ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US — The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) on Oct. 21 named Cassie Jones, PhD, an associate professor in animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University, as its Member of the Year during the AFIA’s fall board of directors virtual meeting.

The Member of the Year Award is presented to an AFIA member who exhibits outstanding support in achieving the organization’s goals and objectives throughout the year. With the exception of the 83 members of the Food Safety Modernization Act working group who received the award in 2014, only 40 individuals have been honored prior to this year.

“Cassie is collaborative and welcoming, yet always objective and steadfast in completing the task at hand,” said Paul Davis, PhD, director of quality, animal food safety and education at the AFIA. “Science, research, experience and facts prevail when working with Dr. Jones.”

Jones serves as the academic liaison to AFIA’s Nutrition Committee. Serving in this capacity, she has contributed to the successes of committee activities. Together with others assigned to her working group, Jones assembled an outstanding slate of speakers for AFIA’s foreign animal disease educational program, held at the 2020 International Production & Processing Expo. She worked with the group to brainstorm topics, suggest speakers, share contact information and presented the swine biosecurity session.

With her academic experience in animal sciences, nutrition, foreign animal disease and feed manufacturing technology, Jones is a trusted resource to the feed industry and the AFIA, the AFIA said.

Jones has worked with the Institute for Feed Education and Research on an African swine fever research project and communicated biosecurity and feed safety topics when called upon at domestic and international venues. Most recently, she agreed to contribute to the AFIA’s upcoming Feed Manufacturing Technology online publication by reviewing and revising its biosecurity chapter. Jones also has served as an expert to the “feed risk task force,” organized by the AFIA and the pork industry, which is looking at the risks and potential mitigations for virus transfer in feed and feed ingredients.

Jones received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kansas State University and her PhD from Iowa State University in nutritional sciences.