Agricultural Sciences

Clearfield Student Receives Penn State's College Of Ag Sciences Outstanding Senior Award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Jennifer E. Vallimont, daughter of Keith and Ellen Vallimont of Clearfield, will receive Penn State's 1998 College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Senior Award at the college's commencement ceremony at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 16 in Eisenhower Auditorium.

The award, sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society and the Coaly Society, honors seniors who best combine academics, extracurricular activities, work experience and communication skills. Candidates are selected based on resumes, short essays, grades and interviews.

A 1994 graduate of Clearfield Area High School, Vallimont will receive her B.S. in dairy and animal science at the commencement ceremony. In addition to earning excellent grades, she works at Penn State's Dairy Nutrition Research Lab, where she conducts independent studies on nutrition for pregnant cows. She has attended national meetings on dairy nutrition and has presented her award-winning research at undergraduate exhibitions.

For the past two years, Vallimont served as an Ag Advocate, undergraduates chosen to represent Penn State and the College of Agricultural Sciences at events such as Ag Progress Days, the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Parents Weekend and new student orientation. "This has been a rewarding activity," she says. "I enjoy seeing the looks of relief on parents' faces when one of their fears is resolved."

As an Ag Advocate, Vallimont also has spoken to freshman seminar classes about her research experiences. "You give a lot of yourself," she says. "I've stayed at the barn until midnight, and I've even slept at the barn to get up every two hours to feed cows in an experiment. But it's been worth it. I definitely have a better understanding of what it means to do research." Vallimont worked with Dr. Gabriella Varga, professor of animal science, who also was her research mentor when she attended Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Agricultural Sciences as a high school student. Last year, Vallimont served as a mentor herself to eight high school girls.

Vallimont has served as president of the Ag Student Council. She also has been an Alumni Society Board Member, a University Faculty Senate and Curricular Affairs Committee member, spent three years in Collegiate 4-H and was involved in the College's Dairy Science Club.

She has been on the Dean's List five out of seven semesters and is a member of Gamma Sigma Delta.

After graduation, Vallimont plans to stay on at Penn State and earn her M.S. in Animal Science, studying nutrition and physiology of pregnant cows.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Jillian Stevenson at 814-863-2831.

Contacts: Kim Dionis KDionis@psu.edu 814-863-2703 814-865-1068 fax

Last Updated March 19, 2009