Canadian and American Meat Science Associations Work Together to Share Focus on Upcoming Conferences
The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) and the Canadian Meat Science Association (CMSA) are both involved in organizing several conferences of mutual interest to each other’s memberships. As part of a new co-operation agreement, members from both associations are encouraged to attend these conferences.
“Attending each other’s conferences is a great way to increase communication and opportunities for collaboration” says Benjy Mikel, AMSA President. One such conference is the 58th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology, or ICoMST 2012, in Montreal. Many members attend ICoMST each year and are just now returning from this year’s conference which was held in Belgium. The United States will be hosting ICoMST in 2020, so this is clearly one conference of great mutual interest.
“We are very proud to be hosting ICoMST 2012 in Canada and look forward to seeing many AMSA members in Montreal next August” says Brian Sullivan, CMSA President.
Information on ICoMST and other meat science meetings can be found on both the AMSA (www.meatscience.org) and CMSA (www.cmsa-ascv.ca) web sites. Some of these include:
• September 20-22, 2011, AMSA Pork 101, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• October 6-7, 2011, Canadian Meat Council (CMC) Technical Symposium on Pathogen Reduction, Toronto, Ontario
• October 18-20, 2011, AMSA Pork 101, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
• November 1-2, 2011, AMSA Meat & Poultry Research Conference, Kansas City, Missouri
• May 29 to Jun 1, 2012, CMC/CMSA Annual Conference and Technical Symposium, Quebec City, Quebec
• June 17-20, 2012, AMSA Reciprocal Meat Conference, Fargo, North Dakota
• August 12-17, 2012, ICoMST 2012, Montreal, Quebec
This is the first of several short-term actions identified in a Memorandum of Understanding recently signed by AMSA and CMSA. Increased communication is seen as a foundation to greater cooperation not only between the AMSA and CMSA, but ultimately amongst the international meat science community. In the short term, the MOU will provide regular dialogue between the associations’ leaderships, increased information exchange and cross-posting of events on their respective websites, and more collaboration on white papers and information articles relevant to the meat industry in both countries. The longer term vision is to create an alliance that will help develop the international meat science community and better serve its needs.
“We welcome the increasing opportunities that this agreement will bring to improve networking between both associations” says Randy Huffman, AMSA Past President. “It is an exciting prospect to identify common needs in order to work toward an organization structure that will advance the worldwide meat science discipline”.
Sullivan agrees. “Both associations serve the distinct needs of their two communities, but the opportunities to develop common areas of interest in today’s international industry are immense. We greatly look forward to working together with AMSA to develop inter-association communication and cooperation”.
The agreement, signed in July between the two associations, provides an initial one-year term to explore the collaborative opportunities, with an extension expected as successful interactions grow.
About the Canadian Meat Science Association:
The Canadian Meat Science Association, founded in 1985, has 241 members in 2011 from all sectors of the Canadian meat industry, academia and government. The CMSA aims to facilitate a greater understanding of the science of meat to address the needs of the largest food processing industry in Canada. The CMSA supports its membership in professional development by providing a forum for the exchange and dissemination of new research developments, teaching and application of new technology in the meat industry.
About the American Meat Science Association:
The American Meat Science Association is an individual membership organization of more than 1000 meat scientists representing major university research and teaching institutions and meat processing companies in the United States and internationally. Its members conduct basic and applied research and education programs in muscle growth and development, meat quality, food safety, processing technology and consumer and marketing issues relevant to the international meat industry.
Further information can be obtained by contacting:
American Meat Science Association
Thomas Powell, Executive Director
2441 Village Green Place
Champaign, Illinois 61822
USA
p: +1 217 356-5370
tpowell@meatscience.org
Canadian Meat Science Association
Tineke Jones, Secretary
c/o 4-10 Agriculture/Forestry Centre
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5 CANADA
p: +1 780 492-3651
Tineke.Jones@agr.gc.ca
www.cmsa-ascv.ca
www.meatscience.org