Clayton McWilliams Position/Title: MSc student email: mcwillic@uoguelph.ca Phone: 613-915-2328 Office:

I graduated from the University of Guelph in 2021 with an Undergraduate degree in Agricultural Science with a major in Animal Science. I began working with Dr. Trevor DeVries in the summer of 2020 as an undergraduate summer research assistant. In my fourth year of my undergrad, I completed an independent research project focusing on position while ruminating for dairy cows in an AMS. This project developed into a Short Communication that has been accepted to the Journal of Dairy Science. I was also able to present this project in the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Undergraduate competition. In my fourth year I was a member of the University of Guelph’s dairy challenge team which was an extension of the fourth year class Challenges and Opportunities in the dairy industry. Our team of four competed in the two-day virtual competition where we placed first in our division.

I come from a background in agriculture, my family has a cash crop operation and a draft horse breeding operation. I have worked in the dairy industry since high school, positions ranging from farm-hand, jr. herdsperson, and farm consultant. These experiences have refined my specific areas of interest and have helped me develop many relevant skills.

My current masters project will be focusing on transition cows in AMS systems. I will be evaluating the effects of supplementing cows with glycerol in the AMS pellet. I am really looking forward to this project as it is very applicable to the challenges dairy producers face daily.