Dr. Donald Palmquist, Ph.D., an expert on dairy cow nutrition at Ohio State University (OSU), was recognized for his professional achievements by the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) this week. Palmquist is professor emeritus of animal sciences at OSU.
Palmquist’s career-long
pursuit of understanding lipid metabolism in dairy cows was pioneering and
innovative, and he aimed to develop practical and profitable strategies to
incorporate supplemental fat into dairy cow diets. His early research provided
fundamental information on the metabolism of fatty acids by dairy cows.
The use of radioisotopes to quantify the transfer of dietary fat to milk
fat was particularly innovative, and it led him to conclude that supplemental
fat could improve the efficiency of milk fat synthesis. He also conducted
applied studies to determine the effects of dietary fat on milk production and
composition.