It is a moment of national pride that Olayinka Miriam Tawose has been crowned the Most Exceptional Ruminant Nutrition and Production Research Professional of the Year 2025, bagging the prestigious Nigerian Academic Excellence Award after a rigorous, independent assessment of the country’s finest minds in animal science.
 
In a profession where genuine impact is measured by fuller troughs, healthier herds, and families that can finally afford the protein their children need, recognition of this magnitude never comes by accident. 
The honour does more than decorate a distinguished career; it affirms a truth her colleagues have long understood, that few researchers have done as much to reshape how Nigeria feeds its livestock, and, by extension, how it feeds itself.

Ms Tawose’s curriculum vitae reads like a blueprint for sustained excellence. A Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science with more than sixteen years of research, teaching, and consultancy experience, she has built her authority degree by degree, beginning with a first degree in animal production and health sciences at the University of Ado-Ekiti, followed by a master of technology in animal production at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, a master’s in agricultural biochemistry and nutrition, and a doctorate in animal science. 

Each stage sharpened a singular focus on dairy science, ruminant nutrition, and sustainable livestock production. That career has moved fluidly between the field and the frontier of research. 
She spent thirteen years as a Chief Animal Husbandry Scientist with the Ekiti State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, where she gathered field data from farmers statewide, did extension services, and ran workshops, before rising to Lecturer I at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, where she now teaches nine animal science courses. 

Today, she has completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in dairy science at the Universidade Federal de Vicosa in Brazil, working to improve milk yield, milk composition, and dairy herd health, work that has carried her to international platforms from the American Dairy Science Association conference in Louisville to advanced trainings in Brazil.
Ms Tawose’s scholarship is both deep and deliberately practical. She pioneered cost-effective diets built from alternative feed resources such as water hyacinth, cassava peels, poultry droppings, and crop residues, cutting feed costs while raising the productivity of cattle, sheep, and goats. 

Her trials on the haematological, biochemical, and physiological responses of West African Dwarf goats and sheep have guided regional feeding strategies,while her investigations into aflatoxin contamination in poultry and ruminant feeds have strengthened food safety standards. 
More than 15 peer-reviewed publications and over 15 supervised undergraduate research projects carry her name, while her membership of more than ten professional bodies, among them the American Dairy Science Association, the British Society of Animal Science, and the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World, places her firmly within the global research community. 

A frequent voice in the national press on food security and the untapped wealth of the livestock sector, she also serves as Executive Director of the Rowland Centre for Sustainable Youth and Women Development.
Speaking shortly after receiving the honour, an evidently elated Ms Tawose could barely contain her joy: “I am deeply humbled and overwhelmed with happiness. This is one of the proudest days of my life. An award like this is not just a personal triumph; it is a celebration of every farmer who trusted the science, every student I have mentored, and every long night I spent in the laboratory searching for answers. To be recognized in this way tells me that the work has truly mattered, and that means everything to me.”

She was quick to tie the moment to the conviction that has shaped her entire journey. “From my very first research project, I asked one question: how do we help farmers produce more with less while protecting animal health and our environment? Every degree I earned, every diet I formulated, every paper I published was an answer to that question,” she explained. 
“Ruminant production is not an abstract pursuit. It is about food on the table, income for families, and dignity for rural communities. This recognition gives me fresh energy to keep building feed systems that are affordable, sustainable, and truly Nigerian, and to keep opening doors for the young women who will carry this science forward.”

For a woman who has spent her life proving that rigorous research changes lives, the award is less a destination than a charge to do more. In honouring her, the organizers have spotlighted both an exceptional scientist and the painstaking science on which a nation’s food future depends.