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
? Oct 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
? Jun 17-20, 2012, AMSA Reciprocal Meat Conference, Fargo, North Dakota
? Aug 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 Canadian Meat Science Association
Thomas Powell, Executive Director Tineke Jones, Secretary
2441 Village Green Place c/o 4-10 Agriculture/Forestry Centre
Champaign, Illinois 61822 University of Alberta
USA Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5 CANADA
p: +1 217 356-5370 p: +1 780 492-3651
tpowell@meatscience.org Tineke.Jones@agr.gc.ca
www.meatscience.org www.cmsa-ascv.ca
Comments