Animal Science Academic Quadrathlon to be Held at The University of Findlay

The University of Findlay’s animal science department will host an academic quadrathlon today, Thursday, and Friday, Feb. 20-21.
The Thursday portion of the competition will be held at the C. Richard Beckett Animal Science Building from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., and on Friday, a quiz bowl will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Frost Science Center, Malcolm Lecture Hall on campus. Community members are welcome to attend.
Teams of four will be competing for the chance to represent the University at the American Society of Animal Science regional Academic Quadrathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, March 15-18.
The ideal team will have a diverse knowledge base among its members because each team competes in four sections: laboratory practicum, written exam, oral presentation and quiz bowl. The sections are designed so that team members have to rely on each other in order to finish on time, pulling from each of their knowledge banks as needed.
Subject matter will cover all farm animal species and may include nutrition, behavior, genetics and animal breeding, products and product utilization, health, physiology, statistics, feed and equipment identification and general management.
Last year, the four students who represented UF in Iowa ranked in the top five teams. They competed against schools like the Ohio State University, Michigan State University and Iowa State University.
According to Brian Whitaker, Ph.D., assistant professor of animal science, the quadrathlon isn’t necessarily about the competition but about the cumulative amount of knowledge shared and developing team leadership.