The College of Agriculture and Life Science's (CALS) celebrated its academic achievers at Honors Day ceremonies April 18 at Benedict Auditorium in the Marsh Life Science building on the UVM campus. Three CALS seniors earned University-wide recognition. Sarah Weintraub was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. Michaela Martin and Starr Budnick received the Mortar Board Sophomore Award for outstanding service to the campus. College-Wide Recognition Elia Susskind was recognized as a top second-semester junior studying medicine or biomedical research with the Alexander Kende Academic Merit Award. Teaching Assistant Christa Sherburne-Law was lauded for her work with the Foundations Courses. And several students were recognized for their distinguished original undergraduate research. The student recipients, mentors and their projects are: Nikolas Muenke and Terry Delaney for "Innate Immunity Pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana: Identifying Genes Essential to the Plant Immune Response." Courtney Preseault and Adam Lock for "The Impact of Dietary Antioxidant Ethoxyquin (Agrado®) on Rumen Lipid Metabolism and Subsequent Effects on Milk Production and Milk Fat Synthesis." Meredith Benson with Susan Wallace and Susan Robey-Bond for "Analysis of Key Amino Acid Differences Between Human and Escherichia coli Endonuclease III Proteins That Affect Substrate Specificity." Christine Fitzsimmons and Robert Hondal for "Comparison of Oxidation Techniques of Disulfide Bonds." Paige Hoisington and Eugene Delay for "Neural Signaling Behind Inosine-monophosphate and Monosodium Glutamate Taste Synergy in C57BL/6J Mice." CALS departments honored their top-ranking students with annual awards and scholarships. Animal Science The Elmer Towne Award went to Coral Kent-Davis. William Van De Weert received the George H. Walker Award, and Emily Ricker took home the Brian Hawley Scholarship. Abigail Carpenter and Cara Edelstein shared the Animal Science Faculty Award. Brett Klein Memorial Scholarships to CREAM student herd advisors went to Angela Craig, Elia Susskind, Jenna Schirmer and John Wright. In Equine Science, Miranda Bartlett won the Triona Wilder Marno-Ferree Memorial Award. Equine students Katherine Carton-Bacon and Claire Gebben shared the Donald J. Balch Award. The American Society of Animal Science recognized eighteen Students. They are Seniors: Abigail Carpenter, Elisa Speckert, Deandra Dill, William Van De Weert and Cara Edelstein. Juniors: Briana Clark, Danielle Funaro, Thomas Cole, Coral Kent-Dennis, Abbey Dattilio, Valerie Koenig and Casey Fleming. Sophomores: Megan Foy, Vanessa Patten, Jennifer Haber, Lauren Thresh, Michaela Martin and Benjamin Whitcomb. Biological Science Scholastic Achievement Awards went to Senior Christa Sherburne-Law, Junior Heather Lutton and Sophomore Amanda Vance. Community Development and Applied Economics Guy Derry earned the Agricultural and Resource Entrepreneurship Award, Benjamin Weller received the Community Entrepreneurship Award, Sara Weintraub took the Community and International Development Award and both Diana Fischer and Ashley Fowler received Public Communication Awards. Teaching assistants Mollie Kaufmann and Dana Michalowski were given awards for those efforts. Finally, recognition for top 10 percent cumulative grade point went to seniors Hannah Abrahamson, Diana Fischer, Elizabeth Fiori and Sarah Weintraub. Environmental Program This year's Outstanding Graduating Senior in Environmental Studies is tied between Nikola Janjic and Carolyn Smalkowski. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Paige Hoisington and Cara Edelstein received the Warren R. Steinbring Outstanding Senior in Microbiology Award. Meredith Benson was named the Lucille P. Markey Outstanding Senior in Molecular Genetics. Nutrition and Food Sciences Starr Budnick was honored with the Nutrition and Food Sciences Faculty Award. The Blair Williams award went to both Emily Piazza and Carrie McLane. Thomas Pinello took home the Reuben and Rose Mattus Scholarship. Dana Notte and Jaime Leclerc shared recognition for Nutrition and Food Sciences Research. Jaime Leclerc also won the Cornelia Wheeler Irish Memorial Scholarship. Jennifer Balentine and Jenna Damareck won the top awards for dietetics majors -- the Agnes T. Powell Awards. Emma Kopecky won the Outstanding Dietetics Student Award. Landon Schettini is this year's Bertha Terrill Award winner. Plant Biology Martin Bushey received the Al Gershow Memorial Scholarship and Morgan Moeglein received the Sproston Award. Plant and Soil Sciences Senior Recognition in Agronomy, Soils and Sustainable Agriculture went to Dana Jokela. Burlington Garden Club's Memorial Award in Horticulture this year belongs to Andrew Herrick. The W.H. Darrow Horticulture Prize went to both Peter Merritt and Evan Reiss. Dana Jokela and Peter Merritt also took the Lewis Ralph Jones Award. Sarah Greenleaf and Robert Young received James E. Ludlow Scholarships. Robert Young also received the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association Award and department recognition for being a teaching assistant. Two faculty members and one staffer received the College's top annual awards. Highest recognition for research, teaching and staff achievement this year went to Jean Harvey-Berino, Thomas McFadden and Colleen Armstrong, respectively. See related articles on CALSweb.