The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Dr. Milt Thomas, Fort Collins, Colorado, a BIF Continuing Service Award June 2 during the group’s annual research symposium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Continuing Service Award winners have made major contributions to the BIF organization. This includes serving on the board of directors, speaking at BIF conventions, working on BIF guidelines and other behind-the-scenes activities. As BIF is a volunteer organization, it is this contribution of time and passion for the beef cattle industry that moves BIF forward.
Dr. Thomas currently serves as a professor and the John E. Rouse Chair of Animal Breeding at Colorado State University (CSU). Additionally, he has been a long-time attendee, supporter and speaker at the annual BIF symposiums.
Over the course of his career, Thomas has published 116 peer-reviewed journal articles, 100 proceedings papers, and 228 abstracts. He has garnered over $8 million in research funding, has mentored over 40 graduate students and taught thousands of undergraduate students about genetics. He has served on the International Brangus Breeder’s Association’s Breed Improvement Committee, directed the Brangus Breeding Program at New Mexico State University (NMSU), served on the Advisory Board of the USDA-NIFA project for the Genomic Study of Heat Tolerance in Beef Cattle, and helped develop the BIF guidelines for PAP measurement.
“Many may not know that Milt started his career as a reproductive physiologist but rapidly gained interest and experience in the genomic side of that research. This interest and passion is what eventually brought him to CSU,” says Mark Enns. “While at CSU he has helped us develop a stronger genomics program that includes pulmonary hypertension, fertility, grazing distribution and the typical production traits.
More than 300 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organization’s 54th Annual Research Symposium and Convention in Las Cruces, New Mexico. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.
For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of the meeting and tours, visit BIFSymposium.com.