I am a lecturer in Animal Science and Production. My research focuses on ruminant nutrition and gut microbiology. My Ph.D. through the University of Sydney investigated the effects of various feed additives and biofuel by-products on performance, carcass characteristics, fatty acid profiles and the molecular regulation of adipogenesis in lambs. I then went on to complete a post-doc in Canada (AAFC and Uni of Alberta), investigating the effects of weaning age and strategy on the development of the ruminal microbiome in dairy calves. This theme continued during my 2 year stay in INRA, France where I was awarded an individual Marie-Curie Fellowship to investigate the effects of additives on gut microbiome establishment and lifelong effects on the animal. Additionally, I have a strong interest in feed efficiency, and environmentally sustainable production systems. I have published 22 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 3 invited reviews and 1 contribution to a technical report by the FAO. I have also presented the outcomes of my research in over 30 scientific and industry conferences and symposium throughout the world.
Journal Article: Microbial characterization and fermentative characteristics of crop maize ensiled with unsalable vegetables
Hooker, Kristian, Forwood, Daniel L., Caro, Eleonora, Huo, Yuxin, Holman, Devin B., Chaves, Alex V. and Meale, Sarah J. (2019) Microbial characterization and fermentative characteristics of crop maize ensiled with unsalable vegetables. Scientific Reports, 9 1: 13183. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49608-w
Journal Article: Effects of hardwood biochar on methane production, fermentation characteristics, and the rumen microbiota using rumen simulation
Teoh, Rebecca, Caro, Eleonora, Holman, Devin B., Joseph, Stephen, Meale, Sarah J. and Chaves, Alex V. (2019) Effects of hardwood biochar on methane production, fermentation characteristics, and the rumen microbiota using rumen simulation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10 1534. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01534
Journal Article: Effects of feeding frequency of an elevated plane of milk replacer and calf age on behavior, and glucose and insulin kinetics in male Holstein calves
MacPherson, J., Meale, S. J., Macmillan, K., Haisan, J., Bench, C. J., Oba, M. and Steele, M. A. (2018) Effects of feeding frequency of an elevated plane of milk replacer and calf age on behavior, and glucose and insulin kinetics in male Holstein calves. animal, 1-9. doi:10.1017/s175173111800294x
Effect of FHE and SuPr N on rumen function and metabolism in beef steers: pilot studies
(2019–2020) Multikraft Probiotics Australia Pty Ltd
Vegetable waste as a sustainable alternative feed to enhance ruminant production and meat quality
(2019) UQ Early Career Researcher
C4Milk: Developing low risk high forage feeding systems
(2018–2022) Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Alternative nutritional strategies to sustainably enhance red meat production and quality
Doctor Philosophy
Effect of probiotics on beef cattle production
Nitrogen Recycling in Beef cattle - effect of the rumen microbiome
Effect of pasture and concentrate ratios on the rumen microbiome in lactating dairy cows
Meale, S. J. and McAllister, T. A. (2015). Grain for feed and energy. In François Eudes (Ed.), Triticale (pp. 167-187) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22551-7_9
Hooker, Kristian, Forwood, Daniel L., Caro, Eleonora, Huo, Yuxin, Holman, Devin B., Chaves, Alex V. and Meale, Sarah J. (2019) Microbial characterization and fermentative characteristics of crop maize ensiled with unsalable vegetables. Scientific Reports, 9 1: 13183. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49608-w
Teoh, Rebecca, Caro, Eleonora, Holman, Devin B., Joseph, Stephen, Meale, Sarah J. and Chaves, Alex V. (2019) Effects of hardwood biochar on methane production, fermentation characteristics, and the rumen microbiota using rumen simulation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10 1534. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01534
MacPherson, J., Meale, S. J., Macmillan, K., Haisan, J., Bench, C. J., Oba, M. and Steele, M. A. (2018) Effects of feeding frequency of an elevated plane of milk replacer and calf age on behavior, and glucose and insulin kinetics in male Holstein calves. animal, 1-9. doi:10.1017/s175173111800294x
Correction to Exploration of biological markers of feed efficiency in young bulls
Meale, Sarah J., Morgavi, Diego P., Cassar-Malek, Isabelle, Andueza, Donato, Ortigues-Marty, Isabelle, Robins, Richard J., Schiphorst, Anne-Marie, Migné, Carole, Pétéra, Mélanie, Laverroux, Sophie, Graulet, Benoit, Boudra, Hamid and Cantalapiedra-Hijar, Gonzalo (2018) Correction to Exploration of biological markers of feed efficiency in young bulls. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 66 17: 4580-4580. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.8b01910
Meale, Sarah J., Auffret, Marc D, Watson, Mick, Morgavi, Diego P, Cantalapiedra-Hijar, Gonzalo, Duthie, Carol-Anne, Roehe, Rainer and Dewhurst, Richard J (2018) Fat accretion measurements strengthen the relationship between feed conversion efficiency and Nitrogen isotopic discrimination while rumen microbial genes contribute little. Scientific reports, 8 1: 3854. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22103-4
Exploration of biological markers of feed efficiency in young bulls
Meale, Sarah J., Morgavi, Diego P., Cassar-Malek, Isabelle, Andueza, Donato, Ortigues-Marty, Isabelle, Robins, Richard J., Schiphorst, Anne-Marie, Laverroux, Sophie, Graulet, Benoit, Boudra, Hamid and Cantalapiedra-Hijar, Gonzalo (2017) Exploration of biological markers of feed efficiency in young bulls. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 65 45: 9817-9827. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.7b03503
From pre- to postweaning: transformation of the young calf's gastrointestinal tract
Meale, Sarah J., Chaucheyras-Durand, Frederique, Berends, Harma, Guan, Le Luo and Steele, Michael A. (2017) From pre- to postweaning: transformation of the young calf's gastrointestinal tract. Journal of Dairy Science, 100 7: 5984-5995. doi:10.3168/jds.2016-12474
Popova, Milka, McGovern, Emily, McCabe, Matthew S., Martin, Cecile, Doreau, Michel, Arbre, Marie, Meale, Sarah J., Morgavi, Diego P. and Waters, Sinead M. (2017) The structural and functional capacity of ruminal and cecal microbiota in growing cattle was unaffected by dietary supplementation of linseed oil and nitrate. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8 MAY: . doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.00937
Weaning age influences the severity of gastrointestinal microbiome shifts in dairy calves
Meale, S. J., Li, S. C., Azevedo, P., Derakhshani, H., DeVries, T. J., Plaizier, J. C., Steele, M. A. and Khafipour, E. (2017) Weaning age influences the severity of gastrointestinal microbiome shifts in dairy calves. Scientific Reports, 7 198: . doi:10.1038/s41598-017-00223-7
Ding, S., Meale, S. J., Alazzeh, A. Y., He, M. L., Ribeiro, G. O., Jr., Jin, L., Wang, Y., Dugan, M. E. R., Chaves, A. V. and McAllister, T. A. (2017) Effect of Propionibacterium freudenreichii in diets containing rapeseed or flaxseed oil on in vitro ruminal fermentation, methane production and fatty acid biohydrogenation. Animal Production Science, 57 10: 2051-2059. doi:10.1071/AN15878
Meale, Sarah J., Shucong, Li, Azevedo, Paula, Derakhshani, Hooman, Plaizier, Jan C. , Khafipour, Ehsan and Steele, Michael A. (2016) Development of ruminal and fecal microbiomes are affected by weaning but not weaning strategy in dairy calves. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7 MAY: . doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00582
Meale, S. J., Leal, L. N., Martin-Tereso, J. and Steele, M. A. (2015) Delayed weaning of Holstein bull calves fed an elevated plane of nutrition impacts feed intake, growth and potential markers of gastrointestinal development. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 209 268-273. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2015.08.008
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., He, M. L., Guan, L. L. and McAllister, T. A. (2015) Effects of various dietary lipid additives on lamb performance, carcass characteristics, adipose tissue fatty acid composition, and wool characteristics. Journal of Animal Science, 93 6: 3110-3120. doi:10.2527/jas2014-8437
McAllister, T. A., Meale, S. J., Valle, E., Guan, L. L., Zhou, M., Kelly, W. J., Henderson, G., Attwood, G. T. and Janssen, P. H. (2015) Ruminant nutrition symposium: use of genomics and transcriptomics to identify strategies to lower ruminal methanogenesis. Journal of Animal Science, 93 4: 1431-1449. doi:10.2527/jas.2014-8329
Alazzeh, A. Y., Smith, A. H., Beauchemin, K. A., Meale, S. J. and McAllister, T. A. (2014) Supplementing Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 does not affect methane production and volatile fatty acid profiles of different diets in in vitro rumen cultures from heifers. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section A. Animal Science, 64 170-177. doi:10.1080/09064702.2014.988746
Meale, S. J., Ding, S., He, M. L., Dugan, M. E. R., Ribeiro, G. O., Jr., Alazzeh, A. Y., Holo, H., Harstad, O. M., McAllister, T. A. and Chaves, A. V. (2014) Effect of Propionibacterium freudenreichii on ruminal fermentation patterns, methane production and lipid biohydrogenation of beef finishing diets containing flaxseed oil in a rumen simulation technique. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, 94 4: 685-695. doi:10.4141/CJAS-2014-051
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., Ding, S., Bush, R. D. and McAllister, T. A. (2014) Effects of crude glycerin supplementation on wool production, feeding behavior, and body condition of Merino ewes. Journal of Animal Science, 91 2: 878-885. doi:10.2527/jas.2012-5791
Effect of diet on microRNA expression in ovine subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues
Meale, S. J., Romao, J. M., He, M. L., Chaves, A. V., McAllister, T. A. and Guan, L. L. (2014) Effect of diet on microRNA expression in ovine subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues. Journal of Animal Science, 92 8: 3328-3337. doi:10.2527/jas.2014-7710
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., He, M. L. and McAllister, T. A. (2014) Dose-response of supplementing marine algae (Schizochytrium spp.) on production performance, fatty acid profiles, and wool parameters of growing lambs. Journal of Animal Science, 92 5: 2202-2213. doi:10.2527/jas2013-7024
Meale, S. J., Beauchemin, K. A., Hristov, A. N., Chaves, A. V. and McAllister, T. A. (2014) Board-invited review: opportunities and challenges in using exogenous enzymes to improve ruminant production. Journal of Animal Science, 92 2: 427-442. doi:10.2527/jas.2013-6869
Including essential oils in lactating dairy cow diets: effects on methane emissions
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., McAllister, T. A., Iwaasa, A. D., Yang, W. Z. and Benchaar, C. (2014) Including essential oils in lactating dairy cow diets: effects on methane emissions. Animal Production Science, 54 9: 1215-1218. doi:10.1071/AN14152
Olivares-Palma, S. M., Meale, S. J., Pereira, L. G. R., Machado, F. S., Carneiro, H., Lopes, F. C. F., Mauricio, R. M. and Chaves, A. V. (2013) In vitro fermentation, digestion kinetics and methane production of oilseed press cakes from biodiesel production. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 26 8: 1102-1110. doi:10.5713/ajas.2013.13098
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., Hannah, M. C., Williams, S. R. O., Hume, D. E., Mace, W. J. and Moate, P. J. (2013) Comparison of wild type, AR1 and AR37 endophyte infected perennial ryegrass on in vitro methanogenesis. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 180 1-4: 10-17. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2012.12.003
Methane production of different forages in in vitro ruminai fermentation
Meale, S. J., Chaves, A. V., Baah, J. and McAllister, T. A. (2012) Methane production of different forages in in vitro ruminai fermentation. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 25 1: 86-91. doi:10.5713/ajas.2011.11249
Strategies to reduce greenhouse gases from ruminant livestock
Meale, S. J., McAllister, T. A., Beauchemin, K. A., Harstad, O. M. and Chaves, A. V. (2012) Strategies to reduce greenhouse gases from ruminant livestock. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A- Animal Science, 62 4: 199-211. doi:10.1080/09064702.2013.770916
Effect of FHE and SuPr N on rumen function and metabolism in beef steers: pilot studies
(2019–2020) Multikraft Probiotics Australia Pty Ltd
Vegetable waste as a sustainable alternative feed to enhance ruminant production and meat quality
(2019) UQ Early Career Researcher
C4Milk: Developing low risk high forage feeding systems
(2018–2022) Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Nitrogen recycling as determinant for feed efficiency of Bos indicus cattle
(2018–2021) Meat & Livestock Australia
Alternative nutritional strategies to sustainably enhance red meat production and quality
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
Effect of probiotics on beef cattle production
Nitrogen Recycling in Beef cattle - effect of the rumen microbiome
Effect of pasture and concentrate ratios on the rumen microbiome in lactating dairy cows