Rate My Professor Nicola Schreurs

Associate Professor Nicola Schreurs serves as Group Leader for Animal Science in the School of Agriculture and Environment at Massey University, a position she holds within the College of Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Applied Science in 2000, Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours in 2001, and Doctor of Philosophy in 2006, all from Massey University. Promoted to Associate Professor in 2022, Schreurs specializes in meat science. Her earlier research examined the effects of forage diets on meat flavour and the development of muscle characteristics influencing the sensory and nutritional quality of beef. Presently, her work investigates how on-farm variables such as animal diet, gender, growth rate, age, and genetics affect carcass composition and meat quality traits in beef and lamb. Her research spans multiple animal production systems producing meat from chicken, pork, venison, beef, and lamb, with particular attention to the use of dairy-origin calves in beef production within dairy-beef systems. Schreurs' research interests encompass animal nutrition, meat quality, ruminant science, meta-analysis, animal growth, animal production, meat production, beef, lamb, dairy, and dairy-beef integration. Her contributions align with university thematics including Future Food Systems, Health and Well-being, and 21st Century Citizenship, falling under fields like Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Animal Production, and Food Sciences.

Schreurs has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. Key publications include Nguyen et al. (2024) 'Using poultry by-product meal to replace soybean meal in grower-finisher pig diets' in Animal Feed Science and Technology; Coleman et al. (2023) 'Growth, carcass and meat quality characteristics of Charolais-sired steers and heifers born to Angus-cross-dairy and Angus breeding cows' in Meat Science; Addis et al. (2023) 'Agent-Based Modelling to Improve Beef Production from Dairy Cattle: Young Beef Production' in Agriculture; Martín et al. (2022) 'Meat quality of beef-cross-dairy cattle from Angus or Hereford sires: A case study in a pasture-based system in New Zealand' in Meat Science; Schreurs (2022) 'Animal science to meet today’s challenges' in New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research; and Prache et al. (2022) 'Review: Factors affecting sheep carcass and meat quality attributes' in Animal. As a Doctoral Mentor Supervisor and Licence Mentor Supervisor, she guides postgraduate research, advancing knowledge in animal science and meat production. Her leadership of the Animal Science group underscores her impact on academic and applied research in agriculture.