
Awards in this section were selected by panels of faculty colleagues through a competitive proposal process where faculty and staff submitted a research idea, budget, and justification.

UW–Madison
Postdoctoral fellowships
- Assessing the impact of states and national climate policies and food behavioral changes on the US dairy industry – Min Chen, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. Trainee: Abdolhamid Dashtiahangar
- Bioconversion of whey permeate to 2,3-butanediol at bioreactor scale – Victor Ujor, Department of Food Science. Trainee: Rasool Kamal
Graduate student assistantships
- Ecological intensification for productivity, profitability, soil health, and carbon sequestration in the dairy-forage and cash-grain agroecosystems of the North Central US – Gregg Sanford, Department of Soil Science. Student: Gideon Fynaardt
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Establishment of long term biochar research plots for evaluation of applications to dairy rotations – Joseph Sanford, Pioneer Farm
Equipment
- Instrumentation updates for monitoring water quality and soil health from basins 5, 10, and 11 at Pioneer Farm – Dennis Busch, Pioneer Farm
- Precision manure nutrient application using a real-time near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) nutrient sensing technology – Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture
- Real-time PCR based quantification of alfalfa root rot pathogen – Muthu Venkateshwaran, School of Agriculture
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Growing a new UW collaboration to continuously measure groundwater nitrate in western Wisconsin farm wells using a novel sensor technology – Jill Coleman-Wasik, Department of Plant and Earth Science
- Filling existing gaps in the monitoring of soil greenhouse gas emissions and environmental health at Mann Valley Farm – Susanne Wiesner, Department of Plant and Earth Science
Equipment
- Assessing soil health and forage quality in dairy agricultural systems using multi-spectral and thermal sensors on-board of an unmanned aerial vehicle – Susanne Wiesner, Department of Plant and Earth Science

UW–Madison
Graduate student assistantships
- Carework as farm work? Agricultural practitioners’ perspectives of childcare – Michaela Hoffelmeyer, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology. Student: Trish Fisher
- Development of analytical modeling tools to assess changes to milk pricing under Federal Milk Marketing Orders – Charles Nicholson, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences and Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Student: Jack Myers
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Using seed priming to improve alfalfa feed quality and value – Raymond Pugh, Department of Chemistry
Equipment
- Gene expression and sequence analysis to mitigate stress responses/outbreaks in dairy cows and increase alfalfa production – Chanaka Mendis, Department of Chemistry
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Development of whey protein-lignin based film/coating materials for dairy food packaging applications – Youngmi Kim, Department of Agriculture Engineering Technology

UW–Madison
Short term, high impact grants
- Development of online course on udder health: “Milk Quality from the Udder World (UW) – Carolina Pinzón, Division of Extension
Postdoctoral fellowships
- Assessing changes in the fecal microbiomes of neonatal dairy calves to enhance animal health – Hilario Mantovani, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Trainee: Rayanne Viana Costa
- Nutritional strategies to reduce early pregnancy loss in dairy cattle – Sofia Ortega, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Trainee: Froylan Sosa Hernandez
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Precision livestock farming: Harnessing data and machine learning for enhanced dairy calf health and welfare – Md Mamunur Rahman, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
UW–River Falls
Equipment
- Replacement and improvement of video recording systems at the Mann Valley Farm Dairy Learning Center – Phase 3 – Kurt Vogel, Department of Animal and Food Sciences

UW–Madison
Postdoctoral fellowships
- Next generation yogurt with dairy probiotic complexes – Gulustan Ozturk, Department of Food Science. Trainee: Jerina Rugji
- Unlocking the potential of whey: Sustainable production of low-calorie tagatose and prebiotics for value creation and reducing environmental impact – Scott Rankin, Department of Food Science. Trainee: Wenjia Wang
UW–Platteville
Equipment
- Assessment of dairy protein peptides and their derivatives for improving the quality of frozen dairy products – Zifan Wan, School of Agriculture
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Processing-induced alterations in casein protein digestibility and enzymatic interactions – Grace Lewis, Department of Animal and Food Science
Equipment
- Benchtop spray dryer for teaching, research, and outreach – Grace Lewis, Department of Animal and Food Science