Honors Theses
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Item Open Access Horses without doctors: why is the equine veterinarian industry facing a shortage?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Leo, Adison, author; Fedorka, Carleigh, author; Magee, Christianne, authorIt has been well documented that there is a shortage of practitioners entering the equine medicine workforce. Unfortunately, minimal research has gone into the causative agents for this shortage. Therefore, the objectives of this study were 1) to identify current concerns within the equine veterinary medicine workforce, and 2) isolate common perceptions of equine veterinary medicine within equine industry members who no longer desire to enter the workforce. To do so, 264 members of the equine industry were surveyed. These respondents could be separated into groups of 1) equine industry members (n=243) and 2) current equine practitioners (n=21). Additionally, equine industry members were further separated based on current interest in equine veterinary practice (1=very disinterested, 5=very interested). Of those responders, 197 (n=197) had lost interest in pursuing equine veterinary medicine, while 31 (n=31) maintained interest. When surveying equine veterinarians, the primary issues within their career were work-life balance (85%), mental health (70%), and debt-to-income ratio (65%). When surveying equine industry members on the perceived problems within equine veterinary medicine, the primary issues were debt-to-income ratio (66.7%), work-life balance (61.3%), and mental health (38.7). Therefore, the top three concerns in both populations were similar, although the percentage of respondents indicating concern varied widely. When further assessing only respondents that had lost interest, the primary concerns were cost of education (61.1%), length of education (69.6%), income after graduation (49.2%), and feeling as though their grades are not suitable for acceptance (35.4%). In conclusion, it appears that the general equine industry populace is aware of the current problems within the career of equine veterinary medicine (see figure 2). As low income alongside poor mental health and a lack of work-life balance are the primary issues, these 3 aspects within equine veterinary medicine need to be addressed in order to improve the equine veterinary medicine shortage.Item Open Access Exploration of the role of flavonoids on pest resistance in Cannabis sativa(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024-12-10) Huston, Susannah, authorHemp (Cannabis sativa) is a growing crop industry in the United States with a wide variety of uses from fiber to CBD extraction; as more is grown there is a higher importance placed on pest management, particularly of the cannabis aphid (Phorodon cannabis). Flavonoids are a category of secondary metabolite found in all plants that show a wide variety of structures and functions, including some levels of negative impacts on insect pests. We explored how varying flavonoid levels in 7 hemp cultivars affect the ability of cannabis aphids to colonize the plant, and focused on the effect of a specific flavonoid, orientin, through artificial feeding assays. Population screening showed a significant difference in aphid populations when comparing varying flavonoid profiles to a cultivar with none. Artificial feeding showed no significance of orientin on cannabis aphids, suggesting potentially a higher concentration is necessary to see negative effects. Knowing that overall flavonoid levels may aid in plant defenses paves the way for future research to focus on specific flavonoids and narrow down which are responsible, and could be potentially targeted for crop improvement and breeding.