An outstanding graduate student with Texas Tech's Department of Animal and Food Sciences received first place honors on Friday (Apr. 6) in the Graduate Student Research Poster Competition at The Plains Nutrition Council's Spring Conference in San Antonio.

Zach Smith, a doctoral student and graduate research assistant with the Tech department, won the contest against 32 other master's and doctoral students. The title of the Sweetwater native's poster was, "Biological responses to non-coated and coated steroidal implants containing equal doses of trenbolone acetate and estradiol benzoate in beef steer."

Smith's academic program is directed by Bradley Johnson, a professor and Gordon W. Davis Regents Chair in Meat Science and Muscle Biology at Texas Tech. Johnson's research program has deep ties to the U.S. beef-production industry, as well as global production. Results of his research have defined the mechanism of various steroidal compounds on postnatal muscle growth and the metabolism of the parent compounds excreted from the animal.

Tech's Department of Animal and Food Sciences is one of seven departments within Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Housed in a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility, the animal and food sciences department's 28 faculty members have excellent research support. Many are leading researchers in their respective fields. Areas of research emphasis include meat science and muscle biology, food safety and food microbiology, food security, animal nutrition and health, and animal welfare, with work in all major livestock species.

CONTACT: Michael Orth, chairman, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-5653 or michael.orth@ttu.edu

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