Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Dr. Jenny Harper, Professor of Biology, received a $30,000 Capacity Building Grant for Non-Land-grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA) Program for her project “Planning a Georgia Veterinary Science Pipeline: Preparing Students for Careers in Veterinary Medicine in the Underserved Region of Rural South Georgia”.

NLGCA grants function to expand and maintain institutions in agricultural disciplines by addressing national challenges to help increase the number and diversity of students in STEM disciplines. Harper’s grant is focused on helping address the shortage of veterinarian practitioners in rural Georgia.

“We want to provide optimal opportunities for ABAC students to gain unique experiences that will help them be more employable and encourage them to return to rural communities, bringing their new skill sets to serve those areas,” Harper said. “What we see is that students who go to vet school and have strong ties to their rural community tend to come back to work and live. Spending time with practitioners early, in their undergraduate years, will strengthen local ties and the veterinary care available in rural Georgia.”

ABAC has a significant rural student population pursing degrees in biology and animal science and has had previous success of promoting veterinary medicine through their acceptance into veterinary college.

“We want to further these efforts by continuing our existing partnership with University of Georgia-Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory and building new and lasting relationships with local veterinarian clinics, the State Veterinarian’s Office, the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association, and White Oak Pastures,” said Harper.

“We are grateful for continued support for out vet pipeline project,” said Scott Pierce, Director of Sponsored Programs at ABAC. “Dr. Harper has been doing an amazing job with the first iteration of this project. Now, with this two-year planning grant, she will form new partnerships that help ABAC reach a much wider audience.

This work is supported by the Capacity Building Grants for Non-Land Grant Colleges and Agriculture grant #2024-70001-43542 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.