The Washington, DC, Area Chapter of ARPAS will hold its annual Mini Symposium titled “Communicating Science to the Public” on April 29 from 1 to 5 p.m. with a reception following. The speakers for the symposium include Kay Johnson, president and CEO of the Animal Agricultural Alliance; Bethany Brookshire, science education writer for Science News for Students and noted science blogger; and Eric Mittenthal, vice president of public affairs at the North American Meat Institute. A reception with buffet food will follow. The reception program will highlight Lonnie Luther, one of the ARPAS Outstanding Animal Scientist Awardees being recognized by ARPAS Executive VP Ken Cummings. The WDC Area Chapter Vern Pursel Outstanding Animal Scientist awardee and the WDC Chapter student scholarship awardees for the University of Maryland will also be recognized. Additionally, the 2015–2016 WDC Area Chapter Officers will be installed.

Reporting Continuing Education Units (CEU) is simple through the ARPAS website. Just log onto the site at www.arpas.org and click on “Submit CEUs.” Not only is your CEU record instantly updated when you enter your meetings online, but the system also keeps a convenient submission history in case you wish to check your past entries. Don’t see a meeting you want to report on the approved list? No problem! You can submit any meeting to be approved and posted on the list before you enter it online. Remember, 16 CEU are required each year to maintain your registration, and up to 16 CEU can be carried over to the following year.

Student Membership is available to full-time graduate and undergraduate students and requires verification from major professor to qualify. In addition to the initial exam fee, the membership fee is $10 for the first year of membership and for every year thereafter while the member is a full-time student. Continuing education units are not required for full-time student members.
If you are an advisor or major professor to these prospective ARPAS professionals, please encourage them the attain ARPAS certification at a very affordable price. In many cases, the examination fee will be paid by the ARPAS Foundation. Please contact Kelsey (kelseyg@assochq.org) at ARPAS headquarters for information.

It is a pleasure to call to your attention some excellent review articles. 

In the current issue (April 2015) Waldrip, Cole, and Todd have published a review titled “Nitrogen sustainability and beef-cattle feedyards: I. Introduction and influence of pen surface conditions and diet.” [The reference is The Professional Animal Scientist, 2015, 31:89–100; doi:10.15232/pas.2014-0136.]

In the December (2014) issue, Galyean and Hubbert published a review titled “Traditional and alternative sources of fiber—Roughage values, effectiveness, and levels in starting and finishing diets.” [The reference is The Professional Animal Scientist, 2014, 30:571–584; doi:10.15232/pas.2014-01329.]

In the June (2014) issue, Hall and Glaze published a review on the “System application of sexed semen in beef cattle” [The Professional Animal Scientist, 2014, 30:279–284]

I would appreciate your commenting about these, and other articles in the journal, to colleagues who would benefit from the new information.

We have several review articles in upcoming issues. If you are not receiving an e-mail notice when each issue is available online, please request that from the FASS office.

Bang for Your Buck, our annual fundraiser, an afternoon of trapshooting along the Kings River followed by a steak dinner, will be held on August 27 at the Kingsburg Gun Club. Proceeds from this event are used by our chapter to fund scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students. Those interested in helping to sponsor this event are asked to contact Andy Riordan (andyriordan@hotmail.com).

The 2015 California ARPAS continuing education meeting will be held on October 28 and 29 at the Inn at Harris Ranch, Coalinga, California. This year’s theme is N utilization in ruminants and nonruminants, with an emphasis on characterization of whole-animal N dynamics. Talks and confirmed speakers are as follows:

Comparative aspects of N utilization in ruminants and nonruminants—John Cant, University of Guelph

Characterization of N fluxes in nonruminants 

Quantitative aspects of N fluxes in growing and lactating ruminants

Amino acid utilization in the lactating dairy cow—Peter Robinson, University of California, Davis

In addition, recipients of our graduate student scholarships will present brief overviews of their work.

For more information regarding either event, please see our website (arpasca.net).