U of A's Dr. Clover Bench wins AFAC award

Dr. Clover Bench has been awarded the Alberta Farm Animal Care 's (AFAC) 2011 Award of Distinction for Communication.

Bench is an instructor for courses in animal welfare, food animal behavior and companion animal behavior at the University of Alberta, where she serves as teacher, advisor and mentor to dozens of students.

As part of her courses, students have been involved with projects designing innovative solutions and products to support farm animal care. She has also built a strong partnership between student activities and provincial Youth 4-H Clubs in the province, encouraging knowledge transfer and interaction with almost 7,000 Youth 4-Hers.

The award was presented to Bench by Dr. Craig Wilkinson, director of animal care at the University of Alberta. "Clover is making an outstanding contribution to communication about behavior and care of farm animals. She is highly deserving of this award."

Bench emphasized that creating opportunities for people from all walks of life to consider agriculture as a career is important to develop the agriculture leaders of tomorrow. "A big part of that is to help bridge students, including both urban and rural students, into agriculture and animal science," says Bench.

The AFAC Award of Distinction for Communication honours those that take an active role in effectively getting the message out about livestock issues, and informing the public and agri-food industry about farm animal care in a factual and honest way, to build trust and credibility.