The University of Wisconsin has a new director in its dairy innovation hub.
Matt Ruark, a professor and extension specialist in the UW-Madison Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences is the new faculty director for the hub. The post is responsible for working with deans, faculty and researchers at that campus as well as UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls, and working with industry partners to coordinate research, teaching and outreach.
Ruark joined the department in 2008. His work has looked into ways to preserve nutrients and soil fertility. That meant studying the effects of fertilizer, manure and cover crops on crop production, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2013 Ruark led a $10 million USDA grant awarded for the study of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the Great Lakes region. His work has also been shared by the Professional Dairy Producers, The Dairy Signal, and presented at the PDP business conference earlier this year.
The system established the hub in 2019. Since that time it has coordinated more than 230 research projects on those campuses. It receives $7.8 million from the state annually in a bid to advance research and development in support of the state’s $45.6 billion dairy industry.