Sponsored by American Society of Animal Science Foundation

Dr. Fernando has been Assistant Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry in Animal Science at Nebraska since 2011. Prior to coming to Nebraska, he served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his graduate training at Oklahoma State. In three years, he has distinguished himself as a rising star in the field of molecular biology. His success in obtaining external grants, publishing, advising grad students, supervising undergrad research projects, and teaching is commendable. Samodha has been a reviewer for six journals. And he was interviewed as a scientific expert about the rumen and its microbes in the “Horizon: Should I Eat Meat? How to Feed the Planet” which was transmitted on BBC 2 in the UK in 2014 and aired worldwide. His development of highly collaborative research teams to evaluate gut microbial ecology of beef and dairy cattle, swine and poultry is exciting. His cooperative spirit and team building skills are a key to his success.