I would like to thank the Targeting Excellence sponsors for their continued support of a wonderful program and also thank the board of directors and state committee for selecting me to receive a Targeting Excellence scholarship!

Hometown: Lillington, NC

School: North Carolina State

Major / Species: Poultry Science with minor in Feed Milling

Career Goals: 

I am currently in my third year at NC State and am majoring in Poultry Science. I have realized that as the world population continues to grow: competition for resources escalates. It has become ever more important to both share knowledge and adopt a more global view towards solving what used to be local, regional or even national challenges. Through my love for our environment and our natural resources, I plan on applying an in-depth understanding of environmental conservation to sustainable management and farming. As I am learning, there is a significant need, both now and in the future, to bring the production of food animals and the conservation of natural resources into a closer harmony. One of my Dad’s favorite sayings is: “the higher you start on the ladder, the shorter the climb to the top…” A higher education obviously helps me start out higher on that ladder! In the end, I see myself making a contribution to society that further enables farming, conservation and development to work together in a sustainable way that meets the challenging demands of the future. I expect upon graduation to get an entry level job and learn the commercial poultry production industry from the inside. In five years, I hope to be helping open useful lines of communication between industrial farms and organic farmers/animal activists. In 15 – 25 years I hope to be managing poultry production in a sustainable and responsible way that meets the needs of the market at the local, national or even global level.