Lance Baumgard, professor in animal science and Norman L. Jacobson Endowed Professor in Dairy Science, is the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Research Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. He specializes in nutritional and environmental physiology. Baumgard’s group first discovered that reduced feed intake explains about 50% of decreased farm animal productivity during heat stress. In the last decade, his group has systematically discovered a series of events that explains the other 50%. In doing so, he has become a global leader in multiple and seemingly unconnected fields. The distinction of his program is demonstrated by invitations to numerous scientific symposia. He has given 86 international presentations in 22 different countries and spoken to diverse organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology and the International Congress on Farm Animal Endocrinology.
Baumgard’s stature in the academic community is also reflected by prestigious awards he has received from scientific societies that focus on human nutrition and basic metabolism, as well as animal agriculture. A colleague states, “Dr. Baumgard has revolutionized and rejuvenated the field of environmental physiology and forever altered its trajectory. Lance is the reason why we have a better understanding of how climate change is affecting animal agriculture and he is an essential thought leader in its sustainability.”