18 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN November 2024 Returning to Nebraska JESSICA WESSON | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Deb VanOverbeke has come full circle. From growing up on a small family farm and cattle feeding operation in southeast Nebraska, to her current position as department head of the Animal Science Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the journey back to Nebraska has been a good one – filled with great experiences, valuable work, accomplishments, friendships, professional relationships and family. Nebraska Beginnings – Then to Colorado The family operation she grew up on was run by her father and two uncles and is still in operation today, more than 100 years after it began. There, she fell in love with the agricultural industry, specifically beef cattle. “I was active in 4-H and FFA, and I decided to pursue an animal science degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL),” VanOverbeke says. “I had three older brothers who also got degrees in animal science.” Eventually, she worked for the meat scientist research group on campus to help make ends meet. “I started by collecting carcass data for them as an undergraduate student worker, which led to a keen interest in meat science,” VanOverbeke says. “I also had an internship with Nebraska Cattlemen (NC), focusing on producer education. I got to work on everything from environmental stewardship to assisting with writing Nebraska’s first Beef Quality Assurance Manual.” She left that internship thinking she would pursue a career in breed association work. VanOverbeke started her full-time career with NC as the first Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) coordinator. She also assisted with the Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef Program. “Through my work with Nebraska Cattlemen, I met Dr. Gary Smith, who was at Colorado State University then,” VanOverbeke says. “He asked me if I’d ever considered pursuing a graduate degree. I took him up on that opportunity and went to do a master’s degree and Ph.D. in meat science at Colorado State University.” Through her graduate education, VanOverbeke was able to work with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) National Beef Quality Audits. “I coordinated the 1999 National Market Cow and Bull Quality Audit and the 2000 Fed Audit from Colorado State University’s perspective as a graduate student,” VanOverbeke says. “I also got to work with NCBA on the Injection Site Lesion Audits. That experience built on what I had learned and done at Nebraska Cattlemen.” VanOverbeke continued to strengthen her experience in quality assurance by helping the Colorado Livestock Association write its BQA Manual and assisting the American Sheep Industry Association with its Safety and Quality Assurance Manual. VanOverbeke (fourth from right) with other dignitaries from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the ribbon cutting of the Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center, which provides hands-on education for animal science students and research opportunities for faculty. PEOPLE VanOverbeke, left, wtih her daughter Esther, center, and nephew Max VanOverbeke, right, at the 2023 National FFA Convention.
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