Livestock expert joins university

Professor Michael Lee has dedicated his career to defining the role of sustainable livestock systems in securing global food security at the same time as protecting environmental health, for the sake of people and the planet.

He graduated with first-class honours in Animal Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, in 1997 and gained a PhD in ruminant nutrition (protein and energy metabolism) from the University of Aberdeen in 2001, followed by postgraduate certificate for teaching in higher education from Aberystwyth in 2012.

Professor Lee worked for the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research from 2001 to 2008 before the merger with Aberystwyth University, where he stayed as a principal scientist and senior lecturer in animal nutrition and rumen biochemistry until moving to the University of Bristol, School of Veterinary Science (Bristol Veterinary School) in 2013 as a reader in sustainable livestock systems.

In 2015 he took a joint appointment between Rothamsted Research and the University of Bristol as Head of Site at North Wyke and was promoted to Chair in Sustainable Livestock Systems later that same year.

He has published more than 250 research articles and papers including recent articles in Nature and Science and was awarded the Sir John Hammond Memorial Prize in 2015 for services to Animal Science.

In August 2016, he was elected as Vice President of the European Federation of Animal Science Livestock Farming Systems Commission and in August 2019 became President of the commission. In April 2018 he was elected as Vice President of the British Society of Animal Science and will also take on the Presidency in April 2021.

Professor Lee said: “I am very excited and honoured to be joining Harper Adams University at a vital time for UK agriculture."