Association (PSA) Research Award in 1999, American Egg Board award in 2006, the PSA Evonik Award for Achievement in Poultry Science in 2019 and the National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award in 2020. He was honored as a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Faculty Fellow in 2002 and the UA Division of Agriculture – John White Outstanding Research Award in 2012. He was named an AAFP Fellow in 2015, a PSA Fellow in 2017, an International for Food Protection Fellow in 2019 and a University of Wisconsin College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Distinguished Alumni in 2019.
Dr. Ricke’s foodborne research projects have emphasized studies on the growth, survival and pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and their interactions with the GIT microbiota. He is also exploring the interaction between different prebiotics, the GIT microbiota and host responses.