The American Society of Animal Science Midwest Section is honoring Amy Desaulniers, an associate professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, for instructional excellence by selecting her for its 2026 Outstanding Young Teacher Award. The award recognizes a university instructor who demonstrates an exceptional “mastery of subject, technique, vision and attitude” and the strong “ability to motivate and stimulate students.”
The award connects with Desaulniers’ approach in multiple ways, including her emphasis on evidence-based instruction, hands-on research training, and instructional effectiveness for students of all experience levels and backgrounds. Her ongoing research in pedagogical innovation is another standout dimension of her work.
Desaulniers, a reproductive physiologist specializing in swine testis biology and endocrinology, co-teaches Animal Physiology I and II, foundational courses for Animal Science graduate students and veterinary students. She earned a B.S. in animal science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an M.S. and Ph.D. in swine reproductive physiology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The ASAS award requirements underscore the need for an exceptional instructor to “translate research findings into terms of useful practice,” which connects with Desaulniers’ approach in mentoring undergraduate, veterinary and graduate students. Her instruction provides experiential learning through hands-on research activities and applied training in reproductive physiology techniques.
She prioritizes student engagement and knowledge retention through a flipped classroom that emphasizes structured problem solving, low-stakes retrieval practice, and the application of core physiological concepts to real-world scenarios.
The association will present Desaulniers with the award on March 10 in Omaha when the organization’s Midwest section holds its annual meeting.
Her impact extends beyond the classroom through instructional leadership — another aspect important for the ASAS award. Desaulniers served as vice chair and chair of the Teaching and Learning Improvement Council for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, contributing to college-level efforts to advance evidence-based teaching practices. She currently serves as vice chair of the UNL Chapter of the American Women in Science.
Her sustained commitment to teaching excellence has been recognized through multiple teaching awards and fellowships, including a National Pork Board award saluting her for swine teaching innovation.
In her research work, her long-term goal is to improve the fertility of agriculturally relevant animals. Her research serves a dual purpose by utilizing livestock as unique biomedical models to improve human fertility. Human and porcine reproduction share a range of general similarities including gonadal development, hormonal regulation, testicular function, and spermatogenesis.
That research work connects to the ASAS award’s requirement that the recipient demonstrate dedicated “service to agriculture and related industries.”
Desaulniers takes particular interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her previous pedagogy research focused on the identification of effective methods to promote learning in large-enrollment undergraduate physiology courses. As a long-term goal, she aims to identify innovative and evidence-based strategies to enhance deep learning and knowledge retention to better educate future animal scientists, veterinarians and biomedical scientists.
CONTACT: Amy Desaulniers, associate professor, reproductive physiology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 402-472-9673, desaulniers@unl.edu.
