Ryan M. Knuth earned his Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Wyoming in August of 2022 in a program with Drs. Bisha and Cunningham-Hollinger. He grew up on a small commercial Polypay sheep operation in south central Wisconsin learning early in life how to care for animals in profitable ways. He received his B.S. in Animal Science (2017) at University of Wisconsin-Platteville and his M.S. in Animal and Range Sciences at Montana State University (2019). Throughout his collegiate education, he has had a breadth of research experience related to sheep and beef cattle production systems. In his doctoral program, he investigated the microbial communities of ewes, lambs, and the environment to find common relationships across communities and identify possible pathways for bacteria to enter the mammary gland to cause mastitis. Additionally, a portion of his dissertation has identified levels of antimicrobial resistance in ewe milk bacterial isolates. He has multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Animal Science, Applied Animal Science, and Animals, as well as many conference abstracts/proceedings and acquired grants through the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. Dr. Knuth looks forward to beginning a faculty position to use his expertise to build a highly impactful applied and translatable teaching and outreach program focused on animal health and management to improve sheep production.