Animal Sciences

Elizabeth Benavides learned several important lessons as she worked toward her PhD in animal sciences at the University of Missouri – one of the most important of which was how to persevere in the face of failure. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Benavides.

Sep. 30, 2022

Transformative Experiences

Each of Elizabeth Benavides' three degrees prepared her to help connect undergraduate students with science.
The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station (MOAES) Research, Extension and Education Centers (REECs) have played and continue to play an important role in helping each of CAFNR's Programs of Distinction on its drive to distinction.

Sep. 15, 2022

CAFNR/MOAES Research Magazine: Making a Major Impact

This story appears in our MU CAFNR/Agricultural Experiment Station Research Magazine. When CAFNR unveiled its strategic plan, Drive to Distinction, in 2019, it established criteria for Programs of Distinction, a select collection of programs that exemplify CAFNR’s drive to distinction. Those programs, together with CAFNR’s academic programs, define CAFNR’s impact on Missouri’s agriculture and natural resource economies, providing understanding for how CAFNR is addressing challenges facing Missouri agriculture, food and natural resources. There are seven programs that have earned Program of Distinction status (as of 2022): Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) Interdisciplinary Reproduction…
Thompson, part of the Northern Missouri Research, Extension and Education Center (REEC) is continuing to build on its prestigious research resume. With the help of a USDA Rural Business Development Grant, the Research Farm has developed its own feedlot, allowing specialists the opportunity to feed and keep cattle in the state and build Missouri’s economic impact.

Sep. 15, 2022

CAFNR/MOAES Research Magazine: Building Missouri’s Economic Impact

Thompson's feedlot allows specialists the opportunity to feed and keep cattle in the state.
Society for the Study of Reproduction logo

Aug. 5, 2022

Animal Sciences Scholars Recognized by SSR

This award recognizes the three best pre-doctoral and post-doctoral posters and the three best pre-doctoral and post-doctoral platform presentations.
Ag Building

July 13, 2022

CAFNR Ag-celerator for Agricultural Technologies (CAAT) Winners Announced

Two CAFNR faculty and their teams were recently awarded inaugural CAAT grants.
6 week-old swine and hogs at MU South Farm's Swine Teaching Center.

June 28, 2022

Zinc Key Regulator of Sperm Functions During Capacitation Process

Scientists have struggled to fully understand how male sperm cells function and why they sometimes fail to fertilize female eggs, which has implications for both livestock farmers aiming to maximize food production, as well as human couples struggling with infertility. In a new study at the University of Missouri, researchers found that zinc ion plays a crucial regulatory role in the sperm capacitation process, or series of changes sperm undergo in the female reproductive tract that enable them to fertilize an egg. Michal Zigo, a research scientist at the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), from the laboratory…

June 19, 2022

Lauren Hamilton and Edgar Diaz Miranda Presented the SSR Travel Awards

Lauren Hamilton is a postdoc and Edgar Diaz Miranda is a visiting scholar/graduate student.
Jared Decker receives the Continuing Service Award from the Beef Improvement Federation at the group's annual research symposium.

June 8, 2022

Jared Decker Presented the Continuing Service Award

Jared Decker is an associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences.

May 13, 2022

CAFNR Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (C-DRIG) Winners Announced

The CAFNR Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (C-DRIG) are offered through the CAFNR Office of Research.

May 13, 2022

Alexis Jones Awarded the USDA-NIFA-AFRI Merit Award

Jones is a graduate student in the Division of Animal Sciences.