Nathaniel  Hall, a nationally-recognized expert in canine olfaction or the sense of smell within Texas Tech University’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences, has been selected to receive a Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award, the highest faculty honor in the university system. 

The Chancellor’s Council Awards ceremony, which includes a $5,000 stipend and an engraved medallion, will be held on Friday (Feb. 17) at the university’s Black Cultural Center. Texas Tech University System Chancellor Tedd Mitchell and Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec are set to make the presentations.

According to the Texas Tech Chancellor’s Council webpage, the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Awards are given to individuals who exemplify research excellence throughout the year. Winners of these awards have significantly advanced research efforts and are noted as leaders among colleagues and in their respective fields.

The Florida native currently serves as an associate professor of companion animal science and director of the university’s Canine Olfaction Research and Education Laboratory. His research broadly focuses on exploring the capabilities of the dog’s nose and how training influences olfactory perception. 

He is examining whether detection dogs can have the same accuracy in finding agricultural pests and plant pathogens as they have finding narcotics, explosives and diseases. His research was bolstered in 2021 by a $475,000 grant from the Agriculture & Food Research Initiative of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research Education & Extension Service.

Prior to joining the Tech faculty in 2016, Hall served as a post-doctoral scholar at the Arizona State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and his master’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida. His doctorate in psychology is from the University of Florida. 

Honors for Hall include the Gerber Behavior Analysis Research Award (2015); Certificate of Excellence in Reviewing, Behavioural Processes (2014); and the Marian Breland-Bailey Award for Student Research and Scholarship-Association for Behavior Analysis International (2013).

Previous winners of the Texas Tech Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award still on the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources faculty include:

• Jerrad Legako,  Associate Professor of Meat Science, Department of Animal & Food Sciences
• Michael Ballou, Chair, Department of Veterinary Sciences
• Noureddine Abidi, Leidigh Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Science
• Eric Hequet, Horn Professor and ORI Associate Vice President for Research

Contact:  Clint Krehbiel, Dean, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at 806.742.2808 or Clint.Krehbiel@ttu.edu

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