The North American Renderers Association (NARA) presented two industry awards at its 2025 convention, recognizing contributions to rendered ingredient research and industry communication.
Dominique P. Bureau, Ph.D., received the 2025 Dr. Fred D. Bisplinghoff Research Innovation Award on behalf of the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation (FPRF). Bureau is a professor in the Department of Animal Bioscience at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and serves as chief scientific officer at Wittaya Aqua International. With more than 35 years of research experience, his work focuses on amino acid and phosphorus utilization, feed ingredient evaluation, thermal damage effects on proteins, and mathematical modeling of growth and feed requirements across animal species.
Bureau's research on rendered animal products began in 1994 with support from Canadian renderers and FPRF. He has conducted numerous FPRF-supported research projects advancing understanding of rendered ingredients in aquafeeds. He served on the U.S. National Research Council Committee on Nutrient Requirements of Fish and Shrimp from 2009 to 2011 and led development of the International Aquaculture Feed Formulation Database, a free online resource providing detailed data on more than 700 feed ingredients and nutritional specifications for over 40 aquatic species. His team is developing a similar database for terrestrial livestock species.
Bureau co-founded Wittaya Aqua International, which creates online tools and provides support to feed manufacturers, feed ingredient suppliers, and aquaculture operations globally.
"Dr. Fred Bisplinghoff was directly responsible for introducing me to terrestrial animal protein ingredients three decades ago and for my interest in doing research on them," Bureau said. "Despite our very significant age difference, Dr. Fred and I became very good friends, and I enjoyed meeting him and learning from him. To receive an award in his name is, therefore, very meaningful for me.
"The rendering industry supported me as a young scientist and gave me the chance to travel the world to share my research results with aquaculture feed manufacturers," he continued. "I am grateful to the FPRF and NARA, their members and personnel for their early and sustained support. I am happy that the research efforts I led were valuable for the industry. I am not done doing research and transferring knowledge to industry. I have numerous ideas that I hope to explore in the future, notably in collaboration with my colleagues at Wittaya."
Dr. Charles Starkey, NARA's vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs and FPRF's director of research, presented the award to Bureau.
Tina CaparellaNARA
