Dr. Elaine Grings has been involved in livestock research for 32 years since completing her Ph.D. at WSU in 1986. Her research efforts have focused on forage and rangeland-based ruminant production systems, addressing livestock feed needs in mixed crop-livestock systems, and general ruminant nutrition.
Currently Dr. Grings is a Livestock Research Advisor with United States Agency for International Development, Bureau for Food Security in Washington DC, where she began work in 2015. Her role in this position includes overseeing USAID-funded livestock research activities in East and West Africa and South Asia.
Prior to joining USAID, Dr. Grings was an Assistant Professor of Beef Cow/Calf Management at South Dakota State University with an appointment in both research and extension. From 2007-2010, she served as a Livestock Scientist with the International Livestock Research Institute based in Ibadan, Nigeria, where her work included researching ways to improve feed resources for smallholder farmers in the mixed crop-livestock systems of West Africa. She also spent 17 years as an Animal Scientist with USDA-ARS at the Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Montana, focusing on evaluating tactics for rangeland-based beef production systems of the Northern Great Plains.
Dr. Grings has been active in both the American Society of Animal Science and the Society for Range Management, serving on committees for both organizations. In addition to her degree from WSU, she holds a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis and M.S. in Range Science from Colorado State University.
For her contributions to the sustainability of the livestock industry and her dedication and devotion to the transfer of technology across the world, Dr. Elaine Grings is truly a Distinguished Graduate in Science, Education, and Technology.