The Northeast Student Affiliate (NESA) is the Northeast regional meeting of the Student Affiliate Division (SAD) of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA). The Northeast Regional meeting is held annually during the month of February at a pre-determined “host” school and many Northeastern colleges and universities participate, making for a great gathering of people interested in Animal Science and a wonderful networking opportunity. During the annual NESA meeting, UMass students compete in: livestock judging, a quiz bowl, and paper presentations. There is also a competition in which students who are participating in original undergraduate research present their results. The top scoring schools, and individual teams from each school, go home with awards and bragging rights!

This is a non-credit, school event that many students choose to participate in. These students demonstrate the devotion and dedication of UMass Veterinary & Animal Sciences students to their major and future careers. Students who participate in this group are required to be members of the Veterinary & Animal Sciences Department.

2023-2024 NESA Student Leaders, Co-Presidents - Kylee Webster and Helenka Whitton
Faculty Advisor - Nuno Carreiro
Secretary - Morgan Rollins
Hospitality Committee, Chair - Adia Pichardo
Livestock Judging Committee, Chair - Mara Beck
Quiz Bowl Committee, Chair - Kylee Webster
Presentations Committee, Chair - Julianna Applegate

NESA meets Tuesdays and Thursdays 7-8pm in ISB 427L

A group of students pose for a photo under a balloon sign reading "NESA 2024"

On Saturday, February 24th, 2024, 124 student competitors representing 31 teams from 6 institutions including Delaware Valley University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Connecticut, University of Delaware, University of New Hampshire, and University of Maine came to UMass Amherst for the annual competetion and meeting.
Each member institution hosts this event on a rotating basis every 8-10 years and this year's event would not have been such a success without the help of the many great UMass volunteers! We received very high praises from our colleagues from our peer institutions for hosting such a well-organized and fun event.

Top 10 Livestock Judging Individuals

1. Alexis Brown- UConn
2. Emily Bewley- Penn State B
3. Amy Wiknik- UConn B
4. Ella Brummer- Penn State H
5. Joey Caron- UConn D
6. Lynneah Brady- Penn State C
7. Ashton Stiles- Penn State B
8. Jess Fleischer- Penn State F
9. Alexis Banik- Penn State E
10. Frencesca Holl- UDel B

Outstanding Senior Award
1. Kendal Jenkins- Penn State

Top 6 Animal Science Presentations
1. Mattie Horcher- Penn State D
2. Abigail Carriere- UNH D
3. Jocelyn Childers- UMaine A
4. Frencesca Holl- UDel B
5. Katerina Coffman- Penn State H
6. Becca Syme- UConn A

Top 6 Overall Institutions
1. Pennsylvania State University
2. University of New Hampshire
3. Delaware Valley University
4. University of Delaware
5. University of Connecticut
6. University of Maine

Top 10 Livestock Judging Teams
1. PSU B
2. UNH A
3. PSU E
4. PSU H
5. DelVal A
6. UConn A
7. DelVal E
8. PSU D
9. PSU C
10. DelVal F

Top 10 Quiz Bowl Teams
1. PSU B
2. UNH A
3. PSU F
4. UNH C
5. UDel A
6. DelVal C
7. PSU D
8. DelVal F
9. PSU G
10. UNH D

Top 10 Overall Teams
1. PSU B
2. PSU D
3. UNH A
4. PSU H
5. PSU G
6. PSU C
7. UConn A
8. UNH D
9. Del Val F
10. UNH C

2023 - On Saturday, February 18, 2023, the UMass NESA team took SECOND PLACE overall in the annual Northeast regional meeting and competition. The 2023 NESA meeting was hosted by University of Maine located in Orono.

112 students representing 28 teams took part in the 2023 competition.

Summary of the 2023 results:

Top 5 Overall Institutions
1. Penn State University,  2. UMass Amherst,  3. University of New Hampshire,  4. Delaware Valley University,  5. University of Connecticut

Top 5 Overall Teams
1. UMass Team A,  2. Penn State Team D,  3. UMass Team C,  4. Penn State Team F,  5. UConn Team B

Top 7 Livestock Judging Teams
1. Penn State Team D,  2. UNH Team A,  3. Del Val Team B,  4. UConn Team 2,  5. Penn State A  6. Penn State Team G,  7. UMass Team C

Top 5 Quiz Bowl Teams
1. Penn State Team C,  2. UNH Team B,  3. UMass Team A,  4. Penn State Team E,  5. UMass Team B

Top 5 Animal Science Presentations
1. Morgan Rollins- UMass Team A,  2. Lydia Brown- Penn State,  3. Mattie Horchle- Penn State,  4. Rachel Bitler- Penn State,  5. Alli Jobe- Penn State

Representing UMass 2023:
UMass Team A: Morgan Rollins, Adia Pichardo, Caitlyn Child, Sophia Gemignani
UMass Team B: Julianna Applegate, Nicolette Schiavo, Owen Fanning, Helenka Whitton
UMass Team C: Destina Vivo Amore, Kalman Baker, Victoria Vella, Samantha Lee
UMass Team D: Kylee Webster, Shelby Bernadini, Jenny Kim, Keirnan Hjalmarson
UMass Team E: Mara Beck, Rebeccah Potter, Lily Georgopoulos, Charlotte Bailey

Students interested in joining or learning more about the NESA Livestock Judging Team are encouraged to contact Julianna Applegate (@email), Rebeccah Potter (@email) or Morgan Rollins (@email).  This is a very friendly competition and our students really enjoy meeting and networking with their animal science/ pre-vet peers from other institutions.

NESA is composed of the following participating institutions: Delaware Valley University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, SUNY-Cobleskill, University of Connecticut, University of Delaware, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of New Hampshire, University of Rhode Island.

The UMass 2023 NESA team poses for a photo.

UMass 2023 NESA Team

The 2022 NESA Competition took place at Delaware Valley University on February 26, 2022.

UMass won Fourth Place Overall Institution

Julianna Applegate took fourth place in the research presentation contest with her presentation titled "Elk, Bison, and Brucellosis, What it is and Why It Matters”

UMass Team B took fifth place during the Quiz Bowl competition.

UMass Team A: Julianna Applegate, Adia Pichardo, Morgan Rollins, and Kylee Webster placed 8th in the Quiz Bowl Competition
UMass Team B: Kalman Baker, Caitlyn Child, Rebeccah Potter, and Hope Siddall placed 5th in the Quiz Bowl Competition
UMass Team C: Nicolette Schiavo, Olivia Rizzo, and Grace Smith

UMass Amherst 2022 NESA Team poses for a photo at Delaware Valley University

UMass Amherst 2022 NESA Team at Delaware Valley University

The 2020 Competition took place at the University of New Hampshire on February 15, 2020.

UMass tied with URI for Third Place Overall Institution!

Shannon Canavan placed 5th in livestock judging.

Nicole Neely took seventh place in the research presentation contest with a presentation titled "Taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy in golden retrievers fed commercial diets"

Team A: Nicole Neely, Leilani Sung, Caitlyn Child, Michelle Milanov placed 9th in the Quiz Bowl Competition
Team B: Abby Cashel, Gina Dinardo, Lexi Henderson, Reilly McNamara placed 6th in the Quiz Bowl Competition
Team C: Anna De La Cruz, Mikayla Diedrick, Shannon Canavan, Rae Simmard placed 4th in the Quiz Bowl Competition

Team B placed 8th in the Overall Team category which takes into account the team's score in all three categories: livestock judging, quizbowl, and paper presentations.

The 2020 UMass NESA team poses for a photo.

2019 UMass NESA Team - Third Place Overall Institution!

UMass Team - Taylor Schmeizer, Heather Mischel, Nicole Neely, and Bradley Fowlerwon first place in the quiz bowl competition

Nicole Neely took eighth place in theresearch presentation contest

2017 UMass NESA Team - Second Place Overall Institution!

UMass Team A - Aiden McGrath, Heather Mischel, Reilly McNamara, Mikayla Diedrick - 6th Place Quiz Bowl, 8th Place Team Livestock Judging, 6th Place Overall Team
UMass Team B - Annie Le, Yoonjin Moon, Kyle Rogers, Kaitlyn McGarvey - 2nd Place Team Livestock Judging, 10th Place Overall Team
UMass Team C - Sophia Upton, Abby Cashel, Eddie Wong, Leilani Sung - 3rd Place Quiz Bowl, 8th Place Overall Team
UMass Team D - Abbey Kingston, Emily Jacoboski, Sandra Barzola, Nicole Neely
UMass Team E - Miranda Senft, Bradley Fowler, Katrina Klobucher, Allison Jasa
Annie Le - 3rd Place Independent Research
Nicole Neely - 5th Place Individual Presentation
Kyle Rogers - 10th Place Individual Livestock Judging

The 2017 UMass NESA team poses for a photo.

2017 UMass NESA Team - 50 Ribbons and Second Place Overall!

NESA - North East Student Affiliate 2017

On February 25th UMass competed in the annual NESA competition at the University of Rhode Island. Our 28 students did an amazing job, bringing home Second Place and a total of 50 ribbons, far more than any other school. This wasn't mere luck; each member spent countless hours in preparation for this event and was ready to dominate! Seniors Paige Mechan and Matt Poe lead the dedicated team and are so proud of each member's successes. With first place mere points away this year, we have the capability of taking home the trophy next year!

Overall University: #2 UMass
Livestock Judging Individual Awards: #1 Katrina Klobucher  #5 Yoonjin Moon
Team Awards: #4 UMass D  #5 UMass A  #7 UMass B  #8 UMass F
Livestock Judging Teams: #4 UMass B  #10 UMass F
Individual Presentations: #7 Bradley Fowler  #10 Jennifer Finne
Quiz Bowl Teams: #3 UMass A  #5 UMass D  #8 UMass F  #9 UMass C  #10 UMass E

Participants-
Student Coordinators- Paige Mechan and Matt Poe
UMass Team A- Paige Mechan, Aiden McGrath, Lexi Henderson, Molly McGuigan
UMass Team B- Katrina Klobucher, Matt Poe, Annie Le, Eddie Wong
UMass Team C- Miranda Senft, Yoonjin Moon, Sophia Upton, Kyle Rogers
UMass Team D- Bradley Fowler, Emily Jacoboski, Abbey Kingston, Nicole Neely
UMass Team E- Jennifer Finne, Leilani Sung, Sandra Barzola, Mikayla Diedrick
UMass Team F- Abby Cashel, Heather Mischel, Matt Frey, Reilly McNamara
UMass Team G- Aliza Yaillen, Kaitlyn McGarvey, Heather Baba, Emily Britton

Two students pose with ribbons

Senior Students

Junior NESA students pose for a photo.

Junior Students

Sophomore NESA students pose for a photo

Sophomore Students

Freshman NESA students pose for a photo.

Freshmen Students

People gathered around for livestock judging.

Livestock Judging


NESA - North East Student Affiliate 2016

A group of NESA students pose for a photo.

The University of Connecticut hosted the 2016 annual competition February 5-6th.
Twenty UMass students competed and took home the 5th place overall institution ribbon.

katrina klobucher poses for a photo

Katrina Klobucher 4th place Individual Livestock Judging

A person is held up horizontally by four other people in celebration.

Presenters - Sabryna Whitman, Kaitlyn Benjamin, Sarah Paquette - 5th place award winner, Kendra Anderson and Matthew Poe

four people pose for a photo

8th place Livestock Judging Team: Team B - Katrina Klobucher, Miranda Senft, Sabryna Whitman, Holly Sullivan

four people pose for a photo

Team A - Kendra Anderson, Paige Mechan, Courtney Babcock, Annie Le

A group of students pose for a photo

Team C - Sophia Upton, Matt Poe, Arynn Mundorf, Abbey Kingston

four people pose for a photo

Team D - Sandra Barzola, Kaitlyn Benjamin, Yoonjin Moon, Aiden McGrath

four people pose for a photo

Team E - Sarah Paquette, Sarah Ferruggiaro, Emily Jacobski, Sandra Chen

four people pose for a photo

Sabryna Whitman, Holly Sullivan and Courtney Babcock, NESA student coordinators with John Balise, Faculty Advisor


UMASS hosted 2014 Northeast Regional Meeting

The UMass NESA students hosted the 2014 annual meeting and competition on Saturday, February 8, 2014.  The event was sponsored by  Farm Credit East, Purina Animal Nutrition, a division of Land O’Lakes, Inc. and Phoenix Feeds & Nutrition.  Students from the University of Maine, University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, University of Connecticut, University of Rhode Island, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers and Delaware Valley College participated.  Over 250 guests participated and found the event both educational and fun as it provided an opportunity for students from eleven universities interested in animal science and agriculture to share ideas and compete.

As the host school, UMass students assisted in coordinating and directing all the events but did not participate in the events. All awards were announced at the culminating banquet held in the Student Union Ball Room.