Tim A. McAllister, Ph. D.

Research Scientist, Ruminant Nutrition & Microbiology

Current research and/or projects

Evaluation of Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock from a one Health Perspective
Impact of Canadian Beef Cattle Production on Biodiveristy
Role of the Canadian Beef Industry in the maintenance and preservation of carbon stocks in agricultural systems
Impact of performance enhancing technologies on greenhouse gas emissions from beef production systems.
Evaluation of the use of enzymes to enhance the utilization of feeds by ruminants.
Assessment of the potential of Biochar added to beef cattle diets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture
Development of methods to control the rate of cereal grain fermentation in beef cattle.
Characterization of the effects of tannins on cellulose digestion in ruminants.
Characterization of the digestive properties of cereal grains in beef cattle.
Evaluation of the role of ruminal fungi in feed digestion in ruminants.
Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions in beef cattle production systems.
Strategies for mitigation of fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by cattle.
Quantification and characterization of methane emissions arising from livestock production.
Composting as a means of disposal of animal carcasses and for containment of biohazardous agents.
Investigation on the stability of prions in compost
The use of metagenomics to develop mitigation strategies for Escherichia coli O157:H7 colonization in cattle

Research and/or project statements

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock from a One Health perspective, strategies for mitigation of E. coli O157:H7 throughout the beef production chain, including bacteriophage therapy, passive immunotherapy, electrolyzed oxidizing anode water, management strategies, and dietary interventions. Interactions of microbiomes in food safety, feed quality and enteric methane emissions. Development of methods to characterize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle production systems in enteric methane emissions, and the implications of land use change for carbon sequestration and biodiversity in beef cattle production systems. Characterization of the digestive properties of cereal grains and the use of by-products in beef cattle diets and development of methods to enhance the ensiling of cereal forages and that value of low quality forages. Prevention of pasture and feedlot bloat in cattle; composting as a means of disposal of animal carcasses for containment of biohazardous agents; assessing the fate of transgenic DNA ingested by livestock in genetically modified crops used as feeds; characterization of effects of tannins on cellulose digestion by ruminants; potential uses of plant extracts and probiotics as alternatives to antibiotics in livestock production. His collaborations have generated over 800 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Education and awards

Ph.D. Ruminant Nutrition / Microbiology (with distinction) (1991) - University of Guelph, Ontario

M.Sc. Animal Biochemistry (1987) - University of Alberta, Edmonton

B.Sc. Agriculture (with distinction) (1985) - University of Alberta, Edmonton

Canadian Society of Animal Science Fellowship Award (2018)
Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation - presented by the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) (2016)
H.R. MacMillan Laureate in Agriculture – University of Guelph (2015)
Public Service Award of Excellence – Scientific Contribution - Public Service of Canada. The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada (2014)
The Governor General of Canada - Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Nominated by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (2012)
American Society of Animal Science / American Feed Industry Association Award in Ruminant Nutrition Research (2010)
Canadian Society of Animal Science Award for Excellence in Nutrition and Meat Science (2008)
Nobel Peace Prize (as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared this prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore) – awarded for raising international awareness of Greenhouse Gases and Global warming (2007)
AAFC Minister’s Gold Harvest Award for 2005 (individual award).
Alberta Agriculture Performance Excellence (AAPEX) Award for Outstanding Teamwork – Silver Recipient – for work on the Alfasure Project Research Team (2005)
Alberta Agriculture Performance Excellence (AAPEX) Award for Outstanding Teamwork – Silver Recipient – for work on the Biostel Project Research Team (2005)
Canadian Society of Animal Science Award for Technical Innovation in Enhancing Production of Safe Affordable Food (2004)
AAFC Minister’s Gold Harvest Award (as part of www.foragebeef.ca team) (2003)
Canadian Society of Animal Science Canadian Animal Industries Award for Excellence in Extension and Public Service (2000)
AAFC Ag Excellence Award for Contribution to Canadian Agriculture (1998)
Canadian Society of Animal Science Outstanding Young Scientist Award (1996)

International experience and/or work

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association Expert Advisory Committee on E. coli O157:H7(2001- present)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations LEAP (Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance) Group -The Chair of the Biodiversity Technical Advisory Committee
World Health Organization (WHO), member of the expert advisory committee on strategies to reduce Shiga toxin producing E. coli in the food production chain

Key publications

Terry, S.A., Ribeiro, G.O., Gruninger, R.J., Chaves, A.V., Beauchemin, K.A., Okine, E., McAllister, T.A. (2019). A Pine Enhanced Biochar Does Not Decrease Enteric CH4 Emissions, but Alters the Rumen Microbiota. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, [online] 6 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00308
2019 - View publication details
Gruninger, R.J., Ribeiro, G.O., Cameron, A., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Invited review: Application of meta-omics to understand the dynamic nature of the rumen microbiome and how it responds to diet in ruminants, 13(9), 1843-1854. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1751731119000752
2019 - View publication details
Zaheer, R., Lakin, S.M., Polo, R.O., Cook, S.R., Larney, F.J., Morley, P.S., Booker, C.W., Hannon, S.J., Van Domselaar, G., Read, R.R., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Comparative diversity of microbiomes and Resistomes in beef feedlots, downstream environments and urban sewage influent. BMC Microbiology, [online] 19(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12866-019-1548-x
2019 - View publication details
Klima, C.L., Holman, D.B., Ralston, B.J., Stanford, K., Zaheer, R., Alexander, T.W., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Lower Respiratory Tract Microbiome and Resistome of Bovine Respiratory Disease Mortalities. Microbial Ecology, [online] 78(2), 446-456. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-019-01361-3
2019 - View publication details
Nair, J., Turkington, T.K., Blackshaw, R., Geddes, C.M., Lupwayi, N.Z., Xu, S., Yang, J., Yang, H.E., Wang, Y., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Impact of field fungal contamination of barley on ensiling properties, nutritional quality and the microbiome of barley silage. Grass and Forage Science, [online] 74(2), 231-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12419
2019 - View publication details
He, Z.X., Ribeiro, G.O., Beauchemin, K.A., McAllister, T.A., Yang, W.Z. (2019). Inoculum source and transfer of rumen contents from bison to cattle improved in vitro gas production and feed digestibility, but not the responses to exogenous enzymes supplementation. Animal Feed Science and Technology, [online] 248 37-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2019.01.005
2019 - View publication details
Terry, S.A., Badhan, A., Wang, Y., Chaves, A.V., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Fibre digestion by rumen microbiota — a review of recent metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies, 99(4), 678-692. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjas-2019-0024
2019 - View publication details
McGeough, E.J., Passetti, L.C.G., Chung, Y.H., Beauchemin, K.A., McGinn, S.M., Harstad, O.M., Crow, G., McAllister, T.A. (2019). Methane emissions, feed intake, and total tract digestibility in lambs fed diets differing in fat content and fibre digestibility. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, [online] 99(4), 858-866. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjas-2018-0185
2019 - View publication details
Pogue, S.J., Kröbel, R., Janzen, H.H., Beauchemin, K.A., Legesse, G., de Souza, D.M., Iravani, M., Selin, C., Byrne, J., McAllister, T.A. (2018). Beef production and ecosystem services in Canada's prairie provinces: A review, 166 152-172. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.06.011
2018 - View publication details
Huws, S.A., Creevey, C.J., Oyama, L.B., Mizrahi, I., Denman, S.E., Popova, M., Muñoz-Tamayo, R., Forano, E., Waters, S.M., Hess, M., Tapio, I., Smidt, H., Krizsan, S.J., Yáñez-Ruiz, D.R., Belanche, A., Guan, L., Gruninger, R.J., McAllister, T.A., Newbold, C.J., Roehe, R., Dewhurst, R.J., Snelling, T.J., Watson, M., Suen, G., Hart, E.H., Kingston-Smith, A.H., Scollan, N.D., Do Prado, R.M., Pilau, E.J., Mantovani, H.C., Attwood, G.T., Edwards, J.E., McEwan, N.R., Morrisson, S., Mayorga, O.L., Elliott, C., Morgavi, D.P. (2018). Addressing global ruminant agricultural challenges through understanding the rumen microbiome: Past, present, and future, 9(SEP), http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02161
2018 - View publication details
Terry, S.A., Ribeiro, G.d.O., Gruninger, R.J., Hunerberg, M., Ping, S., Chaves, A.V., Burlet, J., Beauchemin, K.A., McAllister, T.A. (2018). Effect of humic substances on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, methane emissions, and rumen microbiota in beef heifers. Journal of Animal Science, [online] 96(9), 3863-3877. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky265
2018 - View publication details
Jin, L., Chevaux, E., McAllister, T., Baah, J., Drouin, P., Wang, Y. (2018). Impact of Pediococcus pentosaceus and Pichia anomala in combination with chitinase on the preservation of high-moisture alfalfa hay. Grass and Forage Science, [online] 73(3), 610-621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12351
2018 - View publication details
Gruninger, R.J., Nguyen, T.T.M., Reid, I.D., Yanke, J.L., Wang, P., Abbott, D.W., Tsang, A., McAllister, T. (2018). Application of transcriptomics to compare the carbohydrate active enzymes that are expressed by diverse genera of anaerobic fungi to degrade plant cell wall carbohydrates. Frontiers in Microbiology, [online] 9(JUL), http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01581
2018 - View publication details
Jen Owens, Xiying Hao, Ben W. Thomas, Jessica L. Stoeckli, Francis J. Larney, Karen A. Beauchemin, Tim A. McAllister. 2018. Do the effects of dietary greenhouse gas inhibitors persist in beef cattle manure during composting and stockpiling? 2018 Joint Meeting of the CGU-CSSS-CIG-CSAFM-ESSSA. June 10-14, 2018. Niagara Falls, ON. Canada.
2018 - View publication details
Legesse, G., Cordeiro, M.R.C., Ominski, K.H., Beauchemin, K.A., Kroebel, R., McGeough, E.J., Pogue, S., McAllister, T.A. (2018). Water use intensity of Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared to 2011. Science of the Total Environment, [online] 619-620 1030-1039. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.194
2018 - View publication details
Seshadri, R., Leahy, S.C., Attwood, G.T., Teh, K.H., Lambie, S.C., Cookson, A.L., Eloe-Fadrosh, E.A., Pavlopoulos, G.A., Hadjithomas, M., Varghese, N.J., Paez-Espino, D., Perry, R., Henderson, G., Creevey, C.J., Terrapon, N., Lapebie, P., Drula, E., Lombard, V., Rubin, E., Kyrpides, N.C., Henrissat, B., Woyke, T., Ivanova, N.N., Kelly, W.J., Palevic, N., Janssen, P.H., Ronimus, R.S., Noel, S., Soni, P., Reilly, K., Atherly, T., Ziemer, C., Wright, A., Ishaq, S., Cotta, S., Thompson, S., Crosley, K., McKain, S., Wallace, R.J., Flint, H.J., Martin, J.C., Forster, R.J., Gruninger, R.J., McAllister, T., Gilbert, R., Ouwerkerk, R.J., Klieve, R.J., Jassim, R.A., Denman, S., McSweeney, C., Rosewarne, S., Koike, S., Kobayashi, Y., Mitsumori, M., Shinkai, T., Cravero, S., Cerón Cucchi, T. (2018). Cultivation and sequencing of rumen microbiome members from the Hungate1000 Collection, 36(4), 359-367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4110
2018 - View publication details
Xu, S., Amarakoon, I.D., Zaheer, R., Smith, A., Sura, S., Wang, G., Reuter, T., Zvomuya, F., Cessna, A.J., Larney, F.J., McAllister, T.A. (2018). Dissipation of antimicrobial resistance genes in compost originating from cattle manure after direct oral administration or post-excretion fortification of antimicrobials. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A: Toxic - Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering, [online] 53(4), 373-384. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10934529.2017.1404337
2018 - View publication details
Masud, M.B., McAllister, T., Cordeiro, M.R.C., Faramarzi, M. (2018). Modeling future water footprint of barley production in Alberta, Canada: Implications for water use and yields to 2064. Science of the Total Environment, [online] 616-617 208-222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.004
2018 - View publication details
Cameron, A., Klima, C.L., Ha, R., Gruninger, R.J., Zaheer, R., McAllister, T.A. (2018). A novel aadA aminoglycoside resistance gene in bovine and porcine pathogens. mSphere, [online] 3(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/MSPHERE.00568-17
2018 - View publication details
Legesse, G., Kroebel, R., Alemu, A.W., Ominski, K.H., McGeough, E.J., Beauchemin, K.A., Chai, L., Bittman, S., McAllister, T.A. (2018). Effect of changes in management practices and animal performance on ammonia emissions from Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared with 2011. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, [online] 98(4), 833-844. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjas-2017-0184
2018 - View publication details