Ronald J. Trotta is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Kentucky. He previously completed his B.S. in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky in 2017 and worked as an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. James Klotz at the USDA-ARS Forage & Animal Production Research Unit. At North Dakota State University, he studied digestive enzymes and transporters involved in intestinal carbohydrate assimilation and completed his M.S. under Dr. Kendall Swanson in 2019. Ronald is now working under Dr. David Harmon at UK and his Ph.D. research is focused on developing strategies to improve starch utilization in ruminants. Ronald has been co-investigator on 6 research grants and has published 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, 5 conference proceedings, and 10 abstracts.