Davis named director of Auburn’s National Poultry Technology Center

Auburn University biosystems engineer Jeremiah Davis has assumed duties as director of the Auburn-based National Poultry Technology Center, or NPTC.

Davis had served as associate director of the research and outreach center since joining the Auburn faculty in 2015 and succeeds Jim Donald, who retired Dec. 31 as Department of Biosystems Engineering professor emeritus and NPTC director emeritus.

In announcing Davis’ selection to the post, College of Agriculture Dean Paul Patterson said poultry producers and the entire poultry industry can expect a seamless transition.

“The NPTC serves a vital role for the poultry industry at the state, regional and national levels in carrying out its mission to improve bottom-line profitability of the live production sector,” he said. “I believe Dr. Davis’s impressive research background and his success as associate director make him an excellent fit for this role.”

He commended both Donald and Auburn agricultural economics professor and Alabama Extension specialist Gene Simpson, who also retired in December, for their strong commitment to fulfilling the NPTC’s mission of developing technologies and practices that have helped poultry growers increase efficiencies in housing, equipment, energy use and environmental control.

Donald and Simpson were instrumental in the center’s establishment in 2007, and they—along with Davis and Extension specialists Jesse Campbell and Dennis Brothers—have built the facility into a nationally respected industry resource that has saved poultry producers an estimated $30 million to date.

The NPTC facility is located in the Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center north of Auburn’s main campus.