Dr. Chris R. Kerth was raised on a cattle and wheat farm near Collyer, in rural northwest Kansas.  He attended Kansas State University for his B.S. in 1993 and Texas Tech for his M.S. and Ph.D in 1995 and 1999, respectively.  In 1999, Chris joined the faculty of the Animal and Dairy Science Department at Auburn University.  During his time at Auburn, his research focused on animal nutrition impacts on meat quality and consumer acceptability, mostly using forage-finished beef as a model. In 2009, he was awarded the Fulbright Senior Scientist to study beef production and processing systems in South America for a six-week stay in Uruguay. In 2010, Dr. Kerth joined the faculty at the Texas A&M University Animal Science Department.  His research program there has focused on flavor chemistry and the development of aromas and flavors in foods and their impact on consumer attitudes. This is currently being used on sensory evaluation of coffee samples.  He has also developed an undergraduate statistics course entitled ‘Applied Animal Record Keeping’ to prepare students for managing data and quality control. Chris has served as Associate Editor for the Animal Products Section of the Journal of Animal Science and as Associate Editor for the meat science text Handbook of Meat Poultry & Seafood Quality (1^st and 2^nd Editions). In 2014 he served as Editor and authored 4 chapters of the text The Science of Meat Quality. Chris has been awarded the Achievement Award as well as the Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Meat Science Association.