Kelsey Mills ’21 Awarded Governor’s Award for Excellence

Kelsey Mills, who earned a master’s degree in geographic information science from the NC State Center for Geospatial Analytics in 2021, was recently awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence.

The award recognizes state employees for accomplishments above and beyond their job duties. This year, 41 state employees received the award.

Mills, who now works as a research technician in the College of Veterinary Medicine, won the award in the efficiency and innovation category.

She has been instrumental in designing and implementing new GIS solutions, pig movement data analysis and disease-tracking systems that have greatly improved her lab’s ability to monitor disease outbreaks and respond to them in a timely and effective manner.

One of Mills’ most notable achievements was her role in developing an app for tracking disease in pig production.

“This app is revolutionizing the way we collect and analyze data, and it has allowed companies and state veterinarians to respond to outbreaks much faster than before,” Mill’s nomination letter stated. “Kelsey’s dedication and attention to detail have made this app user-friendly and easy to use, and it has been praised by farmers and veterinarians alike for its design.”

Mills said she is extremely proud of her work on the app.

“I’m from North Carolina, and the pork industry is very important here,” she said. “Being involved in something heavily related to where I am from is one of the reasons why it’s so important to me.”

Mills said she is also proud of the recognition she has received as a result of her work but noted her work is part of a team effort.

“I am very honored,” she said. “Everything that we produce in the lab is a group effort. It’s not just a single person or an individual thing. I always like to make that a big point when I do any interviews related to this award.”

This article was originally published by University Human Resources News.