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The �ձ�av��Ƶ Department of Natural Resource Management invites the public to attend its 2026 International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists seminar. All are welcome to attend the event on Friday, April 17, at McCrory Gardens in Brookings.

Graduate students make up about 10% of the student population across more than 100 master’s degree and Ph.D. programs and specializations and 23 graduate certificate programs offered at �ձ�av��Ƶ. Each graduate student is immersed in research and scholarship with the support of their advisor and the Graduate School staff. April 6-10 is Graduate Student Appreciation Week, a great opportunity to highlight a few graduate students at �ձ�av��Ƶ and the work they are accomplishing.

�ձ�av��Ƶ’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions will hold its Medical Laboratory Science Day and Spring Convocation and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, April 15.

The Eminent Leaders in Agriculture, Family and Community Selection Committee is seeking nominations of individuals for �ձ�av��Ƶ's Eminent Leaders in Agriculture, Family and Community award program.

The Drone Club at �ձ�av��Ƶ is hosting its fourth annual Drone Day on April 17. The event is free and open to the public.

For the fourth year in a row, �ձ�av��Ƶ has qualified a team to the finals of a prestigious NASA competition — and this year’s team is composed of only freshmen and sophomores. “This is an Aerospace Club team, so none of the students on the team are doing this for any class credit, and we have three sophomores and three freshman,” said faculty adviser Todd Letcher, who will lead the mechanical engineering students to the finals of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 2-4.

South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Secretary Hunter Roberts was on campus March 27 to meet with �ձ�av��Ƶ students participating in ECON 319: Seminar with Industry Leaders.

Natalie Sturm first learned about the Dakota Lakes Research Farm as part of an undergraduate cropping systems class. She was so inspired she emailed the farm manager, Dwayne Beck, asking if he was hiring. Now, six years after the initial email and four years after completing her master’s degree by conducting research on the farm, Sturm is returning as the new manager of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm.

From health care to agriculture to education, artificial intelligence is reshaping the modern world, and college graduates must have the skills, knowledge and tools to meet the challenges and demands AI presents across nearly every industry. To ensure its graduates are ready to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world, �ձ�av��Ƶ has announced the establishment of the Center for AI Innovation and Emergent Technologies.

The 2026 Midwest American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting was held March 8-11 in Omaha, Nebraska, bringing together researchers and students from 12 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. “Faculty and students from �ձ�av��Ƶ were highly successful at the Midwest ASAS Annual Meeting, showcasing the strength of the university’s teaching, research and extension programs,” said John Jaeger, Calvin and Mary Hayenga Endowed Department Head of Animal Science.