A nationally recognized expert in ruminant nutrition and beef cattle energetics within Texas Tech’s Department of Animal & Food Sciences is set to win the 2024 American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) Award in Ruminant Nutrition Research.
Kristin Hales, an associate professor and the Thorton Distinguished Chair in the department, will be recognized for the honor on Thursday (July 25) at the American Society of Animal Science - Canadian Society of Animal Science - Western Section American Society of Animal Sciences Annual Meeting in Calgary, Alberta. The award recognizes an individual who has contributed to and published outstanding work in the field of ruminant nutrition in the last 10 years.
“This award is a significant recognition for Dr. Hales,” said Michael Galyean, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Sciences and former Texas Tech provost/senior vice president. “She is the only woman to receive the award, and she is at a much earlier stage of her career than most of the previous recipients.”
Hales joins Davis College Dean Clint Krehbiel and Galyean, who previously received the award, making Texas Tech the only university in the country with three recipients as current members of the faculty, he said.
“Conducting beef cattle research is my passion,” Hales said. “I have been fortunate to have amazing mentors, collaborators and colleagues throughout my career and work in a department that fosters success.”
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 provides relevant and useful solutions. Her applied research program includes topics such as grain processing, bunk management, and nutritional strategies to decrease the prevalence of liver abscesses in finishing beef cattle.
Prior to joining the Texas 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.
Hales received her bachelor's and her master's degrees in animal science at Oklahoma State University-Stillwater. Her doctorate in animal science is from Texas Tech. Honors include Outstanding Early Career Research Award from the Midwest Section of the American Society of Animal Science (2019); ‘Top 3 Reviewer’ for the Journal of Animal Science (2016); and a ‘Top 10 Reviewer’ for the Journal of Animal Science (2015). She currently serves as an associate editor for the journal, Applied Animal Science.
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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