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K-State Today

June 4, 2015

National Agricultural Biosecurity Center welcomes undergraduate summer intern

Submitted by Sarah Hancock

Miller

The Kansas State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center is hosting an intern in partnership with the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, a Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence. Jonathan Miller has joined the institute's new 10-week summer internship program for undergraduate students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Miller is a junior animal and veterinary science major at the University of Wyoming. Miller's K-State mentors are Ken Burton, doctor of veterinary medicine and National Agricultural Biosecurity Center program director, and Craig Beardsley, National Agricultural Biosecurity Center program administrator.

Miller will be working on a methodology for quantifying the risk in pathways for potential introduction of classical swine fever into the U.S. He also will participate in a two-week BSL-3 Training/Transboundary Animal Disease Summer Program to learn about high-consequence transboundary animal diseases and high-containment research. The summer program is sponsored by the K-State Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases. Miller plans to pursue a career in veterinary medicine with a special interest in disease outbreak investigation and epidemiology.

The Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases internship program aims to provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience related to the prevention, detection, control and mitigation of high-consequence transboundary animal diseases. The institute was founded in 2004 and is headquartered at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

National Agricultural Biosecurity Center manages complex research projects and training programs for multiple state and federal agencies and supports research in livestock emergency response planning and training. The center participates in a wide range of applied scientific research of practical agro-security capabilities and programs addressing threats to U.S. and world agricultural economies.