The past year has resulted in many positive changes for the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS). First, I thank Dave Beede for his service as editor for Applied Animal Science. During his tenure, we saw the impact factor of the journal increase and the change to open access. I welcome Bill Weiss as incoming editor for the journal. Thanks, Bill. I also thank Kristin Hales for her leadership as president and her continued leadership as past-president and Al Kertz for his continuing leadership and guidance to ARPAS. Thanks go to Steve Schmidt for his years serving as Examining Board chair. I also thank Brittany Morstatter, Cara Tharp, Morgan Montgomery, Jess Townsend, Mindy Fitton, and Jeremy Holzner for their support at ARPAS headquarters. Also, thanks go to John Bernard as our treasurer and Ryon Walker as our secretary. I welcome President-Elect Glenn Duff to the Executive Committee.

We had a successful symposium held in collaboration with ADSA last summer, which was titled “From Birth to Lactation.” Marcos Macondes, Jim Drackley, and I presented information on the feeding of dairy calves and heifers. The manuscripts are published and in review. We look forward to the symposium this summer at the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) 2025 Annual Meeting, which will evaluate water for livestock. Thanks, Glenn, for leading this effort. I look forward to the upcoming symposium, where our members can earn continuing education units (CEUs). If you have not already, we encourage you to log your continuing education units (CEUs) and renew your membership for 2025.

We have many exciting new developments, including the launch of our online ARPAS exam system, which lets you verify your expertise anytime and anywhere. Great news for both experienced animal scientists and faculty: we now offer two excellent routes to join ARPAS without an exam. The Highly-Qualified Individual (HQI) route is still available for seasoned animal scientists who meet specific criteria. Additionally, we have just approved a new aPAS membership option specifically for animal science faculty, allowing them to become part of the ARPAS community by leveraging their existing qualifications in place of the ARPAS qualifying exam. Both of these membership options are designed to expand our community and enhance the recognition and influence of our industry.

Active participation is key to strengthening our community and maximizing our industry’s influence. We strongly encourage you to get involved by attending the ARPAS business meeting on July 16 (save it to your calendar here!), where you can contribute to important discussions and decisions for our shared future. Also, please consider casting your vote in the ongoing ARPAS elections to help shape the future leadership and direction of our organization. Any ARPAS member in good standing is eligible, and polls will close on June 27, 2025.

I look forward to our year ahead.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter S. Erickson, PAS, Dipl. ACAN