Livestock health expert Hutton Oddy was recognised for his large body of work, which includes research in soil biology, sheep and pasture plant genomics, animal nutrition, physiology and genetics of different aspects of production and product quality in beef cattle, but credits his success to teamwork.

“It feels good, I’ve been with the department on and off for 40 years,” he said.

Dr Oddy works at the Department of Primary Industries, based at the University of New England, where he is also an adjunct professor.

While he had many achievements of which to be proud, Dr Oddy said he could not take all the credit himself.

“You can’t do science by yourself; you have to work with others,” he said. “It’s the secret to all science success.

“Only very rarely you might make a breakthrough that you have worked on all by yourself.”

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall also recognised Dr Oddy for his achievements.