Dr Natalie Morgan

Senior Lecturer Animal Science - School of Environmental and Rural Science

Natalie Morgan

Phone: +61 2 6773 5829

Mobile: 0484649526

Email: nmorga20@une.edu.au

Biography

Natalie joined UNE in September 2015 as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. Her main area of interest is poultry nutrition, particularly feed enzymes and carbohydrate chemistry. Her current research focuses on non-starch polysaccharides, enzymes and the effects of xylo-oligomers as prebiotics in broiler chicken and laying hen diets. She teaches animal nutrition and poultry production.

Qualifications

  • BSc (Hons) Animal Biology (2010)
  • PhD (2014) Nottingham Trent University, UK

Awards

2021 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

2020 UNE 3rs Award

2018 Dean’s Award for Early Career Research Excellence

Teaching Areas

Animal Nutrition, Poultry Production, Animal Biosecurity

Primary Research Area/s

Poultry Nutrition; Carbohydrate Chemistry; Feed Enzymes

Research Interests

  • Impact of dietary fibre on poultry health and perofmance
  • Assessing factors that cause variation in feed ingredients used in poultry diets, particularly focussuing on non-starch polysaccharides and phytate
  • The use of xylanases to produce xylo-oligomers and the effects of xylo-oligomers on gut microflora and performance in broiler chickens
  • Alternative feed ingredients for use in poultry feed formulations
  • The influence of gastrointestinal pH on nutrient bioavailability and the intestinal microbiota in poultry
  • Evaluating phytate and xylan ‘susceptibility’ to the effects of enzymes and assessing factors that influence  reactivity and enzyme efficacy
  • Developing in vitro models to determine digestibility of poultry diets

Research Supervision Experience

Principal Supervisor PhD Students (1 completion) and Masters students (4 completions)

Co-supervisor (9 completions)

Publications

Morgan, N., Bhuiyan, M.M, Nguyen, T.N.A, Middlebrook, T. and Hopcroft, R. 2021. Dietary soluble non-starch polysaccharide level and composition influences grower and finisher phase performance, excreta moisture content and total tract nutrient digestibility in broilers. British Poultry Science, 62: 759-770.

Morgan, N.K., Gomes, G.A. and Kim, J.C. 2021. Comparing the efficacy of stimbiotic and a combination of xylanase and beta-glucanase, in broilers fed wheat-barley based diets with high or low AME. 100(10): 101383.

Morgan, N.K,, Wallace, A., Bedford, M.R., Hawking, K., Rodrigues, I., Hulliar, M. and Choct, M. 2019. In vitro versus in situ evaluation of xylan hydrolysis into xylo-oligosaccharides in broiler chicken gastrointestinal tract. Carbohydrate Polymers. 230: 1-7.

Morgan, N.K., Keerqin, C., Wu, S.B. and Choct, M. 2018. Effect of arabinoxylans and xylo-oligosaccharides on net energy and nutrient utilization in broilers. Animal Nutrition. 5(1): 56-62.

Morgan, N.K., Wallace, A., Bedford, M.R., Choct, M. 2017. Efficiency of xylanases from family 10 and family 11 in production of xylo-oligosaccharides from wheat arabinoxylans. Carbohydrate Polymers: 167: 290-296. 

Morgan, N.K. Managing gut health without reliance on antimicrobials in poultry. 2017. Animal Production Science. 57(11): 2270-2279.

Morgan, N.K. and Choct, M. 2016. Cassava: Nutrient composition and nutritive value in poultry diets. Animal Nutrition. 2(4): 253-261.

Memberships

Associate Editor Animal Nutrition

Secretary World's Poultry Science Association New England Branch

Adjunct Research Fellow Nottingham Trent University, UK

Consultancy Interests

Improving poultry feed formulations, feed additives and enzymes in poultry diets, prebiotics in poultry