Recently, I had the opportunity to escape from the laboratory to participate in a unique event that allowed me to put my research and acquired knowledge to the test at the Eastern Kentucky Equine Wellness Clinic. As a graduate student, it is important to engage in opportunities that allow us to disseminate the information we are generating to the public and serve as an encouraging reminder of the purpose of our research.

The event organized by the UK Ag Equine Programs Agents Working Group was led by Fernanda Camargo, DVM, PhD, equine extension associate professor at UK, and Amy Lawyer, MS, equine extension specialist in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. It was fueled by participation from local county extension agents Lyndall Harned and Bonnie Jolly; Pedro De Pedro, DVM, assistant professor at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, in St. Kitts, West Indies; several veterinary students from Ross University; animal science and equine science undergraduate and graduate students; and representatives from the equine parasitology laboratory of Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVM, associate professor and Schlaikjer Professor of Equine Infectious Disease at the UK Gluck Equine Research Center.

Nielsen’s lab was represented by doctoral students Ashley Steuer, DVM, BS, Zoetis Resident of Veterinary Parasitology, and myself; undergraduate students Faith Miller, Jamie Norris, Emily Mercier, and Danielle Rolle; Lívia Ramires and Luciana Dias de Castro, visiting scholars from Brazil; and Csenge Kálmán, a visiting scholar from Hungary. Undergraduate students Jason Huber, Morgan Falk, Megan Dupont, Aya Omar, and Jacqueline Dillard also volunteered their time