College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences

The proposed combined graduate program will be designated as Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences with MS and PhD options and five specializations: Animal Management, Animal Heath and Disease (new specialization), Animal Molecular Genetics (name change), Animal Nutrition, and Reproduction and Development (name change). 

Graduate Programs

Graduate Programs Coordinator: Dr. Lee Rickords
Location: Agricultural Science 248B
Phone: (435) 797-2195
FAX: (435) 797-2118
E-mail: lee.rickords@usu.edu

Admission Requirements

In addition to the general admission requirements, applicants should have satisfactory (3.0 GPA or better) grades in completion of previous degree programs. The GRE exam, as well as verbal and quantitative test scores at or above the 40th percentile, is required.

Research

The ADVS department conducts a broad range of basic and applied research in the areas of animal reproduction, animal nutrition, livestock and dairy management, animal health and disease, virology, parasitology, toxicology, cytogenetics, and molecular genetics. Department facilities include over 30 research laboratories on campus and at local and regional animal research facilities. There are research herds and flocks of beef and dairy cattle, sheep, and swine housed close to the University. Research in the department is funded by a multimillion dollar budget derived from support by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station and by substantial outside contracts and grants. Cooperation with other departments and research centers of the University and with federal collaborators enhances the ADVS research and graduate programs. Significant in this regard are the University Center for Integrated BioSystems, the Utah State Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratories, the Laboratory Animal Research Center, the Center for Environmental Toxicology, the Center for the Genetic Improvement of Livestock, the Institute for Antiviral Research and the on-campus USDA Poisonous Plant Laboratory.

Financial Assistance

Both departmental and research grant support are available to matriculated graduate students on a competitive basis. The department funds graduate assistantships, which are available on a competitive basis to matriculated graduate students who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or  residents. Students interested in departmental assistantships may request an application form from the department or download the form at: http://www.advs.usu.edu/files/uploads/DAinitialapplication06.pdf

Applications for graduate assistantships for the following academic year must be submitted by March 15.

Acceptance to graduate study in the ADVS Department does not constitute a guarantee of financial assistance.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities are available for students who have earned graduate degrees in the MS and PhD programs offered by the ADVS Department as described below.

MS and PhD Degree Programs

Animal Health and Disease

Career opportunities in this area exist in research, management, and submanagement positions in public and private health research and testing organizations, and in commercial industries in the health field. Graduates from the MS program may seek admission to advanced degree programs in the biological sciences or veterinary medicine.

Animal Management

Career opportunities include extension, private consultation firms, farm and ranch management, sales and service to agricultural producers, agricultural finance, and international programs.

Animal Molecular Genetics

Career opportunities exist in extension university and private research, commercial animal breeding and genetic engineering enterprises, and international programs.

Animal Nutrition

Career opportunities exist in extension, university and private research, the commercial animal feedstuffs industry, private consulting firms, and international programs.

Reproduction and Development

Career opportunities exist in extension; university and private research; the pharmaceutical, embryo transfer, and artificial insemination industries; private consultation; and international programs.