Degrees & Programs

Majors:

Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences - BS

The ADVS department offers one bachelor’s degree: Bachelor of Science in Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences. Additionally, students choose an emphasis of study within this degree. There are four emphasis options. Learn more about each of the emphases below:

• Animal and Dairy Science Emphasis: Students will be trained in food animal production, equine and food animal management, and animal and medicinal biotechnology. They will also study issues including cost production, profitability, human and animal health, environmental stewardship, bioethics, and animal well-being.

• Biotechnology Emphasis: In this emphasis, students learn the application of scientific and engineering principles to the production of materials by animals to provide goods and services. Topics of study include quantitative trait mapping, genetic manipulation, and cloning.

• Bioveterinary Science Emphasis: In this emphasis students will cover topics such as animal biology, management, and disease. Coursework is intended to prepare students for admission to schools of veterinary medicine or other graduate programs in the life sciences, leading to career opportunities in veterinary medicine, life science research, biotechnology, or pharmaceutical testing laboratories.

• Equine Science and Management Emphasis: This emphasis prepares students for careers dealing with horses. Options include managing equine events, running breeding farms, writing for equine publications, working for breed associations, and working for feed and pharmaceutical companies that deal with equine health.
  
  

Interested in the Bachelor of Science in Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences degree?

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Minors:

Adding a minor focused in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science is a great way to gain additional background experience and to expand your skill set. Our department offers the following minors:

• Animal and Dairy Science: 

• Animal Biotechnology: The Animal Biotechnology Minor at Utah State University provides students with knowledge and training in areas that are important for careers in the life science industry. This minor provides basic knowledge and hands-on learning of critical biotechnology techniques and procedures.

• Bioveterinary Science: 

• Equine Science: The Equine Science minor offers courses that cover equine healthcare and maintenance, basic equine conformation, and topics essential to current equine industry careers. The Equine Science minor is designed to enrich students' general equine studies and provide hands-on learning experiences throughout their education. The Equine Science minor is appropriate for students who are interested in reaching agriculturally-based career goals and would like to broaden their equine knowledge.

• Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies: The Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies Minor at Utah State University provides students with a strong professional education in the core principles of facilitating equine experiential learning, therapies, and recreation.
  
  

Visit the University catalog to learn more about each minor. 

University Catalog

Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences - MS or PhD

Students seeking either a MS and PhD in Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences choose one of five specializations:

• Animal Health and Disease: In this specialization, students focus on molecular biology, pathology, and disease detection using conventional and advanced molecular technologies, epidemiology, parasitology, pharmacology, and microbiology.

• Animal Molecular Genetics: This specialization involves technologies in genome analysis, whole genome scanning, marker assisted selection, and the identification of economically important trait loci in food-producing animals.

• Animal Nutrition: Students in this specialization have the opportunity to study things like the development of new feed additives that improve animal performance, innovations in grazing practices that optimize ruminant production, the development of feasible approaches for sustainable agriculture, and more.

• Animal or Dairy Management: For students seeking careers in production animal agriculture, this specialization prepares students for the challenges facing the animal industry and commodity groups in the 21st century.

• Reproduction and Development: Students in this specialization work with faculty exploring aspects of early embryo development, differentiation, gene regulation, embryonic stem cell characteristics and applications, reproductive immunology, and more.

Think that a graduate degree in Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences might be right for you?

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Toxicology - MS or PhD

Toxicology is the scientific understanding of the harmful effects of natural and synthetic chemicals at all levels – whether large-scale environmental pollutants or small-scale carcinogens – that have an incremental effect over time.

Students can focus their research on a wide variety of areas within the discipline of toxicology, but USU’s program is particularly strong in the following areas:

• Molecular and biomedical toxicology: This area deals with how external agents affect the genetic structure of cells. Toxicologists at USU are developing research on the genomics of disease, cancer prevention, the mechanisms of air pollution, and more.

• Environmental toxicology: Scientists working in this area are focused on toxins that affect the environment. Their research aims to restore ecosystems, remove toxic waste, and reduce human and animal exposure to environmental toxins. Additionally, USU scientists were among the first to use a naturally occurring fungus to digest and detoxify chemical waste.

 Want to know more about what a graduate degree in Toxicology can offer you?

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Veterinary Public Health - MPH

The Master of Public Health program at USU trains students to be leaders in the field of Public Health. The MPH provides students with a strong educational and research foundation in biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, sociobehavioral public health, and public health policy and administration. MPH graduates will be prepared for careers in health care professions, academic institutions, local, state, and federal health agencies, private industry, and non-profit organizations.

The Veterinary Public Health degree concentration builds on the program of the USU School of Veterinary Medicine by offering specialized training in the emerging Public Health discipline of One Health. Learn to work with veterinarians, ecologists, and physicians to monitor and control public health threats by applying the core disciplines of public health and specialized knowledge of veterinary medicine. Learn how diseases spread among people, animals and the environment. USU provides unique resources for the Veterinary Public Health MPH program with the School of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural Extension programs, diagnostic laboratories, Institute for Antiviral Research, and strong academic programs in climate sciences, ecology, and natural resources.

 

Interested in how the Master of Public Health program works?

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To explore degrees offered through the School of Veterinary Medicine, visit vetmed.usu.edu.