Charles R. Staples Lecture Series

The Charles R. Staples Lecture Series was created by colleagues and family of Dr. Charlie Staples to honor his contributions to the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida. Charlie was a devoted mentor to colleagues and graduate students.

Dr. Charlie Staples

Dr. Charles Richard Staples was born April 7, 1951, in Greeley, Colorado to the late Raymond and Elise Staples. Charlie received his Bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from New Mexico State University in 1973 and stayed at New Mexico State for his M.Sc. degree in ruminant nutrition that was completed in 1975. From Las Cruces, Charlie moved to Urbana-Champaign to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. During his graduate studies at Illinois, Charlie worked under Dr. George C. Fahey Jr. in the area of forage and fiber quality for ruminants. The title of his dissertation was “Evaluation of Factors Affecting Digestibility of the Fibrous Portion of the Ruminant Diets”. Upon receiving his Ph.D. degree in 1983, Charlie completed a post-doctorate program under Dr.  Jimmy Howard Clark also at Illinois in which he studied changes in energy balance in early lactation and restoration of ovarian activity in dairy cows.

Charlie moved with his family to Gainesville in 1984 to accept an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Dairy Sciences. He was an Assistant (1984-1989), Associate (1989-1995) and Professor (1995-2019) at the University of Florida. During his tenure at the University of Florida, Charlie was recognized in 2003 with the Research Foundation Professorship for outstanding research and scholarly achievements which contributed to the reputation of the University. In his almost 35 years as a faculty member, Charlie published 150 scientific peer-reviewed manuscripts and 14 book chapters and presented and published 160 papers in proceedings of national and international conferences. Charlie mentored 23 graduate students and post-doctorates from the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malawi, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and South Korea, in addition to the graduate students mentored by colleagues that he devoted endless time to help and assist during their programs. His scientific contributions spanned from forage quality, supplementation of cows under grazing, fatty acid nutrition of cows and calves, establishing choline as a required nutrient for dairy cows, among others.

For his contributions to dairy sciences, the American Dairy Science Association awarded him the American Feed Industry Association Award and the Nutrition Professionals Applied Dairy Nutrition Award. In 2017, Charlie received the Fellow Award from the American Dairy Science Association for his services to the association and scientific discoveries impacting the dairy industry. In his last year before retirement, he served as interim Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences. Charlie is survived by his wife, Debbie and his two daughters, Charity and Spring. He was a devoted husband and father, a mentor to his students, a Civil War history buff, and a devout Christian. Above all, Charlie was an outstanding colleague and wonderful human being. 

The Charles R. Staples Lecture Series is supported by donations from our generous sponsors:
Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production
Virtus Nutrition
DSM Animal Nutrition
Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health
Selko

Please visit UF/IFAS Animal Sciences Giving if you would like to contribute to the Charles R. Staples Lecture Endowment.

• 2023

  2023 Staples Lecture

  Professor Kirk Klasing, Ph.D.

  Department of Animal Sciences at the University of California

  "The nutritional costs of immunity for growth: A comparison of estimates based on what the animal tells us versus what we think we know"

  February 23rd, 2023