Skip to main content

Dairy Science

James KoltesDr. James Koltes

Dr. Koltes' lab research at ISU dairy farm focuses on development of tools to help producers select for improved health and feed efficiency.  They use automated sensors on the farm to help determine the prediction of feed intake from this data.  Their goal is to develop new measurements, DNA tests, and statistical approaches to use sensors and feed intake data for genetic selection of dairy cattle.


Lance BaumgardDr. Lance Baumgard

Dr. Baumgard's lab researches nutritional and environmental physiology of dairy cattle, with specific interests in how immune activation disrupts optimal productivity.


Dr. Ranga AppuhamyDr. Ranga Niroshan Jayasooriya Arachchige Do (Dr. Ranga Appuhamy)

Dr. Ranga's lab research focuses on exploring the mechanisms through which amino acids impact milk production, growth and development, and health of dairy cattle. His research also explores nutritional strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and water requirements of dairy cattle.


Gail CarpenterDr. Gail Carpenter

Dr. Carpenter’s lab focuses on utilizing applied nutritional strategies to enhance the environmental and economical sustainability of the dairy industry by optimizing the efficiency of the dairy farm system as a whole. Specifically, her work focuses on incorporating alternative feeds into dairy rations, including byproducts, cover crops, and biomass crops.


Don Beitz

Dr. Don Beitz

Dr. Beitz focuses his research efforts on improving milk production efficiency through minimizing metabolic diseases and use of diet modifications and on the improvement of animal-derived foods for human nutrition.


Dairy Science Research Collaborators:

Pat Gorden

Stephanie Clark


ISU Dairy Research Committee

The allocation of animals to research projects is managed through the ISU Dairy Research Committee. To schedule the use of animals for research purposes complete the ISU Dairy Research Proposal Form and submit it to Mary Healey. Mary will forward your Research Request form to the ISU Dairy Research Committee and to the farm manager, to make them aware of your research plans.

The ISU Dairy Research Committee also meets to discuss research ideas, identify areas for potential collaboration, and to resolve areas of potential conflict among projects. After submitting the ISU Dairy Research Request Form, you will be invited to join the ISU Dairy Research Committee to help ensure your project runs smoothly.

Dairy Research Information (PDF)