A beef industry expert will give the John B. Peters Memorial Lecture next week at West Virginia University.

Thomas G. Field, a professor of beef cattle management systems at Colorado State University, will speak at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, in Rooms A and B of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on the Evansdale Campus.

The title of his presentation isBack to the Future: The Challenges of Meeting Informational Needs of the Beef Industry.The lecture is free and open to the public.

Field is currently responsible for the total management systems of 150 head of purebred Angus and Hereford cows at Colorado State. He coordinates the Seedstock Merchandising Team, including associated academic programs.

He has worked with several breed associations to develop strategic plans and certification standards. He also served as a member of the National Cattlemens Association committee, which developed a plan for future needs of the U.S. beef industry, and has been actively involved in national programs related to quality assurance.

The memorial lecture honors John Burl Peters, who 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 Nutritional Sciences while also serving as livestock specialist with WVU Extension.

Peters 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.