Auburn's Department of Poultry Science racked up at the annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association in North Carolina.
Five current students or faculty and one former Auburn graduate student were recognized for their accomplishments.
Jessica Butler, a current graduate student working with professor Pat Curtis, was elected by a group of her peers as a student representative to the PSA board of directors.
"I am responsible for being the voice of the next generation of poultry scientists," Butler said.
Butler will serve a two-year term in her position. Her duties include Web site maintenance, serving as a liaison between the board and the student group "PSA Hatchery" and the organization of a forum.
Lindsay Stevenson, another graduate student in the Department of Poultry Science, was also recognized.
She won the Maurice Stein Fellowship Award, which encourages research promoting efficiency and profitability in the poultry industry.
Stevenson received the $1,000 award for her work with genistein, a compound found in soybeans that affects humans and chickens. Genistein is similar to estrogen and can have different biological effects in species.
"Nearly all poultry in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world are fed a combination of corn and soybean meal, and thus are consuming relatively large quantities of genistein," Stevenson said.
In her research, Stevenson uses High Performance Liquid Chromatography to measure the amounts of genistein found in the eggs, feed and blood of female chickens.
Some of these effects include "improvement of bone density, reduction of cholesterol in the blood...and effects on the reproductive development and function of some species," Stevenson said.
Stevenson's research has a defined human component.
"My research has a number of objectives," Stevenson said. "Among these are determining...whether genistein can reduce fat accumulation in the liver, also a problem for humans."
Stevenson is also the poultry judging coach for Auburn. Her class meets Tuesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the poultry research farm.
Professor Patricia A. Curtis won the Phibro Extension Award.
Curtis' research includes poultry and egg products relating to microbial safety, processing technology, quality control, waste water and water reuse, according to PSA's Web site.
Curtis has received numerous other awards for her academic awards, including the 2005 Poultry Products Research Award, the 2003 American Egg Board Research Award and the 2000 American Distance Education Council's Excellence in Distance Education Award.
Two Auburn faculty members, Edwin T. Moran Jr. and David A. Roland Sr., were inducted into the Fellows of the Poultry Science Association. This is a status recognizing professional distinction and contributions to the field of poultry science without concern to longevity, according to PSA's Web site.
Moran joined Auburn's faculty in 1986, developing a program to continue his research in broiler nutrition, further processing, meat yield and broiler production quality issues.
The honoree's teaching focused on graduate students, examining feedstuff use by the gastrointestinal system. His teaching coordinated with his research at the time.
Roland has been a member of Auburn's faculty since 1976, when he began teaching undergraduate and graduate nutrition and conducted basic and applied research.
In 1992, he was awarded a Distinguished University Professorship.
Roland's early research developed a new method of feeding allowing the integration of econometrics and environmental control into nutritional programs. He has continued to work closely with the egg industry, allied industry and primary breeders to ensure his research is made available to the industry.
Nancy Joseph, one of Moran's former graduate students, received the PSA Early Achievement Award for Industry.
Joseph developed programs dealing with traceability and bacterial monitoring.
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