Dr. Casey Owens received her B.S. degree in Poultry Science and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University in 1994, 1996, and 1999, respectively. She joined the faculty of the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas in 2000 and has been promoted to Professor and also holds the Novus International Professorship of Poultry Science.

Her research has a strong emphasis on evaluating production and processing factors affecting poultry meat quality including tenderness, water holding capacity, color and sensory attributes. Her recent research has focused on quality of meat from broilers in big bird market programs including muscle myopathies such as white striping and woody breast, and issues with meat texture including technologies to detect myopathies in poultry meat. She has received the National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award based on this research. Past research has included meat tenderness and methods for assessing meat tenderness with the development of the Meullenet Owens Razor Shear, pale, soft, exudative poultry meat, and the use of marination in poultry meat for improved meat quality.

In addition to her research, Dr. Owens teaches Egg and Meat Technology and Value Added Muscle Foods at the undergraduate and graduate levels for students in Poultry Science, Food Science, and Animal Science. She also teaches industry workshops related meat and egg processing and further processing. She serves as an undergraduate academic advisor, and Dr. Owens has directed the research of numerous Ph.D. and M.S. graduate students in addition to undergraduate research.

Cathy East is the Vice President of National Replenishment and Planning for the Albertsons Companies supporting the Meat, Seafood, Deli, Food Service, Starbucks and In Store Bakery departments across all Regional Divisions. In her role, Cathy is responsible for oversight and standardization of best practices within decentralized replenishment and planning teams in more than 20 distribution centers across the enterprise. She is a valued member of Supply Chain leadership, responsible for managing inventory, reducing waste, strategizing collaborative purchasing and planning for and meeting retail demand while maintaining the highest food safety and quality standards throughout the distribution network.

She began her career as a Production Supervisor for IBP (now Tyson) and held positions in both operations and quality control where she gained valuable industry experience working on several major initiatives including the development of the first HACCP documentation in a beef production facility as well as standardizing yields for close trim products. She then moved to a similar role within Safeway, Inc. before transitioning to supply chain in 2006 when she was named Group Director of the Meat and Seafood Product Supply Department. Upon the acquisition of Safeway by the Albertsons Companies, she was promoted to her current role of Vice President.

Cathy holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a major in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Although raised in a big city, she has become a passionate advocate of sustainable animal agriculture and serves as the lead member of Albertsons Companies Animal Well Being Committee. Cathy served as the first female co-chair of the Annual Meat Conference in 2018 and 2019 and is a recent board member addition to the newly formed Women in Meat Industry Network (WIMN). She also serves as the Chairperson of the Retail Advisory Committee for the National Pork Board and is a member of Colorado State’s Ag Next Industry Innovation Group. She has been named to Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and 2020.

Collette Kaster currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) as well as the Executive Director for PAACO, the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization. She has 30 years of experience in the meat industry working with companies such as PIC, Premium Standard, Farmland and Smithfield where she led teams in the areas of quality assurance, technical services and livestock procurement including the implementation of some of the first animal handling and audit programs, along with the implementation of modern handling and CO2 stunning equipment. She is an AMSA Fellow and has served on the Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection along with many other industry committees and task forces in the areas of animal welfare, food safety, and meat quality.

She has a passion for working with, and improving production agriculture; along with showing people all the great opportunities, it can offer. She loves to help people better understand where their food comes from and to set the record straight on the role of meat in the diet. Outside of work, she and her husband Dennis reside outside of Kansas City and stay busy with their kids, grandson, dogs and cow herd.

Danette Amstein co-founded Midan Marketing with a vision of transforming the meat industry by establishing the first marketing agency solely dedicated to championing the value of meat. As managing principal, she provides strategic guidance to clients and stays closely in tune with meat consumers and how to best market to them. Her lifelong love for the meat industry started on her family’s farm in Kansas, deepened during her involvement with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and state beef organizations and continues today with her passionate work for Midan clients. A well-respected thought leader in the meat industry, she speaks at conferences and writes content for industry publications. She also enjoys developing each Midan team member to achieve their full potential by facilitating training sessions and doing one-on-one coaching.. Married to Todd, she is a proud parent of a son and daughter, is a diehard Kansas State Wildcats fan, loves chocolate and still drives a combine when she goes home to Kansas for the annual wheat harvest.

Jennifer Dibbern currently serves as the Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications at American Foods Group and sits on the AFG Strategic Leadership Executive Team. She has 15 years of experience in the meat industry in different roles such as sales, marketing, product development, communications, branding, and leadership. She is a founding member of her company’s Network of Women, a long-time member of the NCBA Product Council, and a 20+ year judge for Nebraska DECA, where she coaches the next generation of young marketers and leaders.

Jennifer is passionate about agribusiness, developing her team of women, and promoting the professional advancement of women within the industry. She is grateful for the women trailblazers she learned from and is eager to carry the torch to support other women. She resolutely believes in the WMIN Promise to challenge the status quo to create opportunities for diverse talents and perspectives that help our industry thrive.

When Jennifer is not reading the meat trends, her hobbies include family activities and golf.

Jennifer joined Hormel Foods as a Meat Products Sales Representative in 1994 and in 2024 celebrated a 30-year career with Hormel. While it was a tenured career it was a diverse one with Jennifer having held positions in sales, sales leadership, field trade management, corporate trade management, marketing and supply chain. Within Hormel she was able to spend most of her career on the perishable side of the business but also spent 5 years on Hormel’s grocery or center store business. To round out her diversity, 7 years ago Jennifer moved up to Jennie-O Turkey Store, then a wholly owned subsidiary of Hormel foods and enjoyed learning the turkey business. In 2023 when Hormel’s new retail business unit was created, she took on a new role as Director of Revenue Growth Management for the retail division.

Jennifer graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater with a bachelor’s degree in communications/public relations and a minor in marketing. She is married and has 3 children of which one has Down syndrome, and she is passionate about creating awareness and talking about it, just ask her!

Jennifer has always been passionate about advocating for women and was a co-chair and co-founder of Hormel’s first women’s employee resource group. She also introduced Hormel to NextUp (formerly Network of Executive Women) as an external resource for both men and women to advance women in the CPG industry.

Jess Pryles is a meat specialist, live fire cook, author and founder of Hardcore Carnivore.

She's an expert resource for meat information on social media, with her meat mythbusting and recipe content reaching millions of people each year. Particularly passionate about beef, Pryles is also a respected authority on Texas style barbecue. Currently, she's completing her graduate certificate in Meat Science from Iowa State University.

In addition to being a maven of all things meaty, Jess is a co-founder of the Australasian Barbecue Alliance and the creator of the internationally- acclaimed line of meat seasonings, Hardcore Carnivore®. She has also authored a cookbook of the same name.

Dr. KatieRose McCullough serves as the director of science and public health at the North American Meat Institute where she provides expertise on a variety of topics including: meat science, food safety, meat consumption, public health, and more. As the scientist for NAMI, McCullough works to ensure policies are created on a sound science-based foundation.

McCullough also serves as the Senior Science Advisor to the Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education and acts as the staff liaison for the Scientific Affairs Committee. She also manages the NAMI Scholarship Foundation which funds multiple scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students each year.

McCullough received her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from Texas Tech University, her Master of Science in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University with research focusing on meat quality and her Doctorate of Philosophy in Animal Science from Colorado State University with her research focusing on food safety. McCullough also holds a Master’s in Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health focusing on Animals, People and the Environment.

A native of Northeastern Colorado, Kelsie's passion and roots are steeped in production agriculture. Kelsie grew up on a production farming and ranching operation raising crops and livestock. An active member of 4-H and FFA, she served as a Colorado State FFA officer before continuing her education at Colorado State University obtaining her dual B.S. in Agriculture Business and Animal Science. Following school, Kelsie pursued her passion for marketing, joining the Minnesota based strategic marketing agency, Curious Plot, where she worked as a Senior Account Executive overseeing a diverse portfolio of clients. After several years in the agency world, Kelsie returned to her roots in Colorado with Pilgrim's as the PR & Communications manager for Just Bare, Pilgrim's and the corporate organization. Her heart was called home to the Beef segment when she earned the opportunity to lead the marketing function for the Fed beef division of JBS, with responsibility for implementing the strategic brand and beef program vision. Kelsie partnered with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to successfully launch the fastest growing value-added meat brand in the U.S., growing La Herencia Marinated Meats to $25M in sales, with 49% Repeat Purchase Rate in the brand's first year. She also lead the launch of Just Bare Beef and La Herencia Marinated Meats on Amazon Fresh, supporting +$50M in sales growth with a key customer. She also supported the sell-in and branded launch of Aspen Ridge Natural Angus Beef with a leading national retailer delivering 40%+ program growth. In 2023, Kelsie lead marketing activations that supported JBS being recognized as a Top Branded Growth Driver in CPG (IRI/BCG Annual Study and was named a Top Woman in Grocery by Progressive Grocer.

Kelsie now owns and operates Kapple Consulting Group and is focused on supporting small to mid-sized businesses with strategic marketing efforts that fuel their growth and help them navigate the shifting tides of the agriculture industry.

Kerri is Lead Senior Counsel, Food Law for Kraft Heinz (owner of Oscar Mayer), where she advises the company on a wide range of food and agricultural laws, regulations, and policy matters, including USDA, FDA, and state requirements related to food safety, labeling, nutrition and marketing claims, animal welfare, and the Packers & Stockyards Act.

Kerri grew up around the meat industry on a large beef cattle and poultry farm in Arkansas and always knew that she wanted to pursue a career in the industry. She attended the University of Arkansas where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural business, a law degree, and a Master of Laws degree in food and agricultural law. Kerri also received a certificate in international food law from Michigan State University.

Prior to Kraft Heinz, Kerri worked as a USDA and FDA regulatory attorney for Tyson Foods, where she advised the company on a wide range of food and agricultural laws and regulations. She also worked for the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels, where she advised meat packers and food processors on state, USDA and FDA requirements related to food and feed safety, labeling, animal welfare, and the Packers & Stockyards Act. Kerri has also worked as a graduate assistant for the National Agricultural Law Center and as a law clerk for the USDA Office of the General Counsel and Arkansas Supreme Court.

She also serves as a Board Member on the Dean’s Partnership Council at the University of Arkansas, Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences, where she serves as a sounding board to the Dean regarding recruitment and current student initiatives.

In her spare time, Kerri enjoys volunteering for 4-H, raising beef cattle, cheering on the Arkansas Razorbacks, and mentoring students and young professionals interested in working in the food and agriculture industry.