Dr. Spears is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading authority in the area of mineral nutrition of domestic animals. He has authored or co-authored over 400 publications, including 170 refereed journal articles and book chapters. He was awarded the Nutrition Award from the American Society of Animal Science in 1995, and the Cromwell Award for Mineral Research in 2012. He was named a Fellow of the American Society of Animal Science in 2012. Earlier (1989) he was presented the Outstanding Young Animal Scientist Award by the Sou- thern Section of the American Society of Animal Science. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science, Biological Trace Element Research, and the Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Science. Dr Spears has also served on the Natio- nal Research Council-Committee on Animal Nutrition and the National Research Council-Sub-committee on Beef Cattle Nutrition. He also served on the National Research Council-Committee on Minerals and Toxic Substances in Diets and Water for Animals. This committee was responsible for revising the book "Mineral Tolerance of Animals.