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Dairy science students awarded scholarships

Dr. Dash
From left to right: Rutvi Joshi, Kritika Gaba, Sheetal Jha, and Bhaswati Choudhary.

Four South Dakota State University student researchers have been awarded scholarships for their outstanding work. 

Honored were graduate research assistants Sheetal Jha, Kritikia Gaba, Bhaswati Chowdhury, and Rutvi Jitendarkumar Joshi. 

Jha, Gaba and Chowdhury are from professor Sanjeev Anand’s lab. Anand is a professor and the interim head of SDSU’s Department of Dairy and Food Science. His lab conducts research in microbial quality and food safety. 
 
Each year, the Minnesota Section of the Institute of Food Technologies offers awards to outstanding food science graduate and undergraduate students. Scholarships are awarded to students with high academic excellence in their graduate studies with the purpose of encouraging leadership, academic achievement, professional development and to support research in the field of food science. 
 
Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan, a Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at SDSU, serves as the section president. Lin Wei, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, serves as the Great Plains subsection chair. 
 
The trio was honored at a ceremony in Minneapolis on April 27. 

Jha was named the recipient of the 2023 Dr. Dash Scholarship Award for Academic Excellence. This was the first year MNIFT offered this award. 
 
"My research is currently focused on formulating a natural bio-sanitizer to effectively clean the resilient biofilm from the dairy separation membranes," Jha said. 
 
Jha was also awarded the 2023 MNIFT Student Travel Scholarship. This scholarship will allow Jha to travel to and attend the annual IFT meeting and expo.
 
"This provides a platform to network with great food scientists and food enthusiasts who are experts in their areas of research," Jha said. 
 
Jha earned her bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Charotar University of Science and Technology in India. 
 
Gaba was named the first recipient of the Dr. Dash Research Scholarship Award in the Area of Gut Health for her research on combining whey proteins and probiotics.
 
Recently, Gaba successfully defended her thesis and will graduate this spring with a Master of Science degree with a focus in dairy manufacturing. After graduation, she plans to work in an industry-level job. 

Gaba award
Gaba receiving her award at the April 27 ceremony in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

"I'm looking to get into a job that is focused on product development," Gaba said. "Research and development are what I'm interested in."
 
She received her undergraduate degree from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, located in her native India. 
 
Gaba is also the student representative for the Institute of Food Technologies Dairy Foods Division. 
 
Chowdhury was the recipient of this year's MNFIT Scholarship for Graduate Student in M.S. program. Her research concentrates on using genomic and phenotypic approaches to control persistent environmental Listeria monocytogenes in dairy processing plants.
 
She was also awarded the MNIFT Student Travel Scholarship. 
 
Chowdhury is in her final year at SDSU as a graduate student. 

Joshi was the recipient of the MNFIT graduate student scholarship. She is currently a graduate research assistant in the Dairy and Food Science Department. Her research focuses primarily on new ingredient development and cheese functionality. 
 
"It is a unique honor to see three of my graduate students win big awards at the 2023 MNIFT event," Anand said. "This shows the strength of our graduate program in dairy and food science at SDSU and the competitiveness of our students. Such accomplishments serve as landmarks of success and inspiration to future students.” 

 

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