Rockets, missiles, robotics and … chickens.
Aviagen Group, the world’s leading poultry breeding company located in Cummings Research Park, has teamed up with the Limestone County Career Technical Center (LCCTC) in Athens to offer an introductory study in poultry breeding for students in three local high schools.
Also, as a longstanding contributor to the Canadian Poultry Research Council (CPRC), each year they designate a portion of its donations to a scholarship aimed at encouraging future poultry leaders. This year, the 2021 Aviagen Poultry Genetics Scholarship was awarded to a University of Alberta student named Thiago Noetzold for his in-depth research in bird feed.
Poultry farming and production is a long-established but still growing industry in Alabama, and Aviagen, located on Explorer Boulevard in Cummings Research Park, is known for investing heavily in research to provide quality broiler breeding stock to future generations as a healthy and sustainable source of protein.
Beginning this spring, the 12-week LCCTC program will give students invaluable insight into the growing business of poultry production in Alabama.
The LCCTC is an extension of the local high schools that help students make the transition from school to career. The programs feature a variety of authentic hands-on learning programs where students earn industry credentials with a skillset enabling them to be successful in their pursuit of post-secondary endeavors.
The center offers 16 career clusters with 40 pathways to 9th through 12th-grade students attending Limestone County Schools and Athens City Schools.
Across the southeastern U.S., Aviagen specialists will teach and engage with students, leading them through the care and expertise that goes into raising quality breeding stock poultry producers use in providing families around the world with affordable and sustainable chicken meat.
Students will explore various areas of poultry breeding, including research and development, planning, the egg depot, the hatchery, and the feed mill. They will also learn about animal welfare, biosecurity, health monitoring and diagnostics, and other elements that are vital to health, food safety and food security.
Aviagen’s global marketing director Marla Robinson, who leads the company’s education outreach said the course at LCCTC is designed to set students on a journey of lifelong learning in the proper care that leads to growing healthy, robust birds, and give them a glimpse of the breadth of rewarding careers available in poultry.
“It has been said that our future depends on the sustainable work we do today,” said Robinson. “Aviagen is committed to ‘breeding sustainability,’ and we believe that sustaining the industry in our state and worldwide depends on training our youth and preparing them for a successful career in poultry.”
“Aviagen and the LCCTC share a dedication to training and encouraging our youth. They are our future, and it is on us to provide them with a quality education and teach them valuable skills, while instilling in them the confidence and passion to make a difference for our community, our state, and our world,” added Dr. John Wilson, director of the Limestone County Career Technical Center.
Scholarship winner Thiago Noetzold is pursuing a Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Alberta’s Poultry Research Center, Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science department, where he also serves as a teaching assistant. Based on his master’s research, two of his manuscripts were published in Poultry Science journal.
For his Ph.D., Noetzold is working on an Aviagen-sponsored project using precision feeding technology to find the optimal nutrient balance and growth curve trajectory, with a goal of maximizing biological performance of broiler breeder hens.
“While collaborating closely with Thiago on this project, I am impressed by the excellence of his research skills, as well as his enthusiasm for discovery leading to continuous improvement for our industry,” said Dr. Bryan Fancher, Aviagen group vice president of Global Technical Operations.
Noetzold explained that his goal is to promote sustainable poultry production and increase bird health and welfare by helping birds to become more feed efficient.
“I am grateful to Aviagen for this scholarship, which will help me further my research and fulfill my passion to work toward continual advancements in precision agriculture to enrich our ability to help feed the world with sustainable and healthy chicken meat,” said Noetzold.
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