AM in Room 104 of the SD Art Museum on the SDSU campus. Anyone interested is welcome to attend the presentation.
Professor Paul McSweeney,an international expert in dairy chemistry and cheese science from University College Cork in Ireland, will be giving a presentation in the SDSU Dairy and Food Science Department room 122 on November 24 from 2-3:30PM. Everyone is welcome to attend the presentation and discussion. Please let Haley Eggebrecht know if you plan to attend so that we can plan accordingly.
Calendar
Nov. 14: Bel Brands Executive presentation
Nov. 24: Professor Paul McSweeney cheese presentation
Nov. 27: Thanksgiving
Dec. 11- 17: SDSU class finals
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