Mike is a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and Professor at Cornell University. He grew up on a small diversified dairy farm in Ohio and continued to work on local farms through college with the intent of returning to the dairy farm. Mike graduated from The Ohio State University in 1984 with a degree in Dairy Science and worked for 5 years as a district sales manager for Sire Power/Select Sires. He returned to school and earned a Ph.D. in Animal Science in 1995 from Cornell University and was hired back into the department to work with the Dairy Fellows Program and conduct research. Mike currently leads the Dairy Fellows Program, an undergraduate experiential learning program focused on the integration of dairy cattle management, nutrition, reproduction and growth with economic decision making. Over time, he assumed responsibility for further development of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS), a nutrition model currently used in over 30 countries. His current research efforts are multifaceted and focused on several aspects of productive efficiency of dairy cattle. With increasing pressure on the dairy industry to reduce the environmental impact of cattle and milk production his research group is currently working on