Scholarships to Support Research that Benefits Dairy

The NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program supports graduate students enrolled in Master’s or Ph.D. programs who are actively pursuing dairy-related fields of research that directly benefit milk marketing cooperatives and the U.S. dairy industry at large. 

The scholarships are largely funded through our annual raffle. Through your contributions, the scholarship program is able to meaningfully impact graduate students and promote research that benefits the entire dairy community. This is echoed in a thank you note from one of our past recipients: “This scholarship will help me to continue focusing on my studies, allow me to do more dairy resiliency research, and help me to further share my findings with dairy producers. […] Receiving this scholarship is just another reminder of how blessed I feel to get to work with dairy farmers and the incredible folks in the dairy industry.”

We hope that you will support our efforts to further the progress and prosperity of the dairy industry through scientific research.

Meet our 2026 Scholarship Recipients

Pari Baker, is a doctoral candidate at Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Biology, Molecular Virology Program. Her research analyzes the host determinants of susceptibility to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in mammary epithelial cells.

Haowen Hu, is a doctoral candidate studying Animal Science at Cornell University. His research explores the advancement of whole-farm environmental modeling in U.S. dairy systems through model evaluation and field-based refinement.

Gabriela Alejandra Macay Hernandez, a doctoral candidate studying Animal Science at University of Florida. Her research focuses on unraveling the effects of semen components on endometrial and oviductal responses and their impact on embryo development, fetal development, and postnatal offspring performance.

Vaishali Poswal, is a doctoral candidate studying Dairy Manufacturing at South Dakota State University. Her research focuses on environmental listeria persistence and biofilm formation in dairy microbial communities, as well as development of an antimicrobial peptide bio-sanitizer for enhanced control.

Jayden Scott, is a master’s student studying Food Science at Washington State University. His research explores the correlation of the microbiome, proteolysis and flavor development in white cheddar cheese varieties.

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