Wallace wins student award from livestock publications council
Whitney Wallace, a senior in agricultural journalism at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism and College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, has earned the Forrest Bassford Student Award from the Livestock Publications Council. The award was presented at the Agricultural Media Summit in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Clinton, Mo., native has been interning this summer with the Missouri Beef Industry Council. Her career goals are to help tell agriculture’s story to the growing population of urban Americans who’ve become removed from the farm.
“I'm thrilled to be spending my summer promoting beef,” she said. “It's very rewarding to help consumers understand where their food comes from.”
Wallace was the 2008 Missouri State Fair Queen. She is a CAFNR Ambassador, a Sigma Alpha professional agriculture sorority member and past president of the Mizzou Collegiate Farm Bureau.
Wallace has been raising and showing sheep for more than 14 years. She has a dream of traveling to New Zealand to see the flocks of sheep down under. She plans to make the trip a reality this December with a CAFNR study-abroad group.
Wallace said the Bassford award resulted from the encouragement and lessons she's gained from mentors and friends at CAFNR.
The Livestock Publications Council is an international organization serving the livestock communications industry. Founded in 1974, this non-profit organization provides a forum through which members can obtain information about how to improve their overall effectiveness and value to both readers and advertisers.
The Forrest Bassford Student Award winner receives a $2,000 scholarship. Up to three other students each receive a $750 travel scholarship to attend the Ag Media Summit. The program was established to recognize and reward excellence and leadership and to encourage professionalism among students.
The travel awards give students the opportunity to interact with leaders in livestock publishing and to participate in workshops, seminars and the critique contest and awards sessions. Forrest Bassford's name was appended to the LPC Student Award in 1992 in honor of his contribution to LPC and his particular interest in furthering the student award.
