Undergraduate researcher tackles beef industry’s “multimillion-dollar headache”

One look at Breyana Robinson’s resume and you can see how she landed in the animal sciences program at N.C. A&T. It was all part of her plan.

As a child growing up in Garland, Texas, she fell in love with animals, showing horses in equestrian competitions and cattle at Future Farmers of America events. When she learned that she could earn certification as a veterinary assistant through a special high school program, Robinson went for it, completing 300 hours of classroom training her junior year and 300 hours of clinical work her senior year.

Thanks to a dual credit program, she added an Associate of Science Degree from Dallas College to her growing list of accomplishments as a high-schooler, along with a six-month stint as a technician in the animal medicine laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern.

Each of these experiences solidified Robinson’s resolve to pursue animal sciences and medicine as a career. She set her sights on A&T after visiting the campus with her parents and meeting Andrea Gentry-Apple, DVM, the university’s coordinator of veterinary education.

Breyana Robinson, who plans to pursue a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine with a Ph.D., set her sights on attending A&T after visiting campus with her parents and touring University Farm.

“We learned about the program and she took us on a tour of the farm,” recalled Robinson, who wound up winning a Lewis and Elizabeth Dowdy Scholarship and obtaining prestigious internships for the past two summers. “I applied to a lot of schools, but I really wanted to go to A&T. I was sold.”

These days Robinson, a junior animal sciences major, works alongside Uchenna Anele, Ph.D., her mentor and an associate professor of animal sciences. She has added a prestigious Astronaut Scholarship to her list of credentials. And she has become an Undergraduate Research Scholar, she’s investigating ways to tackle what Anele calls the cattle industry’s “multimillion-dollar headache.”

Otherwise known as ruminal acidosis, it’s a metabolic condition usually associated with carbohydrate intake that can lead to illness and death in cattle.

“Farmers will increase corn in the feed because carbohydrates help the cattle gain weight, but they are not easily digested,” Robinson explained. “The pH in the rumen can drop to an acidic level beyond what the rumen is equipped to handle. It’s a big problem in the feed and dairy industry that negatively affects animal health and production.”

Using in vitro rumen batch cultures, Robinson set out to identify the extent to which direct-fed microbials can increase the pH balance within the rumen once acidosis has occurred and determine which microbials and the amounts needed to help treat acidosis.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done the research by myself, so I definitely learned a lot,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t get everything right the first time, but I had one or two microbials that did work, enough to where we can do more research. We got a small win.”

Robinson said the guidance and support she’s received from Anele have been critical to her learning experiences at A&T.

“As an advisor, I can say that I got the best. He always believes in me, he always encourages me,” she said. “He also gives me the room to grow, to fail and then correct my mistakes. With my research proposal, rewriting it and rewriting it taught me how to think scientifically and write scientifically. He didn’t do it for me. He taught me how to do it myself.”

That kind of real-life research experience will bolster Robinson as she pursues her ultimate goal: a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine with a Ph.D. So will her near-perfect GPA.

“I tell other students who are interested in what I do that being able to get this expertise as an undergraduate – I don’t even have the words for it. I will be able to publish as an undergrad. It will actually help me toward my future in these programs, which really look for research expertise.”

Anele doesn’t doubt that Robinson can achieve whatever goal she sets her mind to — “She can confidently get into a number of vet schools,” he said. Yet he encourages his mentee to take time to simply enjoy her years at A&T.

“He always reminds me, it’s not all about school. You need to have fun as a student,” she said.

Finding that healthy balance continues to be challenging for Robinson.

“At first I didn’t have a clear understanding of how much time it took to do your own research project until it was literally taking all my time,” she said. “I would be in the lab before class. I would be in the lab after class. Then to meetings for other organizations, then homework and studying at night.

“Have I found that balance? Oh my gosh, I don’t know. I’m a work in progress.”