Dr. Steven Ricke, director of the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Program in the animal and dairy sciences department at the University of Wisconsin, was recognized with the 2023 Poultry Science Association Distinguished Poultry Industry Career Award, sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY). The Distinguished Poultry Industry Career Award recognizes distinctive, outstanding contributions by an industry leader. In addition to sponsoring the award, USPOULTRY also makes an annual contribution to the Poultry Science Association (PSA) Foundation on behalf of the award recipient.
“USPOULTRY is pleased to honor industry leaders exemplified by Dr. Steven Ricke. He has dedicated many years of his career to conducting applied research to help find solutions to poultry and egg industry issues. We believe that Dr. Ricke’s efforts have truly helped to grow and improve our industry,” said John Starkey, president of USPOULTRY.
Dr. Ricke received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He became a USDA-ARS post doctorate in the microbiology department at North Carolina State University, then joined the poultry science department at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor in 1992. In 2005, he was appointed the Endowed Chair in Food Safety and director for the Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas. In 2020, he became director of the new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Program at the University of Wisconsin. In recognition of his research efforts, he has received several PSA Awards including the National Research Award in 1999, American Egg Board Award in 2006, the Evonik Award for Achievement in Poultry Science in 2019 and the National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award in 2020. He was named a PSA Fellow in 2017.
Dr. Ricke has emphasized foodborne Salmonella and Campylobacter ecology from the broiler farm to the processing plant and mechanisms employed by pathogens to survive these highly variable poultry industry environments. His group has used this to devise preharvest and postharvest prevention strategies that better limit survival of these pathogens during poultry and egg production. Dr. Ricke is exploring microbiome and metabolomic approaches to develop a better understanding of the interaction of the gut microbiota with pathogens and to evaluate feed additives. Simultaneously, he is developing the concept of microbiome mapping for broiler processing. The overall outcomes of his research efforts are contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the microbial ecological linkages between live bird production and poultry processing. His program has generated more than 400 peer reviewed research publications, and he has given 200-plus invited talks.
