A major component of PSA’s mission is to support basic and applied research and education relating to the production, processing and consumption of poultry. In keeping with this, the following PSA members have volunteered to make themselves available to the media and other interested parties to share their expertise and insights on a variety of current and critical issues.

Avian Influenza and Food-Related Homeland Security Issues

Robert A. Norton, Ph.D.
Professor of Veterinary Microbiology
Department of Poultry Science
Auburn University

A veterinary microbiologist by training, Prof. Norton has been a member of the faculty at Auburn since 1995. He serves as Research Leader in the Poultry Microbiology and Parasitology Laboratory and is the Director of the Auburn University Select Agent Laboratory and the Biological Safety Level 3 Laboratory. Norton also serves as a co-leader in the Auburn University Homeland Security Education Initiative.

In 2004, Prof. Norton received the FBI Directors Award for Community Leadership in Critical Infrastructure Protection for his work in the areas of infrastructure protection and national security related to agriculture and the food supply.

John A. Smith DVM
Director of Health and Hatchery Services
Fieldale Farms Corp.

Dr. Smith is currently (through 2008) Chair of the United States Animal Health Association’s Committee on Transmissible Diseases of Poultry and Other Avian Species.

Dr. Smith joined Fieldale Farms, the twelfth largest broiler producer in the U.S., in 1991. A former captain in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, he has also served as an Assistant Prof. of Food Animal Internal Medicine at Auburn University and as an Associate Prof. of Food Animal Medicine and Surgery at Colorado State University.

Bruce Stewart-Brown, D.V.M., ACPV
Vice President of Food Safety & Quality
Perdue Farms

Dr. Stewart-Brown joined Perdue Farms in 1998 as Director of Health Services and was promoted to his current position in 2002. Dr. Stewart-Brown is responsible for overseeing quality assurance for all of Perdue Farms’ food products.

Prior to joining Perdue, Dr. Stewart-Brown was Director of Poultry Technical Services for Fort Dodge Animal Health, Inc. for five years. Before Fort Dodge, he was Senior Technical Service Veterinarian for Solvay Animal Health, Inc.

Poultry and the Consumer (Nutrition, Food Safety Issues, etc.)

James H. Denton, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Poultry Science
University of Arkansas

Prof. Denton has more than 34 years of experience in dealing with food safety related issues and activities. He is currently serving his fourth term on the Secretary of Agriculture’s USDA National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection and is also Secretariat for the National Alliance for Food Safety and Security (NAFSS).

A former Head of the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas and Director of the Center for Excellence for Poultry Science at the University, Prof. Denton has been instrumental in developing research and education programs targeted to multiple clientele groups including the poultry and meat industry, food service industry, consumer audiences, public schools and food and health professionals. Prof. Denton is currently Chairman of the PSA Foundation Board of Trustees.

Donald E. Conner, Ph.D.
Professor and Head, Dept. of Poultry Science
Auburn University

Prof. Conner’s research focuses on microbiology as related to poultry with primary interests in: food safety and preservation of poultry products, sanitation, food and feed mycology, rapid detection methods, and waste management.

Prof. Conner joined Auburn’s Poultry Science Deptarment’s faculty in 1989. Prior to Auburn he served as a Project Microbiologist for the National Food Processors Association in Washington, D.C.

Poultry Industry Economics & Efficiency

Dan L. Cunningham, Ph.D.
Professor/Extension Coordinator
Department of Poultry Science
University of Georgia

Prof. Cunningham has extensive expertise in a number of areas relating to the economics and business of the poultry industry, including: poultry production costs and returns; poultry contracts and grower relations; issues relating to zoning and land use; environmental issues; and animal welfare.

Prof. Cunningham joined the Poultry Science Dept. at UGA in 1990, following positions held previously at Cornell University (10 years) and West Virginia University (2 years).

Greg Rennier, Ph.D.
President
Rennier Associates, Inc.

Dr. Rennier is founder and president of Rennier Associates, Inc., a market research company with an emphasis on the agricultural and biotech industries, including many companies serving the poultry industry.

Dr. Rennier has more than 16 years of market-research experience in the food and agricultural industries. Prior to forming Rennier Associates (in 1995), Dr. Rennier was Director, Poultry Business Unit and Market Research, at Sanofi Animal Health, Inc.

Environmental Concerns Relating to Poultry

Susan Watkins, Ph.D.
Poultry Extension Specialist
University of Arkansas

Dr. Watkins focuses on assisting the broiler, turkey and layer industry with live production issues. She is a nationally recognized authority on drinking water treatments and sanitation. She currently serves as Chair of the National Poultry Waste Symposium and as Director of the National Egg Quality School. She has been an extension specialist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture for the past 10 years.

Animal Welfare Issues Relating to Poultry

Kenneth E. Anderson, Ph.D.
Poultry Extension Specialist & Prof. of Poultry and Food Science
North Carolina State University

Prof. Anderson’s extension and research responsibilities include animal welfare as impacted by molting practices, and the impact of these practices on the welfare of the laying hen. He also does research on shell egg cooling and processing; layer performance and management; and on the biological basis for chemoprevention of ovarian cancer.

Prior to coming to N.C. State University in 1990, Prof. Anderson spent seven years at the Dept. of Animal Science at Kansas State University. He has also spent three years in industry, as general manager of the State Line Egg Producers Cooperative Association, Inc., in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Inma Estevez, Ph.D.
Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Animal and Avian Sciences
University of Maryland

Prof. Estevez has held numerous positions where she has focused on issues relating to animal welfare. In addition to her work (since 1997) on poultry behavior, management and welfare at the University of Maryland, she has also been a post-doctoral researcher in these areas at the Swedish Agricultural University, the Institute National de Recherche Agricole INRA, France, and the poultry company Hermanos Alameda (Spain).

Dr. Estevez is an advisory member of the National Chicken Council Animal Welfare Program and Perdue Farms Poultry Welfare Program. She is also regional secretary for the U.S. for the International Society of Applied Ethology.

Bruce Webster, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Poultry Science
University of Georgia

Prof. Webster is active in the study of poultry behavior and welfare. Among many other areas, his research has encompassed: the behavioral genetics of fear-related behavior in egg-type chickens; behavior of caged laying hens; behavioral responses of laying hens to feed withdrawal and induced molting; and factors affecting broiler mortality during live haul. He was chairman of PSA’s Animal Care Committee from 1998 – 2003. He has also served as a scientific advisor on poultry care and welfare to Wendy’s International and KFC.

He joined the University of Georgia in 1994, following several years as a scientist and research coordinator at the Atlantic Poultry Research Institute, Nova Scotia Agricultural College.

PSA – Background Information and History of the Poultry Science Association

Dr. Michael P. Lacy
Department of Poultry Science
University of Georgia

Dr. Lacy has been a member of the Poultry Science Association (PSA) since 1981 and is the past President of PSA. He earned his PhD from Virginia Tech. He has served on the faculty of the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia since 1985. He was named Head of the Department in 2001. During his career, he has developed an applied research/extension program and continues to have teaching responsibilities. He has published over 300 applied research/extension articles and been invited to speak at over 60 national and international meetings. He is recognized as an expert in broiler production and management. He was asked to serve on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations in 2001. He served on the National Organic Standards Board as its science representative from 2002-2006. He has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Poultry Science Association and the Federation of Animal Science Societies. He was recently elected President of the Poultry Science Association. He has served as a section editor for the Journal of Applied Poultry Research and an associate editor for Poultry Science. He is a recipient of the National County Agricultural Agents Achievement Award, the Poultry Science Association Pfizer Extension Award, the University of Georgia Walter B. Hill Award for Excellence in Public Service, and the University of Georgia Epsilon Sigma Phi Administrative Leadership Award.