Shawn Donkin, a native of Nova Scotia, has been on the faculty since 1996. He received his B.S. degree from Levalle University and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He had post-doctoral appointments at Penn State and Wisconsin. Shawn's work deals with efficient nutrient use for milk production, milk protein production and body protein deposition in growing animals. He also teaches Dairy Management and Ruminant Nutrition.

Brian Richert joined the faculty in 1995 after receiving his M.S. and Ph.D. from Kansas State University. Brian is from Sleepy Eye, Minnesota and obtained his B.S. from South Dakota State University. He holds a joint appointment in extension and research. His responsibilities in these areas include swine nutrition and management. He also teaches the nutrition section of the swine management course and the meat animal course in Veterinary Clinical Sciences.

2002 - To Associate Professor

Mike Spurlock returned to Purdue in 1999 after having spent six years at Purina Mills, Inc. Mike received all of his degrees from the University of Missouri. After a short stay with the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, he spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow in Scott Mills’ lab before going to Purina. Mike's research program is in growth biology and encompasses whole animal and cell culture work. His approaches range from collecting growth data to evaluation of gene regulation and signal transduction at the mRNA and protein levels. Mike taught Feeds and Feed Formulation last spring.

Mickey Latour, a Louisiana native, joined the Purdue Animal Sciences faculty in 1997. He received his Ph.D. degree from Mississippi State University and completed post-doctoral experience at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Mickey holds a three-way appointment in extension, teaching and research. His extension and research areas emphasize poultry with the extension portion dealing primarily with youth. His research emphasis is on lipid biochemistry. He teaches the introductory animal science course on-campus and has developed it for the Internet.

Mike Schutz came to Purdue in 1996 from the Canadian Beef Improvement Corporation, having served as their chief geneticist. He received his B.S. and M.S. from University of Minnesota and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. Mike's major responsibility in the Department is in dairy extension. He has initiated several programs, including a successful effort to reduce somatic cell count in milk. Mike also started a program which united dairy producers into a cohesive group that strive to help each other by adopting better management techniques.

2001 - To Professor

Layi Adeola, a native of Nigeria, came to Purdue in 1991 after receiving his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Layi has established an outstanding research program emphasizing amino acid nutrition and nutrient management concepts in both swine and poultry. He is a section editor for the Journal of Animal Science. Layi teaches Monogastric Nutrition and an advanced protein nutrition course.

David Gerrard joined the faculty in 1995 after having been on the University of Missouri's Food Science and Human Nutrition faculty. Dave, an Indiana native, received all of his degrees from Purdue and completed post-doctoral work in France. His research focuses on muscle biology and meat biochemistry. Dave teaches courses in meat science and in growth and development.

2002 - To Professor

Paul Collodi is an internationally recognized scientist in embryonic stem cell culture. He uses zebrafish as the model animal for this work. Paul came to Purdue in 1992 after receiving his Ph.D. from Oregon State University. He previously received his B.S. from Mount Union College and M.S. from the University of Alaska. Paul teaches a dual-level course in Animal Growth and Development.