Carson De Mille

While unsure of exactly where I want to end up in terms of a job, I am very passionate about the swine industry and how we can contribute to feeding the world. In my graduate career, I have always strived to work on research that can have a direct impact on pig production. For example, in my master’s research, I looked at an alternative protein source that was both cost-effective to producers and potentially pleasing to consumers, and I am currently researching mode of action of feed additives that improve growth. I feel that as food animal production must increase substantially as the world population continues to massively increase, it is important to work on projects and research that improve animal efficiency. Additionally, consumers have become more critical of the food they purchase, and I think it is important to also important to consider consumer preference when improving animal efficiency. I am interested in a job that is a hybrid of research with applied swine nutrition because it is important to me to research in a practical setting. Finally, I am interested in consumer education. Therefore, my career goal is to end up somewhere in industry where I can continue to do nutrition-based research that will impact production in a beneficial way, additionally, I would like the ability to interface with the public about where their food is coming from as well as consumers to make sure my avenues of research can be directly beneficial to them.