TUCKER, Ga. – Jan. 23, 2023 – USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation are pleased to recognize Dr. Spyros Pavlostathis as the recipient of the annual Dr. Charles Beard Research Excellence Award. Pavlostathis is a professor emeritus of environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Atlanta, Ga. The award is named in honor of Dr. Charles Beard, former director of the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory and former vice president of research at USPOULTRY.
The USPOULTRY Foundation Research Advisory Committee (FRAC) selected Pavlostathis for this award based on his exceptional research on the fate and effect of antimicrobial solutions in poultry processing wastewater treatment systems and related projects. Pavlostathis has served as the principal investigator for seven USPOULTRY funded grants since 2006 and has been a co-investigator on many others. He used the research funding to provide systematic information to the poultry processing industry to develop a sound methodology and employ other measures to allow the continuous use of antimicrobial products to further enhance food safety, while avoiding upsets of biological wastewater treatment processes.
“Dr. Pavlostathis is well-deserving of this prestigious accolade. The advancements that he has made over the past two decades through his research have provided invaluable knowledge and resources for the poultry industry,” remarked Dr. Denise Heard, vice president of research programs for USPOULTRY.
Pavlostathis completed his MS and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Cornell University after obtaining his diploma in Agricultural Engineering at the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. He is a board-certified environmental engineer member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES), and a Fellow of the International Water Association (IWA), Water Environment Federation (WEF) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Throughout his academic career, Pavlostathis has been a dedicated educator of future environmental engineers, teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
The goal of the Dr. Charles Beard Research Excellence Award is to recognize outstanding completed research projects, funded by USPOULTRY or the USPOULTRY Foundation, which have made a significant positive impact on the poultry industry. As the recipient of the award, Pavlostathis received a $1,500 cash prize. The award was presented to him during the USPOULTRY Chairman’s Reception by Bill Griffith, secretary for the USPOULTRY board of directors, and long-standing FRAC member.
–Gwen Venable, USPOULTRY