Prior to our Fall Forum in October, 2012 CYL Mentee Katie Wood sat in on a BCRC meeting in Calgary alongside her mentor Reynold Bergen, BCRC’s Science Director. Here is what she had to say about the experience:
I was lucky enough to attend the fall meeting of the Beef Cattle Research Council on Oct 11 and 12th in Calgary. The council consists of members of each of the check-off contributing provinces as well as BCRC staff. This fall meeting was to review the research proposals for and determining funding decisions for the upcoming Beef Research Cluster funded projects. Over the two day meeting each of the research proposals were discussed and the council voted to accept or reject each proposal. The projects fall under one of seven categories: grains and forages, feeding and feed efficiency, animal health, food safety, beef quality, environment, and technology transfer. As a future researcher, I found it very insightful to observe the whole process and listen to the discussion amongst the council members on the merits and pitfalls of each proposal. I would like to thank the BCRC council and staff for allowing me to attend this meeting. I hopefully will be able to take what I have learned from this unique opportunity and incorporate it into writing proposals of my own one day.