Dr. Joel Caton is a ruminant nutritionist and professor in the Animal and Range Sciences Department at North Dakota State University. He is also co-director of the Center for Nutrition and Pregnancy at NDSU. Joel is native of Missouri and was raised on a livestock and grain farm. He received his B.S. degree 1982 from New Mexico State University. In 1983 he received his M.S. degree from University of Missouri. His Ph.D. was awarded at New Mexico State University in 1987. After a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Missouri, he accepted a position at North Dakota State University. For the past 18 years, Joel has conducted research and taught courses within the Animal and Range Science Department at NDSU. In 1999 he completed a one-year sabbatical at the University of Reading and The Rowett Research Institute in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Joel was awarded the NDSU College of Agriculture’s Research Award and in 2004 he received the National AFIA Ruminant Nutrition Award presented at the American Society of Animal Science meetings. Joel’s nutrition research program has resulted in numerous publications and grants. In addition, he has advised or co-advised 29 graduate students and 4 postdoctoral fellows. Joel enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities.

Ruminant Nutrition, Digestive Physiology, and Developmental Programming with specific focus areas to include 1. Maternal Nutrition: A) Effects of nutrient supply during gestation on maternal, fetal, and postnatal outcomes. Interests include various aspects of developmental programming on molecular, cellular, tissue, and whole animal responses with particular emphasis on nutrient transferring tissues and offspring production responses. B) Impacts of nutrient supply during the periconceptional period on embryonic, fetal, and postnatal outcomes. 2. Growth, development, and function of the gastrointestinal tract: Impacts on livestock production and health: Research interests include understanding the effects of nutrition (including specific nutrients and therapeutics) on vascular growth and function, crypt cell proliferation, tissue energy (and other nutrient) use, and nutrient transfer to productive tissues. 3. Protein metabolism: Research interests include site and extent of digestion, microbial efficiency of protein synthesis, small intestinal protein supply, degradable and undegradable intake protein supplementation and use, nitrogen retention in products, and specific amino acid supply. 4. Forage utilization by ruminants: Evaluations of strategies that optimize forage use in ruminant livestock diets including estimating intake, digestion, rates of passage, extent of nutrient shedding into the environment, and first limiting nutrients for livestock production when grazing native rangelands. 5. Trace mineral metabolism. Emphasis is currently placed on selenium and the impacts of supranutritional Se supplementation on developmental programming, metabolism, specific tissue growth and vascularization, and whole animal responses. 6. Strategic supplementation: Investigations into methods and approaches to strategically provide essential nutrients that are limiting during critical times of the livestock production cycle.