Department of Agricultural Sciences Success Stories National Champions—Again. West Texas A&M had three of the top four individual contestants—including the individual champion and reserve champion—en route to a convincing seventh-consecutive team triumph at the National Reining Horse Association National Championship Nov. 29-30 in Oklahoma City. That’s correct: WTAMU has won this particular and prestigious national championship seven years in succession. This time, Texas A&M University—College Station placed second. World Expert. Dr. Guy Loneragan, associate professor of beef cattle and health management, is a world-renowned expert on Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy (BSE) and was asked by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide testimony in the lawsuit to open the Canadian border to importation of cattle under 30 months of age. He also is an expert in anti-microbial resistance and is completing the third year of a $1.46 million USDA-NRI grant to study antibiotic resistance. On Golden Pond. A nearby pond has more water more months of the year, thanks to the work of WTAMU’s Chapter of Collegiate FFA. Members lined the catchment pond, delighting visiting waterfowl as well as residents of Palo Duro Retirement Village. Collegiate FFA. Kody Bessent, a senior from Idalou, served as 2007 state president of Texas Collegiate FFA. On Board. Dr. James. R. Clark, dean of the College of Agriculture, Science and Engineering, is a member of the National Agriculture Research Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board, which reports directly to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Excellence Award. Dr. Lance Kieth, associate professor of agriculture education, is the recipient of a Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for involvement with the Quality Counts Development Team, Industry/Agency/University/Association partnership. Agrosecurity. Dr. Robert DeOtte, associate professor of environmental engineering, has been instrumental in developing the Panhandle Agrosecurity Working Group, bringing numerous state agencies under one umbrella to improve preparedness in the event a foreign animal disease is introduced into the region. | 
