Discovering strength in science
As a pre-veterinary student about to enter her senior year, Brooklyn Goelz was looking for an opportunity where she could gain experience with swine, a species she previously hadn’t worked with much before applying for veterinary school.
She applied for an internship with the ĢƵ Department of Animal Science, and in summer 2025 she began working on a swine research project with Crystal Levesque, a professor in the department.
Undergraduate research at SDSU is an important tool for students to gain hands-on experience and mentorship from faculty members.
“Undergraduate research is experiential education outside of the classroom, and we encourage students to identify a faculty mentor with whom they would like to collaborate on a research project,” said Jim Connors, associate dean for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and director of academic programs. “It’s another way for them to work one-on-one with a faculty member in an area of their interest.”
Undergraduate research encourages students to dive deeper into their interests and may lead them to continuing their education in graduate or veterinary school. ĢƵ projects can also prepare students and give them useful skills for the workforce.
“Even if a student stops at a bachelor’s degree, it added to their undergraduate experience by delving into a topic in their area of interest,” Connors said. “Hopefully they either present it as a poster or possibly even get it published so they can get a major project like that on their resume.”
Goelz, who has now been accepted into veterinary school, hoped that undergraduate research would help her prepare for the future by providing her with an influential experience that would grow her skills in an area she wasn’t familiar with. To support her endeavor, her mentor, Levesque, suggested that she apply for an undergraduate research award from the college.
Unique funding is available for undergraduate research in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences in the form of awards through the SDSU Alumni & Foundation. Students interested in pursuing research may submit a proposal for the opportunity to be awarded $3,000 thanks to several generous award sponsors including: the Orville and Enolia Bentley Undergraduate ĢƵ Award, the Gary and Theresa Lemme Undergraduate ĢƵ Award and the Griffith Undergraduate ĢƵ Award. Connors and John Blanton, associate dean of research and director of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, read the proposals and select award recipients based on the quality of the proposal and the amount of funds available each year.
In the 2025-26 academic year, $41,683 was awarded to 14 undergraduate research projects, including Goelz’s project focused on “Effects of Water-Based Yeast Bioactive Supplementation on Wean Pig Growth Performance and Health During the Nursery.”
Through this project, Goelz gained experience collecting samples and running tests in the lab and learned more about swine anatomy, all of which she feels will be very useful in vet school. Equally important, she gained experience managing people and her time. Levesque notes that she was a great team player and was good at pulling everyone back together when they needed to get things done.
“Great plans can sometimes fall off the rails, especially when working with animals as you can run into some unpredictable circumstances,” Levesque said. “This environment gives students the opportunity to figure it out and learn from consequences in a safe space. There’s not a job on the line. There’s not a sale that could be lost. It’s a project that we’re going to figure out and adjust.”
Students can also publish their research in peer-reviewed journals and gain experience presenting their projects at industry meetings and conferences. ĢƵ even publishes The Journal of Undergraduate ĢƵ, which includes research articles and abstracts from SDSU undergraduate students and recent graduates.
Graduate and undergraduate researchers also can present projects at the Student ĢƵ, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day hosted at SDSU. The event, which took place in April, included poster shows, featured performances, presentations and awards for outstanding student achievement from disciplines across the university. The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences has been well represented in the past few years. In 2025, 25% of all undergraduate posters and 67% of all graduate posters were presented by students from the college.
In addition to presenting at the on-campus event, Goelz was able to present her poster at the American Society of Animal Science Midwest Section Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, an opportunity where she was able to share her project and network with professionals and her peers in the animal science industry. Engaging with experts at the event reinforced her desire to learn from people around her and pursue experiences that would help guide her career path.
“I want to get as much experience as I can,” Goelz said, “because no experience will be a bad experience. I’ll either learn what I love or what I don’t love, and I’ll know that for the future.”
