Yun Jiang joined the UW–Madison faculty in August 2024 as an assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Funding for this position comes from the Dairy Innovation Hub, which has supported over a dozen faculty positions so far at UW–Madison, UW–Platteville and UW–River Falls.

Her position is part of RISE-EARTH, the sustainability-themed focus area of the university’s Wisconsin RISE Initiative strategic hiring effort  to solve grand challenges. 

What is your hometown? Where did you grow up?
I was born in a small village near Hefei City, Anhui Province in China. I later moved to Jiangsu Province for middle school. 

What is your educational/professional background, including your previous position?
I received my bachelor’s in animal science from Nanjing Agricultural University, followed by a master’s and PhD in animal science from the University of Florida. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin–Madison in August 2024, I served as an assistant professor of livestock nutrition at Kentucky State University.

What is your field of research, and how did you get into it?
My field of research is dairy nutrition. I developed an interest in dairy nutrition in college when I gained an understanding of how dairy cows can convert human-inedible feed – such as grass and agricultural byproducts like rice straw – into milk. I realized this is crucial for feeding the growing global population with the limited resources available on Earth.

What are the main goals of your current research program?
The main goals of my current research program are to develop nutritional strategies to optimize feed efficiency, reduce environmental impacts such as methane emissions, and improve feed quality and safety in the dairy industry.

What was your first visit to campus like?
My first campus visit was after a huge snowstorm in January 2024. I was fascinated by people ice skating on ponds and lakes — it felt unreal. Growing up in southern China, I had never really seen this in real life. I was also amazed by the facilities and the capacity for dairy research at UW–Madison.

What’s one thing you hope students who take a class with you will come away with?
 Nutrition is an art of balance.

Do you feel your work relates in any way to the Wisconsin Idea? If so, please describe how.
My work aims to improve dairy production efficiency and reduce environmental impacts, thereby contributing to sustainability, benefiting both dairy farmers and consumers in Wisconsin.  

What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make us sound smarter at parties?
Did you know that cows can produce up to 45 gallons of saliva daily? It’s not just for digestion — saliva plays an important role in buffering acids in the rumen, ensuring the microbes can keep breaking down the feed efficiently.

What are your hobbies and other interests?
 I enjoy playing pickleball. I also love reading and learning about new things; the sense of discovery makes life much more interesting to me.