Josiah Dallmann, a junior double major in Fisheries and Wildlife Management and Agronomy, recently received the “Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award of Merit” for the Nebraska Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta.
This competitive award recognizes exceptional members of the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society, an international organization that promotes accomplishments in agricultural sciences, natural resources, education and human sciences, and biological systems engineering.
To be inducted into Gamma Sigma Delta is already an honor—upperclassmen must be ranked in the top echelons of their class and show the promise of leadership to be nominated—but Dallmann’s award is a special distinction.
“In my opinion,” said Dallmann, “the biggest factor in receiving the award was my intention to use past experiences and current training at the University to accomplish my career goals.”
Those past experiences: Last September, Dallmann took first-place in the Life Sciences Symposium for an explanatory poster he created to document his research on prairie chickens. His study has already played a role in changing the way researchers document and observe wildlife.
And those career goals: to work with food security and wild game management in sub-Saharan Africa to help build sustainable livelihoods in rural communities. Raised in that region, Dallmann is considering going home for the summer to do an internship in an agriculture- or wildlife-related field.
Larkin Powell, interim associate director of the School of Natural Resources, worked with Dallmann on the prairie chickens project. “When I heard he won,” Powell said, “I said, ‘Well, of course he won it.’” Powell smiled as he added, “It’s good to see our good students recognized.”
“I am flattered that Gamma Sigma Delta chose to honor my achievements in this way and in doing so, to support my future developments,” said Dallmann.
His final thought: “I believe that God has gifted me in many ways. I ultimately credit Him for giving me the ability and motivation to achieve."