A noted livestock parasitologist will deliver the John B. Peters Memorial Lecture Friday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m. in room 1001 of the Agricultural Sciences Building on West Virginia Universitys Evansdale Campus. Dr. Gil Myers of Magnolia, Ky. will speak onParasitism and the Future of Small Ruminant Parasite Control.The lecture is free and open to the public.

Myers and his wife Heidi manage a private farm business that focuses on the economics of prevention and control of parasites in small ruminants. They raise commercial meat goats, sheep and beef cattle on their farm.

Myers received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1979, and then worked as a research and technical specialist for Hoechst Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. While there, Myers helped develop Safe Guard, a product used to treat various species of parasitic worms in livestock. He is a member of the American Association of Veterinary Parsitologists, past president of the Kentucky Goat Producers Association, and was appointed to the Kentucky Agriculture Resource Development Authority.

The memorial lecture honors John Burl Peters. Peters joined WVU s faculty in 1971 to take part in the Allegheny Highlands Project. In 1977, he joined the faculty of the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences in the Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences while also serving as livestock specialist with WVU Extension. He died in 1980. His friends and family established the John Peters Memorial Fund through the WVU Foundation to carry on his work, bringing new information to farmers, students and faculty.

Myers will also present a similar lecture at the West Virginia Shepherds Federation Meeting and Short Course on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Clinton Hedrick Center in Riverton, W.Va.

For additional information on the meeting, please visit the West Virginia Sheep Management web site athttp://www.cafcs.wvu.edu/avs/sheep/index.htm.