AMES, Iowa — This week in Atlanta, Georgia, Susan J. Lamont’s long history of passion for feathers was recognized with USPOULTRY’s Lamplighter Award, paying tribute to her sustained and exemplary service to the poultry industry.
Lamont is a C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. While she most recently served as the interim director of the Egg Industry Center, she has served as faculty at ISU since 1983.
The USPOULTRY press release highlights Lamont's numerous awards, including the Helene Cecil Leadership Award, the Embrex-Pfizer Fundamental Science Award, the Merck Award for Achievement from the Poultry Science Association and the Midwest Poultry Consortium Outstanding Service Award. Lamont is also an elected Fellow of three professional societies, the Poultry Science Association, the International Society of Animal Genetics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Iowa Poultry Association nominated Lamont for the Lamplighter Award. An excerpt from her nomination best describes the industry’s deep appreciation:
Dr. Lamont is committed to the success of not only the Iowa poultry industry, but of the national and global poultry industry. Recognizing her for continually stepping up to commit time, energy and expertise for the industry would be profound. We are all fortunate to have a resource and committed industry partner like Dr. Lamont.
Poultry immunogenetics and molecular genetics are Lamont’s areas of expertise. This work focuses on explaining the molecular genetic control of complex biological traits, including resistance to the negative impacts of heat stress, disease resistance, immune response and production traits. The overall goal of her work is to illuminate these basic mechanisms of genetic regulation and identify genetic markers of value to enhance future poultry stock. Particular research projects have investigated heat stress, growth and development, DNA markers for biological fitness traits and biodiversity.
Dr. Janet Fulton, molecular biologist at Hy-Line International and a former student of Lamont’s stated, “Dr. Lamont is an excellent researcher, providing high-quality training to the next generation of scientists. Many of her former students are now in significant roles within industry.”
The Egg Industry Center is excited to join the entire industry in celebrating Dr. Lamont's well-deserved recognition.
The Egg Industry Center works to add value to the nation’s egg industry by providing research and education for egg producers, processors and consumers through national and international collaboration. The center is committed to ensuring that the current and future needs of the egg industry can be answered through developing and promoting sound science-based information. For information about partnering with the Egg Industry Center to support research funding, or to find more information on completed and ongoing research, contact EIC.
