The poultry industry is an important market for Jones-Hamilton Co. As the industry has grown so has our company and with growth comes an increasing demand for talent to fill vacant positions; however, the number of poultry science graduates has not kept pace with the demand for new hires. This is due, in part, to the closure of many poultry science departments over the past ten years. Currently, there are only six departments training young people in the science essential for industry growth.
The Poultry Science Association is a professional organization of scientists who research important, poultry-related areas of study. Given the reduced numbers of poultry science departments and subsequent fewer faculty and graduates, the opportunity to interact with industry peers is diminished. More concerning is the decreasing number of opportunities for students, both undergraduate and graduate, to interact with poultry science professionals from academia and industry. Often the choice to pursue a major or profession is influenced by exposure to people already working in that field who can give personal insight into the opportunities available for challenge and advancement.
In order to create more educational opportunities for students interested in working in the poultry industry, Jones-Hamilton Co. created a competitive travel grant award to support students attending poultry science conferences to present original research. The awards have been granted annually since 2010.
The award objective is to promote interest in the poultry industry by simply giving students, our most important resource, a chance for exposure to industry opportunities. We are primarily concerned with rewarding the intelligence of these students who have chosen a field of study in which the number of open positions exceeds the number of qualified applicants.
So congratulations to the 2013 recipients of the Jones-Hamilton Co. Student Travel Grants.