In less than four years, Michael Steele has made his mark on the dairy research being conducted in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences.
The American Dairy Science Association agrees, awarding Steele the Cargill Animal Nutrition Young Scientist Award at the association's annual general meeting June 25.
"This award has great meaning for me as many of my mentors have been awarded the Cargill Young Animal Nutritionist Award," said Steele. "This provides me great encouragement and motivation to continue to work hard and follow in their footsteps".
The award is given to recognize outstanding researcher by young dairy production scientists during the first 10 years of their careers, and Steele is well position to lead dairy research in Canada. One of the areas of his specialization is calf gut health and development, he said. By designing sound feeding regimens at every stage of a calf's life it is possible to improve gut health, animal welfare and potentially lifetime performance which is ideal for farmers and our industry.
"I was excited to nominate Michael as he has shown great promise the field of dairy calf and cow nutrition in the early stages of his career," said Herman Barkema, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Infectious Diseases of Dairy Cattle a the University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. :Michael has worked hard to develop a strong dairy calf and cow nutrition program at the University of Alberta and has, in a very short time, gained the confidence of the Alberta dairy farmers because of his passion for cattle nutrition and, maybe even more important, his great personality."
"Early-career scientists like Michael are an inspiration to students who can look to them for guidance and mentorship, and also to colleagues who can rely on them for innovation and passion in their research and scholarly activities," said Ruurd Zijlstra, chair of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science. "We applaud Michael for his achievements and his contributions to the department."