Student Researchers Earn Bumpers College Grants

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Bonifacio Lopez Torres is one of six honors students to earn a project/research grant from the Bumpers College.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Six honors students in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas have been awarded grants from the college’s Undergraduate Creative Projects/Research Grants Program.

Christina Crowder of Kiefer, Oklahoma; Olivia Hines of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Will Pohlman of Prairie Grove; Omega Sanders of Hot Springs; Jill Thomason of Fayetteville; and Bonifacio Lopez Torres of Lonoke have been awarded grants between $750 and $1,000.

Crowder, with guidance from food science assistant professor Jamie Baum, has been awarded a $1,000 grant. Crowder is a food, human nutrition and hospitality major with a concentration in dietetics, and her project is titled “The Effects of Leucine and Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation of Weight Loss and Energy Metabolism in Overweight/Obese Women.”

Hines, a horticulture major who is being mentored by John Clark, professor of horticulture, is receiving an $800 grant. Her research is titled “Identifying Consumer Preferences and Assessing Compositional Qualities of Fresh-Market Blackberry Genotypes.”

Pohlman, who is majoring in animal science under the direction of professor Fred Pohlman, has earned a $1,000 grant. He is researching “Effects of Labeling and Consumer Health Trends of Preferred Ground Beef Color Characteristics, Fat Content, and Palatability in Simulated Retail Display.”

Pohlman is also one of four freshmen in 2013 to earn the U of A Sturgis Fellowship from the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust. Pohlman was a 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholar and Governor’s Distinguished Scholar.

Sanders, who is majoring in animal science and receiving direction from professor Ken Coffey, has been awarded a $1,000 grant. Sanders’ research is on “Intake and Digestibility of Fescue Hay Supplemented with Co-Product Feeds.”

Thomason, who is majoring in animal science and receiving direction from crop, soil and environmental sciences professor Mary Savin, has been awarded a $750 grant. Her project is titled “Earthworm Populations in a Wheat-Soybean Double-Crop System Under Different Residue Management Practices.”

Lopez Torres, who is being mentored by Godwin-Charles Ogbeide, associate professor of food, human nutrition and hospitality, is receiving a $1,000 grant. Torres, who is majoring in food, human nutrition and hospitality with a concentration on tourism, is pursuing research titled “Destination Marketing Organizations Stakeholders and Best Practices.”