OSU’s new Animal Nutrition and Physiology Center to benefit all of Oklahoma, and beyond
PHOTOS / TODD JOHNSON
Recent groundbreaking ceremonies for Oklahoma State University’s new Animal Nutrition and Physiology Center heralded a new era for the university’s longstanding commitment to the animal agriculture industry and animal well-being in general. “Best management practices depend on the continual advancement of the science that leads to improved awareness and understanding about animal needs, and their interrelationship with the environment around them,” said Tom Coon, OSU vice president who leads the university’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “In turn, the science behind best management practices enhances the potential profitability 10
SPRING 2019
of animal agriculture industries while strengthening the economic base of rural communities.” Coon added the new center will be a place where the brightest minds at OSU conduct research, making discoveries and preparing undergraduate and graduate student researchers for the future. “With research serving as an integral part of our Animal and Food Sciences and Natural Resource Ecology and Management programs, OSU’s landgrant mission to tackle concerns and issues of importance to Oklahomans requires modernized facilities that allow our faculty and student researchers to conduct needed science year-round,” he said.
The new OSU Animal Nutrition and Physiology Center will be a state-ofthe-art facility dedicated to conducting animal studies primarily related to climate variability, production efficiency and sustainability in the areas of animal and human health; animal genetics, growth, nutrition and reproduction; and general animal wellbeing. “Improvements in our ability to take observations from the field and test them in a more controlled setting stand to benefit all of Oklahoma, and beyond,” said Jim Long, Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit leader. “Take fish, for example: Fish live their lives largely invisible to us, underwater. Beyond people’s enjoyment of fishing and the
