Richard K. Gast is a Supervisory Microbiologist at the U. S. National Poultry Research Center in Athens, Georgia. He received a Ph.D. in Poultry Science from The Ohio State University and has served as a scientist for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service since 1987. He has been Research Leader of the Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit since its founding in 2005. The mission of this research group is to protect both the health of consumers and the marketability of eggs by developing improved technologies for egg production and processing that reduce or eliminate microorganisms which can transmit disease to humans or cause spoilage.