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Mike Looper Receives National Recognition
(Posted: March 4, 2010) (Printable Version)
Dr. Mike Looper of Greenwood, a research animal scientist with the Agricultural Research Service at the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, has received a national award.
Looper was named the Herbert L. Rothbart Outstanding Early Career Research Scientist of 2009 by the ARS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency. He was selected after first receiving the Southern Plains Early Career Scientist Award and was then chosen for the overall award from all eight regions. He is the first scientist from the Southern Plains Area to receive the award.
The ARS Southern Plains Area is a region comprising the four states of Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as one international site located in Panama City, Panama.
Looper joined the USDA-ARS in May 2002 and quickly established a research program that increased the current understanding of livestock management practices, especially concerning systematic approaches of animal production. He has emerged as a leader in this area, establishing extensive partnerships with colleagues from other research units, Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Material Centers, state universities and other state or local organizations.
He has been invited to present more than 20 seminars on various livestock-related topics throughout the United States and serves as the lead scientist between ARS and three state universities. Looper has over 168 authored or coauthored non-abstract publications, as well as numerous presentations at regional, national and international scientific forums. He is frequently called upon as a scientific reviewer for more than 10 scientific journals and several funding organizations.
His diverse service record includes American Society of Animal Science National and Southern section committees; section editor for Journal of Animal science, second term; and editorial board for Professional Animal Scientist journal. In recognition of his impact in the field of animal science research, the American Society of Animal Science named him recipient of the 2009 Young Animal Scientist Research Award.
Looper has been project director, co-project director and co-investigator on numerous collaborations within his unit, state and agency, as well as with national and international scientists. He has developed partnerships with a diverse group of customers and stakeholders nationwide and has taken leadership roles in numerous community groups.
Looper was first hired to teach in the Biology Department at UA Fort Smith in 2003, instructing anatomy/physiology and biological sciences courses. He has also presented ARS research to physiology classes at UA Fort Smith. In 2008, Dr. Looper was awarded the Luella M. Krehbiel Teaching Excellence Award, an award given to recognize the contributions of UA Fort Smith’s part-time faculty.
He earned a master’s degree in animal science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a Ph.D. in reproductive physiology from Oklahoma State University. Prior to being employed with the USDA, Looper was on the faculty at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations |
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