“Branding Excellence” is a series highlighting students and faculty who perform at a high level of professionalism, are forward-thinking individuals, and always have the willingness to learn more. The series name is derived from the saying “Pursuing Excellence” which means setting ambitious goals and working tirelessly to achieve them, consistently performing at your best, bettering yourself and those around you, and staying resilient in the face of challenges. The Department of Animal & Food Sciences is dedicated to excellence in every aspect of its faculty, staff and students. The department wants to wear the “brand” of success as they address today’s challenges and create a better future for our world.”
Michael Starnes, graduate student in the Texas Tech University Department of Animal & Food Sciences from College Station, Texas, never got to experience what living on a ranch was like until the summer of his junior year at Texas A&M University.
While Starnes was pursuing a degree in nutrition at Texas A&M, he was eager to get “as far away as I could” from the town he called home for the majority of his life. Starnes took a job in Cody, Wyoming, during the summer of his junior year. He said it was exactly what he needed to gain hands-on agricultural experience and understand the true meaning behind grit.
“It was a small operation beef ranch a thousand miles away from home,” Starnes said with a smile on his face. “I got experience branding cattle and checking calves. I lived there (in Wyoming) for seven months then finished my undergrad when I got back.”
Starnes said that his passion runs deep for nutrition, but he is also passionate about food safety. It was not until an internship in Washington, D.C. with the National Farmers Union that sparked his interest in the field after working closely with the group on lobbying for the omnibus Farm Bill.
“I was doing a lot of memo writing for the people who work for NFU, and who were meeting with people on the Hill,” Starnes said. “I got to do a lot of research on food safety specifically, and that's where I gained a real deep appreciation and passion for how incredibly important it is for us to safely regulate our food supply.”
After spending some time on Capitol Hill, Starnes decided to expand his knowledge and research capabilities by applying to Texas Tech University.
“I knew that Tech was internationally renowned for their meat and food science programs, so I looked into it and thankfully was able to be taken under the wing of Mindy Brashears, which is who I do my research under currently,” Starnes said.
As a graduate research assistant, Starnes is actively working toward his educational and career goals by engaging in hands-on work with beef, chicken and pork producers.
“I go to classes here (Texas Tech), but also I travel all around the country and sometimes even internationally to work with food safety professionals,” Starnes said. “We work with these plants to ensure their production lines are safe.”
Aside from traveling, Starnes is also in the process of completing his thesis which is based on an industry wide standard operational procedure for demonstrating a 5-log reduction of raw products.
“So basically, what I did was I took strains of bacteria that have been specifically formulated to mimic the behavior of Salmonella and E coli that is pathogenic,” Starnes said with excitement. “We inoculated carcasses at the beginning of the production line with this bacteria, sent those carcasses through the entire production line, and then measured the amount of bacteria remaining after various interventions. Within the production line, you got various interventions. This can be a hot water spray, an acid spray, and things that are meant to reduce microbial load and kill the bacteria. My project basically measured how effective these interventions were.”
With the eagerness of graduation in May, Starnes is not looking to lighten his workload anytime soon. With his interests in politics, Starnes also serves as Graduate Vice President for Student Government at Texas Tech University. He will head back to Washington, D.C. at the end of February to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture Future Leaders Program amongst 19 other students from across the country.
“I want to work at the intersection of science and politics,” Starnes said. “We have politicians making scientific decisions, and then we have scientists who shouldn’t have to make political decisions.”
To find out more about students making an impact in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, click here!
What does Branding Excellence mean to you? “Creating and maintaining a culture that promotes self motivation and rewards individuals who hold themselves to a standard above what their institution expects from them.”