Dr. Lee-Anne Walter was raised on a grain and cow-calf operation in south-east Saskatchewan.  Lee-Anne received her B.S. in Agriculture in 2007 and M.S. in Animal Science in 2010 from the University of Saskatchewan and her Ph.D. from West Texas A&M University in 2015.  Lee-Anne worked for Merck Animal Health in Alberta for two and a half years prior to starting her Ph.D.  After completing her Ph.D., Lee-Anne worked for Elanco Animal Health as a nutrition technical consultant for four years before rejoining Merck Animal Health in the fall of 2019 as a technical service nutritionist.  Lee-Anne’s current responsibilities include post-approval research trials, data analytics for feedyard customers and consultants, product sales and marketing support, and scientific training.  Lee-Anne is a member of the American Society of Animal Science, the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, and the Plains Nutrition Council. Lee-Anne and her family reside in Lubbock.

Dr. John Richeson is the Paul Engler Professor of Beef Cattle Feedlot Management and faculty supervisor of the Research Feedlot at West Texas A&M University. Dr. Richeson teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, is an advisory board member for several cattle industry organizations, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO). He received his BS, MS, and PhD in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University (2000), Texas Tech University (2004), and University of Arkansas (2011), respectively. Between academic pursuits, he was employed by a major cattle feeding company in Colorado after earning his BS, and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service after completing his MS degree.

Research interests include evaluating management, nutritional, and immunological manipulations to improve the welfare, health and growth of beef and dairy cattle. Additional research efforts have focused on evaluation of biomarker and behavior assessment technology to assist in the prediction and early detection of bovine respiratory disease. Delayed vaccination and targeted metaphylaxis are important concepts within the beef production system that Dr. Richeson and his colleagues and students’ research have facilitated. John has advised or co-advised 35 MS and PhD graduate students and is especially fond of the relationships built with students and collaborators since becoming an Assistant Professor in 2011. John has published over 100 referred abstracts, 71 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 6 review manuscripts and book chapters.

Dr. Matt Quinn grew up on a grow/finish feedlot located in North Central Texas which he is still involved with today. He received a B.S. from Texas A&M University in 2004, an M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition from Kansas State University while managing the KSU Research Feedlot in 2007, and a PhD in Ruminant Nutrition from Texas Tech University in 2010. After finishing graduate school, Dr. Quinn worked for Nutrition Service Associates in Kansas and Canada providing independent feedlot nutritional and management consultation (2010-2013). He also worked for Zoetis as a nutritionist on the Beef Strategic Technical Services team. For Zoetis, Dr. Quinn specialized in supporting medicated feed additives and growth technology products. Dr. Quinn joined Feedlot Health Management Services (now TELUS Agriculture) in 2015 and currently works as a Nutrition and Production Consultant supporting feedlots and ranches across North America. He is the current team lead for the Performance Enhancement Products and Protocols and the Cattle Procurement and Marketing modules for TELUS Agriculture. Matt and his wife Katie live in Amarillo, TX with their son, Tucker, and daughter, Peyton.

Dr. Abe Turgeon was born and raised on his family farm in Chamberlain, South Dakota.  Abe received his B.S. degree in Animal Science from Kansas State University in 1979, his M.S. degree in 1981 and Ph.D. in 1984 from the University of Nebraska, both in Ruminant Nutrition.  Abe joined ADM Feeds in Quincy, IL in 1984 as Manager of Beef Cattle Nutrition and Research in 1984, before joining Koers Consulting Service in 1986.  In 1992, Abe became co-owner of Koers-Turgeon Consulting Service, before starting Turgeon Consulting Service, LLC in 2019.  Abe is currently an independent consultant focusing on nutrition, health, management and research and serves feedlot and ranch clients in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Maine, Oregon, Washington and California.  Abe sits on advisory boards for pharmaceutical companies, corporations, universities, and consulting boards.  Abe and his wife Ericka reside in Amarillo, TX and have two sons, Travis and Aaron, and a grandson named Nathan.  

Dr. Jason Smith was raised on a small commercial cow/calf and hay operation in northern Virginia.  He earned a B.S. in Animal and Veterinary Science and M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing from West Virginia University before earning his Ph.D. in Beef Cattle Nutrition from Virginia Tech.  Smith spent 4 years as an Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist for the University of Tennessee before transitioning into his current role as an Associate Professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Amarillo, TX.  His primary responsibilities include Extension educational programming and applied research focused toward beef cattle producers and industry stakeholders in the Texas Panhandle and Rolling Plains.  Smith also provided interim oversight of the joint Texas A&M AgriLife Research/USDA-ARS Research Feedyard and Metabolism Laboratory in Bushland, TX from September 2020 through January 2022.  Jason, his wife Anna, their daughter Taylor, and son Carson reside in Canyon, TX.