Kristin Hales, a nationally recognized expert in ruminant nutrition and beef cattle energetics within Texas Tech’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences, has been awarded this year’s Advanced Degree Graduate of Distinction Award from Oklahoma State University’s Department of Animal Science. The honor was presented at a special presentation on Friday (Apr. 5) during the department’s annual scholarship and awards banquet in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Established in 1984, the award is presented to recipients of Oklahoma State’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences M.S. and Ph.D. degree recipients who have attained singular professional excellence in the field of animal agriculture. Hales received her bachelor's (2004) and her master's (2006) degrees in animal science from Oklahoma State. Her doctorate in animal science is from Texas Tech.

“To receive this award from Oklahoma State University is a special honor,” said Hales, who currently serves as a professor and the Thorton Distinguished Chair within Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resource.

Today, Hales’ research broadly focuses on antimicrobial resistance in high-risk cattle and decreasing the use of antimicrobials in the feedlot production phase. In addition, she conducts applied feedlot nutrition research to meet the needs of the cattle feeding industry and provide relevant and useful solutions. Her applied research program includes topics such as grain processing, bunk management, energetics, and nutritional strategies to decrease the prevalence of liver abscesses in finishing beef cattle.  

Prior to joining the Tech faculty in 2019, the Texas Panhandle native served as a research animal scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, for eight years. In addition, she worked as a research animal scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Conservation & Production Research Laboratory in Bushland, Texas.

Honors for Hales include Outstanding Early Career Research Award from the Midwest Section of the American Society of Animal Science (2019); Barnie E. Rushing Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award (2022); and Davis College of Agricultural Science & Natural Resources Outstanding Research Award (2023). She currently serves as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for the journal, Applied Animal Science, President of the Plains Nutrition Council, and President of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. 

Texas Tech’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences has an enrollment of 1,345 undergraduates and 115 graduate students. It is housed in a modern research and teaching facility and has excellent research support. There are 27 faculty members in the department, and many are leading researchers in their respective fields. Areas of research emphasis include meat science and muscle biology, food science and safety, animal nutrition, health, and welfare, and companion animal science. 

CONTACT: Chance Brooks, Chair and Professor, Department of Animal & Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or chance.brooks@ttu.edu

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