Dr. Loni Lucherk is an assistant professor of animal science at the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at West Texas A&M University. As well as a Gordon W. Davis-endowed chair in meat judging.
Lucherk serves as an advisor for multiple organizations and teams on campus. Lending her expertise to students in a few different ways.
“I grew up in Grandview, Texas, which is a small town south of Fort Worth,” Lucherk said. “My dad was an ag teacher and then he went into administration. [He] raised my sister and I, in a very ag world. We were highly involved in 4H from an early age, so agriculture was kind of a way of life for us.”
Lucherk followed her older sister’s footsteps which led her to a passion for meat judging.
“I developed a passion for agriculture early on, and then kind of developed a passion for meat and meat judging in high school,” Lucherk said. “I was recruited by Texas Tech University to go be a part of their meat judging team. I didn’t really know what I wanted to major in, like most students when they come to college. But I loved teaching and I loved being competitive in 4H and FFA. So I kind of just tied all those things together and wound up majoring in animal science.”
Though Luckerk is a proud buff now, she was not hired at WT right away.
“I had about a year left in my PhD whenever they [WT] opened a job, and I applied,” Lucherk said. “I didn’t get it, but Dr. Ty Lawrence had told Dr. Kevin Pond, ‘I want her in a year, so we’re gonna go back and hire her as soon as she finishes.’ And that’s what happened.”
Lucherk teaches a variety of courses for students looking into the field of food science.
“I teach food science. It’s the only food science class our students can get in,” Lucherk said. “Animal science, which is meat and carcass evaluation, evaluating those animals that are meant for meat as well as the carcasses that come from those animals. And then I also teach a few different evaluation courses for meat judging. And this semester, a section of our AGRI 2300, which is our ag leadership course.”
When describing her teaching style, Lucherk said it varies depending on the class.
“My teaching style is very hands-on, especially in labs,” Lucherk said. “We’re going to be in the meat lab, or the feedlot, or the packing plant. For food science, it’s a little bit different. Because we don’t have a lab, I try to incorporate things that we can taste and do some sensory tests on. And some of my teaching style is bringing in food science professionals to come and talk about what they do.”
Lucherk stays hands-on even outside of the classroom, thanks to her contributions to organizations within the college.
“I am the advisor for the Block and Bridle chapter at WT, as well as what you would call the advisor or coach for the meat judging team,” Lucherk said. “Also the meat science quiz bowl team, the wool judging team, as well as I co-coach the meat animal evaluation team with Michael Semler, who’s the livestock judging coach. I don’t do those alone. But I’m very heavily involved.”
Lucherk described WT and West Texas as a whole in her experience.
“West Texas is a special place because of how great the people are, they really do want the best for you and your family,” Lucherk said. “There’s really no better place. I had a couple different offers from a couple different universities, but I thought ‘what better place to teach about meat than the Texas Panhandle.’ Our proximity to beef and beef processing plants is unmatched. For what I do, and what I teach, there’s few other universities, probably none, that have what we do.”
