2020 Awards Archive

Oregon State University

Dr. Gita Cherian is a Professor of Animal Nutrition and is the first recipient of the Walther H. Ott endowed professorship in poultry science, at the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, at Oregon State University. She received a BVSc from India, and MS and PhD in animal and poultry nutrition from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. The central theme of Dr. Cherian’s research program is “Animal Health and Food Quality through Diet.” With support from USDA, Agriculture Research Foundation and other private sources, her laboratory investigates the role of diet in bird health, and development of functional foods with emphasis on omega-3 fatty acids. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed original publications, 15 book chapters, an open access online book “A Guide to the Principles of Animal Nutrition”, and edited a book on “Fats and Fatty Acids in Poultry Nutrition and Health”. She has presented over 40 invited seminars on lipids and poultry food product quality worldwide and twice served as section editor Poultry Science (Metabolism and Nutrition). Dr. Cherian was awarded American Egg Board Research award in 2008, and Elizabeth P. Ritchie Distinguished Professor award for teaching from Oregon State University in 2019.

The American Egg Board Research Award is given to the recipient who has increased the interest in research pertaining to all things related to eggs. This could include areas related to egg production, safety, product quality, or egg science technology. This is an annual award.

University of Georgia

Woo Kyun Kim is an associate professor/poultry nutritionist in the Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia. He received a BS in animal science from KonKuk University, South Korea, a MS in poultry science from the Pennsylvania State University, and a PhD in nutritional science from the Pennsylvania State University. He has been trained as a Postdoc Fellow from Texas A & M University and University of California Los Angeles. He worked as an assistant professor/monogastric nutritionist at University of Manitoba before his joining as a faculty member at University of Georgia. His research has been focused on roles of pre- and probiotics, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes on growth/laying performance, nutrient digestibility of feed ingredients, feed nutrient utilization, intestinal development, gut health, immunity, and bone health in poultry. He has published 124 peer-reviewed papers, 17 proceedings and symposium papers, and 123 abstracts and obtained over $12 million in extramural funding from USDA-NIFA, USDA-CAP, USDA-Corporative Agreement, US Poultry & Egg, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-Discovery), Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Almond Board of California, Rural Development Administration, Manitoba Egg Farmer Association, Manitoba Health Research Council, Paul Thorlakson Foundation, and poultry industry (contracts/gifts). His teaching activities include on feed & feeding, poultry nutrition and vitamins in animal nutrition. Dr. Kim currently serves as a section editor for Poultry Science.

This award is given to recognize distinctive work demonstrating sound research in poultry nutrition in the last 10 years. This is an annual award.

University of Missouri

Jesse Lyons received a BS in Forest Management in May, 1973 and a MS in Poultry Science with a specialty in Poultry Management in May, 1981. Having a diverse educational background, Jesse also lead several international training programs in Ghana, West Africa as well as in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan under the Cochran Fellowship Program for the University of Missouri. Jess has been a Research Specialist, as well as an Extension Associate and Computer System Support Analyst for Poultry Science at University of Missouri.

Jess has received numerous National and State and University Awards. He received the Tyson Support Personnel Award in 2010 as well as the Poultry Extension Special Recognition Award in 2008. For his work with FFA, Jesse holds a National Honorary FFA Degree which he received in 2005. At the state and university level, Jess received the MU College of Agriculture Staff Award in 2006 and the Mizzou Block and Bridle Service Award in 2001. From the state of Missouri, Jess received a Meritorious Service Award as a Subject Matter Specialist in 1994.

He has served as an Associate Editor for Applied Poultry Science Journal from 2002 to 2015. Jess served as PSA’s Historical Award Committee Chair in 2010. He has served on the National 4-H and FFA Conference Committees since 1998. Jesse has also remained an active member of PSA, APHS, APA and ABA as well as Gamma Sigma Delta.

His personal interests include being an APA General Licensed Judge, a Licensed Private Pilot, APA Master Exhibitor and Breeder of SCWL. And Jess is an Master Judge for the Kansas City BBQ Society and a Licensed Amateur Radio Operator. And in his spare time likes to fish and travel with his wife Doris.

This award is given to the recipient who has helped to stimulate interest in documenting and recording historical information about the poultry industry development, to preserve artifacts and other items of historical interest to the poultry industry, and to encourage the publication of recorded historical information in papers and books. This award is given every other year.

North Carolina State University

Kenneth E. Anderson, Professor and Extension Specialist, Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University has been on faculty since 1990. Ken Anderson was raised on a poultry layer farm near Morris, IL. He attended Southern Illinois University- Carbondale and worked at the SIU-C Poultry Research Unit throughout his undergraduate years. He graduated with his BS in Animal and Agricultural Industries in December 1979. Following graduation he accepted the position of General Manager of State Line Egg Producers Cooperative, Inc., Beatrice, NE a Poultry Cooperative headquartered in Kansas from 1980 to 1983. He then accepted the position of Superintendent at the T.B. Avery Poultry Research Unit and Instructor in the Department of Animal Science at Kansas State University. He completed his master’s in 1987 and Doctoral degree in 1990 in Poultry Management under the supervision of Dr. Albert Adams. While at Kansas State University, he had the privilege and opportunity to work with Dr. James V. Craig on a number of animal behavior research projects and co-authored several papers with Dr. Craig.

Part of Dr. Anderson’s responsibilities include Extension programs in laying hen husbandry, research serving as the Director of the North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test, and teaching 2 classes in Live Poultry and Poultry Product Evaluation, Grading, and Inspection and Commercial Egg Production. He has guided the development of NCLP&MT research programs at the Piedmont Research Station to include free range, cage-free, enriched colony cage, enrichable colony cage and conventional cage production and maintained the test as one of only three in the world and the only one of its size and scope. Dr. Anderson’s research has focused on the influence of management on commercial layer strains in a wide range of production systems. He has also worked on the development of layer behavior profiles in cages when subjected to differing molt programs and investigated shell egg processing methods. He continues to assess production densities that now include various cage systems, floor, and range paddocks. During the past 28 years, Dr. Anderson has authored or co-authored over 115 peer reviewed journal publications, 181 abstracts, 83 Extension articles and NC Layer Management Test Reports, and several other miscellaneous publications. He has also co-authored 9 book chapters and has been invited nationally and internationally to approximately 181 conference presentations with proceedings, and over 125 extension-type presentations at industry meetings.

Dr. Anderson received in 2019 the he received the NCACES Outstanding Subject Matter Program Team Award: Egg Industry training program on “Ventilation Shutdown Plus (VSD+) Training” and the USPOULTRY: Dr. Charles Beard Research Excellence Award, In recognition of outstanding Research for the Poultry Industry. In 2018, the CAST Educational Materials Award, Certificate of Excellence for all of the authors efforts in creation of “Impact of Free-range Poultry Production Systems on Animal Health, Human Health, Productivity, Environment, Food Safety, and Animal Welfare Issues” . In 2017 the NC Egg Assn. recognized him as “A Good Egg”. Dr Anderson was awarded the Poultry Science Poultry Welfare Research Award (2012) and Association Phibro Extension Award (2003) for his professional accomplishments. He has been elected to Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Phi Tau Sigma, The Honor Society for Food Science, and Epsilon Sigma Phi, National Honorary Extension Fraternity. Dr. Anderson has served NC State University as an IACUC member for 20 years and chaired the committee for four years. In addition, he has served on the Animal Care Committee of the Poultry Science Association and as a representative on the AAALAC Board of Trustees and now House of Delegates for 18 years. Currently, Dr. Anderson is currently serving on the AAALAC Board of Directors as Secretary. He is a founding association representative for PSA on the Board of the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization, Inc., (PAACO) where he serves as Secretary of the BOD. Dr. Anderson has also served on the boards of the National Egg Products School and National Egg Quality School. He is also a member of the Animal Welfare Scientific Advisory Committee for Humane Farm Animal Care.

The Evonik Corporation award is an annual award given as an achievement award, i.e., for distinctive contributions to poultry science advancement, covering a period of not more than seven years preceding the annual award.

University of Arkansas

Dr. Ricke received his B.S. (Agriculture) and M.S. (Animal Science) from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. (Animal Science and Bacteriology) from the University of Wisconsin. He became a USDA-ARS postdoctorate in the Microbiology Dept. at North Carolina State University, then joined the Poultry Science Dept.at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor (1992), Associate Professor (1998), and Professor (2004) and joined the Graduate Faculties of both Food Science and Technology and Nutrition. In 2005 he became the first holder of the new Donald “Buddy” Wray Endowed Chair in Food Safety and UA Center for Food Safety Director at the University of Arkansas as well as a faculty member of the Dept. of Food Science and the Cellular and Molecular Graduate program. Dr. Ricke received the PSA National Research Award in 1999 and was named a Faculty Fellow of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2002. In recognition of his research efforts he received the PSA American Egg Board award in 2006, the UA Department of Food Science Outstanding Research Award in 2010, the Division of Agriculture - UA John White Outstanding Research Award in 2012, and the PSA Evonik Award for Achievement in Poultry Science in 2019. He served as an American Society for Microbiology Distinguished Lecturer for a 2 year term beginning in 2015. He was named an Arkansas Association for Food Protection Fellow in 2015, a PSA Fellow in 2017, an International Association for Food Protection Fellow in 2019 and a University of Wisconsin – College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumnus in 2019.

Overall Dr. Ricke has emphasized foodborne Salmonella and Campylobacter ecology from the broiler farm to the processing plant and mechanisms employed by pathogens to survive these highly variable environments. His group has used this to devise preharvest and postharvest prevention strategies that better limit survival of Salmonella and Campylobacter during broiler production and processing. The broiler research program developed by Dr. Ricke has addressed these challenges at both a nationally and an internationally recognized level. Dr. Ricke has also used next generation sequencing (NGS) approaches to develop a better understanding the interaction of the microbiome with pathogens in the avian gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and to evaluate feed additives such as prebiotics as well as the GIT microbiome impact of vaccines. Simultaneously, he is using these sequencing techniques to develop more comprehensive microbial characterization at the poultry processing plant and to introduce the concept of microbiome mapping for broiler processing. The overall outcomes of these research efforts are contributing to develop a better understanding of the broiler GIT response to feed additives both from a bird performance as well as a food safety aspect. His group is using microbiome mapping to identify better indicator microorganisms for both food safety and shelf life prediction/improvements in broiler processing meat products.

The National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award recognizes distinctive research work that has a strong economic impact on the broiler industry, primarily on the economic influence the work has had or will have on the industry. It is an annual award.

University of Saskatchewan

Karen Schwean-Lardner completed her PhD in poultry management and welfare from the University of Saskatchewan in 2012, studying the impact of lighting programs on broiler welfare and production, under the supervision of Hank Classen. She joined the faculty at the University of Saskatchewan in the summer of 2014. Karen currently is teaching poultry science and animal behaviour in both the College of Agriculture and Resources and Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

This award is given to recognize distinctive research work that has a strong economic impact on the broiler industry, primarily on the economic influence the work has had or will have on the industry. The award is given every other year.

University of Alberta

Doug Korver received a B. Sc. Ag. from the university of Saskatchewan in 1990, an M. Sc. in Animal Science from the University of Delaware in 1993, and a Ph. D. in Nutrition from the University of California, Davis in 1997. After a brief post-doc at the University of Saskatchewan, He joined the faculty of the University of Alberta in 1997 as an Assistant Professor of Poultry Nutrition. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004, and Professor in 2010.

Doug’s research program has a strong applied research focus; relevance to the poultry industry remains an important consideration in his approach to research. In addition to practical research on feedstuff quality and dietary supplement evaluation in poultry diets, Doug’s work focuses on nutrition-immune function interactions and bone biology in meat- and egg-type poultry. In addition, he has conducted field research trials in commercial poultry facilities in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador. Doug currently teaches introductory animal nutrition and monogastric nutrition courses at the undergraduate level, and is a co-instructor for a graduate-level course in advanced animal nutrition and metabolism. In 2016, he spent a 6-month sabbatical in Colombia, working with a major broiler integrator. He is currently part of the National Research Council’s committee to revise and update the 1994 Nutrient Requirements of Poultry.

Doug has been married to Michelle since 2002; they have two children: Erin, 16 and Joel, 14.

This award is given to recognize that excellence in teaching is basic to the future welfare of the poultry industry and to aid continued professional improvement through travel, study, and other means. This is an annual award.

Mississippi State University

Tom Tabler is a Poultry Extension Professor at Mississippi State University. Tabler has been at Mississippi State for eight years. He grew up on a small farm in Booneville, AR and earned his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of Arkansas. After completing his BS degree, he was a broiler service technician for five years at Pilgrim’s Pride in southwest Arkansas. He then worked on his wife’s family’s diversified cattle, poultry, and swine farm for 5 years before returning to the University of Arkansas in 1990 to manage the newly constructed Applied Broiler Research Farm for the Poultry Science Department and pursue his MS and PhD degrees. Tabler spent the next 21 years managing the Applied Broiler Research Farm. His research efforts focused on mortality composting, broiler lighting programs, litter management, environmental buffers, and sprinklers for cooling broilers. At Mississippi State, Tabler works mainly with the commercial poultry industry where his research efforts focus on composting poultry mortality, environmental management, poultry housing and ventilation, sprinklers for bird cooling, energy efficient lighting, litter management, and antibiotic alternatives in poultry diets. His Extension outreach efforts support Mississippi’s multi-billion-dollar commercial poultry and egg industries.

This award is given to recognize PSA members for conducting an outstanding program of work in the area of poultry extension and outreach during a five-year period. This is an annual award.

Tyson Foods Inc.

Karen has worked in the broiler industry for many years, beginning as a Service Technician. She held many other positions including Live Production Manager and Director of Technical Services where she oversaw the welfare program for an integrated broiler company among other things. Karen went back to school to obtain her PhD in Poultry Physiology at Mississippi State under J Paul and Yvonne Thaxton. Karen accepted a position at the University of Arkansas, Poultry Extension and enjoyed the interaction with graduate students and research in broiler welfare including novel lighting schemes that focused on bird preference. Three years ago, Karen accepted the position of Sr. Director of Animal Welfare at Tyson Foods where she also oversees a team of welfare specialists. She also oversees the Tyson Foods Research Facility for Broiler Welfare Research collaborating with several Universities and research groups on welfare projects focusing on lighting, enrichments and technologies that will provide new insights into broiler welfare. She has served many years on the Board of Directors of PAACO as the PSA representative and has been the broiler auditor trainer for PAACO for 12 years training over 1,000 participants. She currently serves as Vice Chair. Karen always had the idea to leave the broiler industry better than she found it. As the public’s interest in food animals grew over the years, she knew that her passion had a name, “welfare”.

This award is given to recognize an individual for original research that relates to the evaluation of animal comfort or to management under conditions that can be applied to the commercial production of poultry. This award is given every other year.

University of Connecticut

Abhi Upadhyay received his DVM from Pondicherry University (India, 2007), M.S in Veterinary Microbiology from Rajasthan University (India, 2009), and Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Connecticut (USA, 2014). After a brief postdoc at the University of Connecticut, he joined The Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, University of Arkansas as postdoctoral associate in 2015 where he worked on developing antibiotic alternatives for controlling foodborne pathogens and diseases in poultry. He joined the Department of Animal Science at the University of Connecticut as an assistant professor in January 2019. His research aims to enhance the sustainability of the poultry industry by developing novel intervention strategies for controlling poultry associated foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni in the poultry production system. Built on the principle of “farm-to-fork” safety, his research focuses on four broad areas, namely (I) reducing pathogen colonization in poultry (II) controlling the persistence of foodborne pathogens in processing environment (III) inactivation of foodborne pathogens in poultry products and (IV) developing anti-virulence strategies to control poultry associated foodborne pathogens in humans. Apart from his research duties, he is actively involved in student mentoring, poultry club advising and service to PSA. He is an ad hoc reviewer for several scientific journals including Poultry Science, and Journal of Applied Poultry Research. As an early career scientist, he is currently working on three federally funded projects and has published 2 review articles, 12 book chapters, and 42 peer-reviewed papers that have been cited over 700 times.

This award recognizes the achievements of PSA members in the early stages of their career in poultry research. It is given every other year.

University of Guelph

Dr. Harlander grew up in the Austrian Alps surrounded by farm animals. This upbringing cultivated her interest in how husbandry impacts animal behaviour and physiology, and ultimately motivated her to study veterinary medicine. In 2014, the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College welcomed her into its Department of Animal Biosciences’ Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare as a tenure-track faculty member. Dr. Harlander's research focuses on the behaviour and welfare of poultry; specifically, the impact of husbandry on poultry physiology and behaviour, birds' motivation to perform abnormal behaviours, and the objective assessment of poultry welfare. Dr. Harlander’s research uses bird health and what birds want (e.g. preference tests, including demand analysis) to enhance bird well-being and health within the context of current poultry husbandry practices. For her innovative research, she was awarded the Burnbrae Farms Professorship in Poultry Welfare. Moreover, as a professor, she has taught at all levels at the University of Guelph: two large, required 1st year undergraduate courses, and two small, elective graduate courses. Dr. Harlander’s teaching style incorporates experiential learning techniques that foster communication and the exchange of ideas between students. For example, her graduate course “Special Topics in Applied Animal Welfare Science – Domestic Birds/Poultry Welfare”, incorporates brainstorming sessions, mind maps, farm visits, and gallery walks. Dr. Harlander’s dedication to her students ensures their success, and many of her undergraduate and graduate students have authored peer-reviewed publications, been awarded “best presentation prizes’, continued their education at the Veterinary College, or received positions in the poultry industry.

This award recognizes the achievements of PSA members in the early stages of their career in poultry education and/or academia. It is given every other year.

Mississippi State University

Donna Morgan grew up outside of St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated in 1989 from Northeast Missouri State University-now Truman University, with a B.S. in Animal Science with an emphasis in Equine Science. After graduation she worked for as a veterinary technician for 3 years at the vet clinic she and her husband owned; simultaneously, Morgan worked as an animal handler at a local dog track. When Morgan’s husband returned to school, she began working at the State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at Texas A&M, which led to a job at the state drug testing lab with the State Racing Commission, the governing board for the dog and horse racing industry in Texas. This was followed by 20 years of working for racing commissions as an analytical chemist in drug labs in Texas, Iowa, and Louisiana. After a family move to Mississippi in 2011, Morgan took a job as a Research Technician within the Department of Poultry Science at Mississippi State University working with the broiler nutrition group; she was promoted to a Research Associate in 2017. During her time at Mississippi State, she has managed the nutrition labs of Drs. Wamsley and Zhai, training more than 25 undergraduate and 11 graduate students, as well as numerous international interns, and visiting scientists. She has also provided technical support on nutrition research projects within the labs and on-site trials at the Poultry Research Unit at Mississippi State University, with budgets totaling over 4million dollars. These activities have led to the production of over 200 peer-reviewed publications over the last 8 years for these groups. In addition to research activities, she has assisted Drs. Wamsley and Zhai with teaching lab modules that accompany the courses they teach. Morgan also supports the Poultry Science Department’s farm and faculty with feed ingredient inventory, feed manufacturing, processing plant activities, and sample collection. Within her personal life, Donna has raised three children with her husband Tim. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, beekeeping, and quilting, and belongs to both local and state quilting guilds.

This award acknowledges the contributions by support personnel and to recognize outstanding support of research, extension, or teaching programs in poultry science. This is an annual award.

University of Edinburgh

Sarah Struthers was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan but grew up in Cranbrook, British Columbia with her wonderful parents, three siblings, and two Golden Retrievers. She received her BSc from the University of Saskatchewan in 2015, majoring in Animal Science. Although initially terrified of chickens, she began her MSc in 2016 with Dr. Karen Schwean-Lardner at the University of Saskatchewan. Her MSc research focused on the impacts of infrared beak treatment on the production, behaviour, and welfare of layer pullets and hens. After successfully defending her thesis in 2018, she worked as a research assistant with Dr. Schwean-Lardner’s lab and conducted further research on the impacts of infrared beak treatment. In September last year, Sarah moved to Scotland and is currently completing her PhD in Genetics and Genomics at the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) and Scotland’s Rural College under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Schoenebeck and Dr. Vicky Sandilands. Her PhD research focuses on using pre-existing variation in laying hen beak shape to genetically select hens with blunter beak shapes, thereby reducing the chance of feather pecking leading to severe damage.

This award is given to a graduate student for the presentation and publication as senior author of an outstanding research manuscript in Poultry Science® or The Journal of Applied Poultry Research.

University of Georgia

Dima L. White, University of Georgia, Athens, was the recipient of a “Maurice Stein Fellowship Award 2020”, which recognizes graduate students whose training and research in applied poultry sciences may lead to improvements in efficiency and profitability of the egg industry; particularly research that has the potential to have a positive financial impact on the egg industry .

Dima was born in the Ukraine, and raised in Cleveland, TN. He is a graduate of Baylor High School and received a BS in animal science from Berry College. In August of 2017, Dima completed his MS from Texas A&M University under Morgan Farnell. Dima’s MS thesis was titled “Cleaning & Disinection Of Caged Layer Facilities.” Currently, Dima is working to complete a PhD at the University of Georgia with Woo Kyun Kim. During his PhD studies, Dima served as the Student Director of the Poultry Science Association Hatchery and on the Poultry Science Association Board of Directors from 2017 to 2019.

This award is given to a graduate student whose training and research in applied poultry sciences may lead to improvements in efficiency and profitability of the egg industry; particularly research that has the potential to have a positive financial impact on the egg industry.