The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) is pleased to announce that Ronnie Green, Ph.D., with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be the featured Wednesday speaker at the AMSA 68th Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) this June. Dr. Green, a marketing and advertising expert, is considered one of the nation’s top experts in multicultural marketing and consumer trends.

Dr. Green's presentation will focus on "Growing a Healthy Future: Perspectives on the Livestock and Meat Industries." The 35-year period ahead offers huge opportunities and challenges in sustainably meeting the nutritional and health demands of a growing global population which will be increasingly urbanized, live higher on the socioeconomic scale, and include a considerably larger number of consumers of animal protein. Current global rates of increase in total factor productivity are lagging what will be required to meet these needs, pointing to the critical need for increased investments in science and technology in the agriculture and food sector, following a recent and the current time of declining investment, particularly in the animal and meat sciences. Additionally, significant challenges exist in the developed world from various social-elitism based agendas seeking to influence policy that ultimately will alter our ability to meet the needs ahead sustainably and successfully. Dr. Green will lead RMC attendees in a discussion outlining those opportunities and challenges, defining the underlying premises of them, and suggesting a course forward that will positively lead to growing a healthy future for the 2050 world ahead.

Dr. Green was appointed as the Harlan Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in July 2010. In this role, he also jointly serves as the Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of Nebraska system.

Green was raised on a mixed beef, dairy, and cropping farm in southwestern Virginia. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in animal science from Virginia Tech and Colorado State University, respectively. His Ph.D. program was completed jointly at the University of Nebraska and the USDA-ARS U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in animal breeding and genetics in 1988.

Ronnie has served on the animal science faculties of Texas Tech University and Colorado State University, and as the national program leader for animal production research for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and executive secretary of the White House’s interagency working group on animal genomics within the National Science and Technology Council where he was one of the principal leaders in the international bovine, porcine, and ovine genome sequencing projects. Prior to returning to NU, Green served as senior global director of technical services for Pfizer Animal Health’s animal genomics business.

Dr. Green has published 130 refereed publications and abstracts, 9 book chapters, and 56 invited symposia papers; and has delivered invited presentations in 43 U.S. states and 21 countries around the world. He is a past-president of both the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the National Block and Bridle Club, and has served in a number of leadership positions for the U.S. Beef Improvement Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Board, and the National Research Council. He was named a fellow of ASAS in 2014.

The AMSA 68th Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) hosted by the University of Nebraska and ConAgra Foods will be held June 14-17, 2015, at University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. For more information regarding the AMSA 68th RMC please visit: http://www.meatscience.org/rmcor contact Deidrea Mabry 1-800-517-AMSA ext. 12.

Source: AMSA