Dear ARPAS members,

As I reflect on the past year, I’m proud of the renewed momentum we’ve built together. ARPAS now stands at 983 members—an encouraging increase of 157 from last year. This growth includes 124 new professional members, 14 graduate students, and 12 board-certified additions. These numbers are more than statistics—they represent a renewed energy in our community and a shared commitment to advancing animal science.

Scientific societies like ARPAS play a vital role in shaping our field. We provide a professional home for animal scientists, a platform for credentialing, a trusted and affordable journal to amplify your work, and a network for collaboration.

We continue to work toward serving you, our member community, and attracting new members through ongoing new initiatives, including the following:

• Member badging: Use this to display your professional credentials.
• New member types: These include the Academic Professional Animal Scientist (aPAS) available to current full-time PhD faculty or postdoctorates, and no ARPAS exam is required.
• Expanded in-person ARPAS exams: Know someone, or a group of students, who would prefer to take their ARPAS exam at a meeting or in a group? Reach out to us to set it up!
• Refreshed exam resources: We are updating our study materials to ensure new members have the resources they need to ace their exam.
• Continued investment in our excellent journal, Applied Animal Science

One highlight for me this year was attending the ADSA 2025 Annual Meeting. At the graduate student luncheon, almost every student who stopped by recognized Applied Animal Science. That kind of visibility speaks volumes about the impact we’re making.

Let’s keep this momentum going. As we approach the end of 2025, I encourage you to

• Renew your membership for 2026,
• Log your continuing education units (CEUs),
• Volunteer for a committee and help shape ARPAS’s future (you can do so through the demographic survey as you renew, or by reaching out to us), and
• Share your ideas through our feedback form—we’re listening.

Finally, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each of you for your dedication to our field and to ARPAS. Special appreciation goes to our staff, including Al Kertz, Jess Townsend, Jess Tatar, Cara Tharp, Morgan Montgomery, and Tam Smith, for all their work in support of ARPAS.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter S. Erickson, PAS, Dipl. ACAN